Featured Issue Briefs
The Battle on the Home Front: Jonathan Gadsden's Story
Marine Lance Corporal's story reflects the growing need for new antibiotics that can treat dangerous diseases, against which most drugs are useless. Read More
Facilitating Medical Device Innovation: De Novo Reform
The de novo process -- which requests lower-risk reclassification of medical devices and entry into the marketplace -- as it exists now is not achieving its purpose and has instead added unnecessary and time-consuming requirements. Read More
Food Products Recalled by FDA
Since President Obama signed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act into law, at least 149 FDA-regulated food products have been recalled due to potential pathogenic contamination. Read More
More Issue Briefs
| Date | Issue Briefs | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 15, 2010 |
Getting Smart About Antibiotic ResistanceThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has proclaimed November 15-21, 2010 as "Get Smart About Antibiotics Week." This event is an opportunity for Americans to learn about the importance of these life-saving drugs. |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Oct 7, 2009 |
Getting with the ProgramThis report finds that nearly one in 10 community college students in the U.S. can’t get a federal loan if they need one because their schools choose not to participate in the federal loan programs. More info |
Consumer Financial Security |
| Mar 15, 2013 |
Groups Urge Obama to Take Action Against Drug-Resistant BacteriaPew and 46 other public health, medical, environmental and consumer leaders urged President Obama to take swifter action to protect the public from drug-resistant bacteria. In a joint letter, they call on his administration to eliminate industrial farms’ non-therapeutic use of medically important antibiotics and to support legislation that requires the Food and Drug Administration to shine more light on farming practices that are breeding superbugs. More info |
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| Jan 21, 2011 |
Health Care and the Antibiotic Resistance CrisisMany public health officials and medical organizations are increasingly concerned about the rising incidence of antibiotic-resistant infections in the United States. According to the Interagency Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance, unless antibiotic resistance ―problems are detected as they emerge—and actions are taken quickly to contain them—the world may soon be faced with previously treatable diseases that have again become untreatable, as in the pre-antibiotic era. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Feb 26, 2013 |
Health, Science Leaders Call on Congress for More Antibiotics DataA broad coalition of medical, public health, scientific, agricultural, consumer, environmental and humane organizations, representing more than 11 million supporters, wrote a letter urging Congress to reauthorize the Animal Drug User Fee Act (ADUFA) and include in it provisions to help preserve the efficacy of antibiotics vital to protecting public health. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Aug 18, 2011 |
Helping School Meals Make the GradeThe National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs provide meals to tens of millions of children each day, accounting for up to one-half of those students’ daily calories. However, more than 90 percent of schools serve meals that do not even meet the minimum national school meal standards. More info |
School Food |
| May 16, 2012 |
Heparin: A Wake-Up Call on Risks to the U.S. Drug SupplyWhile the vast majority of drugs in American pharmacies and medicine cabinets are safe, globalization and reliance on outsourced manufacturing creates new risks, including deliberate tampering with ingredients and inadequate quality controls in plants that operate largely outside the scrutiny of the FDA. More info |
Drug Manufacturing and Distribution, Drug Safety |
| Jan 23, 2008 |
Home At Last: Safe, Permanent Families for Foster ChildrenThe Pew Charitable Trusts launched the Home at Last initiative in 2003 to advance public policies that would keep children from languishing in foster care. More info |
Health Topics |
| Jul 20, 2012 |
Hospitals Seek Stronger Guidelines for Antibiotic Use in Food AnimalsSeveral hospitals and medical centers across the United States joined forces in a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to accelerate and expand actions to curtail the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in food animal production. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Feb 24, 2010 |
How Antibiotic Resistance HappensFrequent, low doses of antibiotics that are not strong enough to kill all bacteria encourage some bacteria to develop means of survival, or to become “resistant.” More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Aug 9, 2012 |
Human Health and Industrial Farming 101Are you interested in writing about the overuse of drugs in food animal production? Below you can find background information, key facts, photos, and other resources. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Feb 8, 2010 |
Important Human Medicines Used on Industrial FarmsIndustrial animal farms commonly administer low doses of antibiotics and other antimicrobials (drugs that fight microorganisms like bacteria and viruses) to pigs, cows, chickens, sheep, and other food animal species for the purpose of growth promotion or weight gain. Typically, these sub-therapeutic doses, which are generally not high enough to fight active diseases or infections, are given directly to animals in their feed or water. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Jun 22, 2012 |
