Are you a veterinarian or veterinary technician? Please make sure to contact your House and Senate Members and ask them to oppose the “Fairness to Pet Owners Act” H.R. 4023/S. 2756.

If you dispense medications or have seen pets accidentally poisoned by prescriptions erroneously filled by a human pharmacist, please keep on reading! Please contact your Members of Congress in opposition to the “Fairness to Pet Owners Act,” H.R. 4023/S. 2756 today!

On July 31, 2014, S.B. 2756 was reintroduced in the Senate. H.R. 4023 was reintroduced in the House on February 10, 2014. If this bill passes, it would basically do the following:

  • Require you to provide a client with a written prescription for domesticated household animals, whether or not requested by your client.
  • Be prohibited from charging for the prescription or asking a client to sign a liability waiver related to writing the prescription.

Let’s be honest – it’d be burdensome and unnecessary to write a prescription regardless of whether or not the client is having the prescription filled by the veterinarian. More importantly, I worry about the massive amount of errors from human pharmacies – we’ve all experienced human pharmacists messing up or misfiling some of our pet’s medication, resulting in severe toxicity or under dosing. Clients already have the flexibility to fill a prescription at their veterinary clinic or off-site at a pharmacy of their choice.

Please consider contacting your members of Congress today and ask them to oppose H.R. 4023/S. 2756!

House Member link: Click Here

Senate Members link: Click Here

H.R. 4023 can be accessed here

Information on S.B. 2756 can be accessed here.

Have you had any bad experiences with pharmacies filling your pet’s or patient’s medications? Weigh in!

pills

  1. a pharmacist filled a levothyroxine script but assumed we were wrong by writing mg and filled it for micrograms, a few months later the owner brought in the bottle and we figured out why the medications were not working!

    • Unbelievable. Thankfully, not quite as life-threatening as other medications, but frustrating. You should make sure to report it to the board of pharmacy in your state.

  2. An adversarial approach towards fellow professionals (pharmacists) reminds me of PetMeds’ attack on veterinarians. Of course pharmacy errors can occur, especially with thyroid medication, since dosage for dogs is so different from humans. We need to communicate these differences to the pharmacist, they are not the bad guy, overregulation is.

    Lawmakers and clients need to understand that printing unnecessary scripts increases costs for all of us. Many times vets call prescriptions in directly to the pharmacy of the client’s choice, saving time and hassle for the client and expediting care for their pet. Other times animal drugs are not available at human pharmacy, but need to be kept in stock by the veterinarian. Internet pharmacies may stock the drug, but there will be a time delay to get the pet started on the medication. Focus on increased costs due to unnecessary regulations as your argument against this bill. I am sick of these stupid bills with their fake emotional titles, “Fairness to Pet Owners”, give me a break.

  3. Had a pharmacy fill trazodone instead of tramadol. Dog was painful but more tired than usual. Sigh.

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