These lawmakers are urging the EPA to protect our life-saving medicines
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U.S. lawmakers have sent a blunt message to the Trump Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): Spraying antibiotics on citrus will "escalate [the] antibiotic resistance crisis."
On Aug. 28, U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier of California and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts sent a letter requesting the EPA not to authorize any further bulk spraying of medically important antibiotics on citrus.
"The EPA is gambling with our life-saving antibiotics in its proposal to massively expand their use in citrus production," our Stop the Overuse of Antibiotics campaign director, Matt Wellington, told the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. "Spraying thousands of pounds of a medically important antibiotic on citrus trees violates the basic principle that these drugs should be used as little as possible, and only when necessary."
Matt assisted lawmakers in preparing their letter to the EPA. Since March, Matt and his coalition have also delivered signatures from more than 45,000 people across PIRG's national network, asking the EPA to stop this proposal.
Photo Caption: U.S. PIRG's Stop the Overuse of Antibiotics Campaign Director Matt Wellington (left) and our partners in front of the EPA in March, asking the agency to deny a proposal that would expand the spraying of antibiotics on citrus fields. Photo Credit: Metroid Video
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