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Three years ago, an environmental advocacy group sued the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over their approval of the risky use of human antibiotics in animal feed.

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a New York City-based non-profit group, argued that the FDA has failed to follow their own scientific evidence regarding the dangers of giving farm animals antibiotics.

“More than a generation has passed since FDA first recognized the potential human health consequences of feeding large quantities of antibiotics to healthy animals,” said Peter Lehner, NRDC executive director.

Lawsuit filed by environmental advocacy group asked FDA to take action on the agency’s own findings regarding the dangers of overusing antibiotics in animal feed

In 1977, the FDA concluded that “feeding animals low-doses of certain antibiotics used in human medicine — namely, penicillin and tetracyclines — could promote antibiotic-resistant bacteria capable of infecting people,” wrote the NRDC in a 2011 press release.

The lawsuit, which was also filed by the Center for Science in Public Interest (CSPI), the Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT), Public Citizen and the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), asked that the FDA take action on their own findings and withdraw their approval for “non-therapeutic uses of penicillin and tetracyclines in animal feed.”

The lawsuit would also require the FDA to respond to citizen petitions filed over a six-year period in which the plaintiffs received no response, and to limit the use of antibiotics used by humans for conditions such as pneumonia, strep throat, childhood ear infections and more. The practice of treating sick animals with antibiotics would not be affected.