FDA to limit use of colistin to curb drug resistance

FDA to limit use of colistin to curb drug resistance
By The Nation

An example of the antibiotics for animal use that do not carry a drug registration number on the label.

BANGKOK: -- FOOD and Drug Administration (FDA) officials have announced controls on the drug colistin after reports that farmers in Nakhon Pathom and Suphan Buri have been feeding it to pigs.

The FDA will this month ban the oral intake of the drug for people and only allow it to be given to animals if prescribed by a veterinarian.

Colistin has been described as an “antibiotic of last resort”. It used to be sold over-the-counter at pharmacies, but public sale of the drug was curbed because of the risk of people getting infected with serious drug-resistant bacteria.

Reports that pigs were getting food laced with colistin has worried the public and doctors fear such “frivolous” use could lead to the spread of deadly bacteria resistant to antibiotics. Bacteria that can resist “last resort” drugs such as colistin are unlikely to be cured by other medicine used in early phases of treatment, officials have said. 

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