As I have mentioned before on numerous occasions in this column, the overuse and improper use of antibiotics by patients (who stop taking a regimen when they feel better), by physicians (who prescribe them for people with colds and other viral infections), and by agriculturalists and veterinarians (who use and prescribe them for growth promotion and as a substitute for good husbandry) has become a major social issue. Indeed, some years ago, the United States Congress was seriously considering withholding the privilege of extra-label drug use from veterinarians because of veterinarians overusing antibiotics.
I was part of a World Health Organization task force that addressed the worldwide issue of antibiotic misuse and consequent development of resistant pathogens. The task force issued very strong guidelines to attempt to curb this misuse for reasons of public health and animal health. In my contribution to the discussion, I argued that misuse of antimicrobials also contributes to animal welfare problems, since such drugs may be used to treat disease that could otherwise be prevented by proper cleanliness in raising animals and by an elevation in husbandry standards (This is in fact what occurred in Sweden when antibiotics in animal feeds were banned by referendum. The price of food went down when producers found that good hygiene was cheaper than buying massive amounts of antibiotics).
Thus the issue in this case is not residue; once again, it is the cavalier use of antibiotics in feeds with the veterinarian actually being asked to write a prescription for antibiotics in feeds that are not typically used in swine, so that the producer can purchase the feed cheaply. Fundamental biology and common sense indicate that this sort of situation is precisely the sort that can drive microbial resistance and thereby harm human or animal health, or both.
It is not only public and animal health that are at stake if you write the prescription. Veterinary credibility is also at stake, particularly if antimicrobial-resistant pathogens emerge in these hogs. Not only will the producer be hurt, but veterinary medicine will suffer loss of public credibility, and so will you as a practitioner. For these reasons, I would not accede to the client's request and would attempt to educate him on this issue.