Saturday, March 29, 2014

Antibiotic Use, and Abuse, on the Farms



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: barry levine 
Date: Sat, Mar 29, 2014 at 7:30 AM
Subject: re: Antibiotic Use, and Abuse, on the Farms
To: "letters@nytimes.com"


To the Editor:
    It is beyond me to tell whether this editorial is merely poorly written, or is deliberately obfuscating. If the program is "voluntary", then is a prescription now "required"? The change in the packaging is of interest only to the printer of those packages. It is the move from Over-the-counter to prescription--buried in paragraph six--that puts teeth into the change. But if only 25 of the 26 have agreed to this change, then the 25 are foregoing profits and their 26th competitor will make enough money to buy them in short order. And the abuse of antibiotics will go on unchanged.
Barry Haskell Levine


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/29/opinion/antibiotic-use-and-abuse-on-the-farms.html?_r=0

The Opinion Pages|EDITORIAL

Antibiotic Use, and Abuse, on the Farms

By 
    The Food and Drug Administration’s efforts to get the voluntary cooperation of drug companies to curb the overuse of antibiotics in animal feed is off to a rousing good start.
    The agency announced on Wednesday that 25 of the 26 manufacturers of the antibiotics of greatest concern had agreed to modify their labels to block such usage. They account for almost all sales of these drugs.
    Medical experts have long been concerned that rampant overuse of antibiotics in agriculture — to speed the growth of cattle, pigs and chickens and to prevent disease among animals crowded together in unsanitary conditions — is stimulating the emergence of bacteria resistant to treatment by some of the most important antibiotics used to treat humans.
    The F.D.A. issued new policy guidelines in December that called for drug companies to revise their labels voluntarily to reduce overuse. This week, it announced that 25 companies agreed to remove “growth promotion” as one of the purposes for which their drugs can be used.
    That effectively makes it illegal for farmers and ranchers to use the drugs to grow fatter animals faster. Although some skeptics worry that these voluntary steps can be reversed in the future, that appears unlikely.
    Should a company want to reinstate “growth promotion” as a purpose on its labels, it would need F.D.A. approval to do so. The agency has said that using the drugs to produce faster weight gain is no longer appropriate, implying that it would not approve such a change.
    The other major abuse is putting antibiotics in the food or water of healthy animals to protect them from contracting and spreading disease in crowded pens and cages. The F.D.A. guidelines called for all therapeutic uses to be overseen by veterinarians.
    The 25 companies agreed to stop selling these drugs over the counter and will, instead, require that they be prescribed by a veterinarian, who will be expected to curb unwarranted use of the drugs in healthy animals.
    Skeptics worry that veterinarians will be cavalier in writing prescriptions to keep ranchers and farmers happy, but there are ways to mitigate that risk. Both the veterinarians and the farmers and ranchers could be vulnerable to penalties if they use these medically important drugs for unauthorized purposes.
    The F.D.A. is still finalizing its rule on what will be required of veterinarians. One reasonable suggestion is that veterinarians be required to visit the farms for which they are prescribing drugs — to educate the farmers and prevent a few rogue prescribers from undermining the effort to reduce usage.
    The agency pledged to monitor how well the companies are abiding by the changes and to take further actions if necessary. It will also be important to measure whether there is a decline in antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance on farms and ranches. If not, the F.D.A. may need to pursue other regulatory action.

    Thursday, March 20, 2014

    Army General Apologizes to Victims of Misconduct Before Being Sentenced



    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    From: barry levine 
    Date: Thu, Mar 20, 2014 at 10:07 AM
    Subject: re: Army General Apologizes to Victims of Misconduct Before Being Sentenced
    To: "letters@nytimes.com"


    To the Editor:
       Monetary fines would have been fit and proper redress if brigadier general Jeffrey A. Sinclair had damaged his captains car, or house or earning potential. But his crime was an abuse of his authority against her honor, not her property. For that he should be drummed out of the officer corps, and should serve prison time.
         This case illustrates pointedly that the U.S. military still treats sexual predation as youthful indiscretions. But there's no sign that bg Sinclair or the Army is growing out of it. A majority of the U.S. Senate has voted to hand such cases to professional prosecutors, rather than referring them up the chain of command. We shouldn't rest until that's the law.
    Barry Haskell Levine

