What is the Fairness to Pet Owners Act? | Dr. Justine Lee
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!
I generally do not mind paying the massively marked up fees for prescriptions from my Vet, but I AM sick and tired of paying a prescription writing fee for a drug that my Vet no longer carries, or something that I need to have compounded for whatever reason. Simply put, it’s wrong.
As to “human pharmacists”, I had no idea that the Veterinary community thought so poorly of them! Why is that? How can an error be made if the prescription is clearly written and very specific? It sounds as though you feel that it is an epidemic. Personally, I always confirm my pet’s medications, regardless of where they came from. It’s a good thing too, or my cat would have had a massive overdose of Buprenorphine (meant for a large dog) that I picked up from my Vet.
I support this act 100%.
Comment *I live in New Hampshire and my dogs’s vet will not give me a prescription for her heart worm pills. He drew blood and she doesn’t have heart worm. He said he will “give me a prescription” while not giving me a prescription. It feels like he is using the term in a legal way. He will only approve her prescription if I fill it at his affiliate link with Covetrus. They have two active lawsuits against them. I don’t want to do business with them. I placed an order for her heart worm pills at a pet pharmacy online and he ignored the prescription until I called him and he scoffed at me. Covetrus also carries these heart worm pills but for a lot more than the other pharmacy. He claimed that this is how he is able to keep his costs down. I want to pay a fair price for veterinarian care and a fair price for heart worm pills. I do not like being price gouged and his bill was not that low. It is very easy to look up a prescription online to make sure it is correct. There’s pictures and a description of all medication and we can and should utilize this technology each time we get a prescription filled.