Improving Medical Device Safety Through Better SurveillanceIn 2008, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched the Sentinel Initiative, a national electronic system designed to “track the safety of drugs, biologics, and medical devices once they reach the market.” By proactively monitoring data from electronic health records and other sources rather than relying on spontaneous reporting from manufacturers and health care providers, the Sentinel system can more quickly identify safety issues. More info |
Medical Safety |
| Feb 8, 2010 |
Industrial Farms and Antibiotic ResistanceBasic information on antibiotics, their use on industrial animal farms, and the problem of antibiotic resistance from the Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Feb 17, 2012 |
Joint Comments with Medtronic to CMS on Sunshine ImplementationThe Pew Charitable Trusts “Pew” and Medtronic, Inc. are pleased to jointly comment on the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposed rule implementing Section 6002 of the Affordable Care Act. More info |
Conflicts of Interest |
| Jun 9, 2011 |
Joint letter on pending FDA rule to ban the extra-label use of cephalosporins in food animal productionWe, the undersigned groups, are writing to ask you to quickly move forward with issuing a revised order of prohibition on extra-label use of cephalosporin drugs in food-producing animals as stated in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Strategic Priorities for 2011-2015. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Sep 6, 2011 |
Joint letter on State of the Science Regarding Antibiotic Use in Food AnimalsThe undersigned medical and public health organizations wish to clarify misinformation and confusion about the state of scientific knowledge concerning the contribution of animal agriculture to human antibiotic resistance. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Oct 25, 2011 |
Joint Letter to HHS on Sunshine ImplementationDear Secretary Sebelius: We are writing to urge you to fully implement Section 1128G of the Social Security Act, the Physician Payments Sunshine Provision, which was added as Section 6002 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). More info |
Conflicts of Interest |
| Jul 31, 2012 |
Leading Physicians and Scientists Ask FDA to Rein in Drug Use in Food AnimalsSeveral recognized leaders in the U.S. scientific and medical community have signed a letter to President Obama and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, urging the FDA to implement stronger regulations regarding the use of antibiotics in food-producing animals. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Mar 22, 2010 |
Legislative text of Physician Payment and other transparency provisions included in H.R. 3590Legislative text of Physician Payment and other transparency provisions included in H.R. 3590: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2009. Passed by the Senate (12/24/09) and the House (3/21/10). More info |
Conflicts of Interest |
| Dec 8, 2009 |
Letter from Danish Chief Veterinarian to CongressIn Denmark the termination of non-therapeutic use of antimicrobials for growth promotion has not caused any negative impact on the animal production. The Danish animal food industry has continued to improve its productivity and to increase its output. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Sep 27, 2009 |
Letter from Danish Technical University Professor to Speaker Nancy PelosiWe have just had the pleasure of meeting with a delegation consisting of four members of the House of Representatives, where we presented our data on the effects of the stop for nontherapeutic use of antimicrobials for food animals in Denmark.We know that various rumours and sometimes “creative” interpretations of what has taken place in Denmark have been circulated to members of the US Congress, and we are grateful for having been given this opportunity to correct some of these stories. More info |
Antibiotics in Food Animal Production |
| Apr 25, 2013 |
Letter From New Democrat Health Care Task Force to FDA on Unique Device Identification SystemThe three co-chairs of the New Democrat Health Care task Force – Reps. Allyson Schwartz, Kurt Schrader and Bill Owens – sent FDA a letter inquiring about the status of the agency’s final regulations to establish a unique device identifier (UDI) system and database. More info |
Drugs and Devices at the FDA |
| Nov 29, 2012 |
Letter From Pew and Medtronic to HHS Regarding the Physician Payments Sunshine ActThe Pew Health Group and Medtronic, Inc. file a joint letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services urging implementation of the Physician Payments Sunshine Provision, which will require that manufacturers of drugs, devices,biologics or medical supplies report to the agency payments made to physicians and teaching hospitals. More info |
Medical Safety |
| Jul 8, 2013 |
Letter from Pew and Premier to the OMB on Unique Device Identifier RuleThe Pew Charitable Trusts and the Premier healthcare alliance sent the White House Office of Management and Budget a letter regarding the review of a Food and Drug Administration rule to establish a unique device identifier (UDI) system. Given the importance of this new device identification system to improve patient care and the missed statutory deadline, in this correspondence Josh Rising of Pew and Blair Childs of Premier strongly urged the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to promptly complete review of the UDI final rule. More info |
Drugs and Devices at the FDA |