    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/20/us/general-apologizes-to-sexual-misconduct-victims.html?_r=0

    Thursday, March 13, 2014

    When a Senator and the C.I.A. Clash



    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    From: barry levine
    Date: Thu, Mar 13, 2014 at 10:35 AM
    Subject: re: When a Senator and the C.I.A. Clash
    To: "letters@nytimes.com"


    To the Editor:
           Our CIA has no legal authority to spy on citizens in the U.S. That's not just courtesy to our FBI; it's the law.  Whoever took senator Feinstein's files (regardless of what computer she used) and whoever ordered that taking, and whoever condoned that taking need to be tried and imprisoned.  Because "merely" covering up crimes of an earlier administration is no excuse. It's a crime. That means John Brennan in the dock, as well as Eric Holder and Barack Obama.
       Our republic cannot function without balance of powers. That requires push-back when a CIA (reporting to the Executive) intrudes on a committee of the Legislative. And since our Attorney General won't prosecute, the last remaining tool is impeachment.
    Barry Haskell Levine

    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/13/opinion/when-a-senator-and-the-cia-clash.html

    Thursday, March 6, 2014

    C.I.A. Employees Face New Inquiry Amid Clashes on Detention Program



    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    From: barry levine 
    Date: Thu, Mar 6, 2014 at 9:36 AM
    Subject: re: C.I.A. Employees Face New Inquiry Amid Clashes on Detention Program
    To: "letters@nytimes.com"


    To the Editor:
       After his C.I.A. mislead him into the debacles of the Bay of Pigs and Vietnam, president Kennedy realized that the Agency has a political agenda of its own.  "I want to splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it to the winds" were his words.  Of course, he didn't and the C.I.A. has grown only bigger and bolder in the interim. Now it challenges proper Congressional oversight and even spies on our Legislature.
       President Kennedy wasn't wrong. The C.I.A. poses an existential threat to the functioning of our Republic; if it can't be reformed and leashed, it must be  shut down.
    Barry Haskell Levine



    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/05/us/new-inquiry-into-cia-employees-amid-clashes-over-interrogation-program.html?_r=0

    Tuesday, March 4, 2014

    Putin's Crimean Crime



    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    From: barry levine 
    Date: Tue, Mar 4, 2014 at 10:09 AM
    Subject: re: Putin's Crimean Crime
    To: "letters@nytimes.com"


    To the Editor:
       In 2014, the U.S. has military bases in over 150 countries around the world. That list does not include Ukraine.  Right now, someone in the bowels of the Pentagon is putting together a campaign to hammer countries that don't yet "host" U.S. military bases with that fact. This could happen to you next if you don't sign up.
       It is not a pretty picture. Putin's adventurism in his "near abroad" has obvious parallels to Prague 1968 and Hungary 1956 and Afghanistan 1979. But more worrisome than any of those is the parallel to 1914.
    Barry Haskell Levine


    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/04/opinion/putins-crimean-crime.html?_r=0

    Monday, March 3, 2014

    The Inflation Obsession



    ---------- Forwarded message ----------
    From: barry levine 
    Date: Mon, Mar 3, 2014 at 3:27 PM
    Subject: re: The Inflation Obsession
    To: "letters@nytimes.com"


    To the Editor: 

       Professor Krugman points to a compelling correlation; inflation obsessives tend to be conservatives and conservatives tend to be inflation obsessives. But the sample is small, and there are confounding variable. Note that our monetary policy is set by the Federal Reserve BANK, and the directors of that BANK are BANKERS. BANKERS make money by lending money at interest, and want that money repaid in stronger currency, not weaker. So as long as our monetary policy is set by BANKERS, it will build in an obsession with inflation. You can bank on it.
    Barry Haskell Levine


    http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/03/opinion/krugman-the-inflation-obsession.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0