Office Use: Criminal or Critical? in the Vet Practice

These comments from veterinary medical professionals are taken from a May 2013 surveyof the customers of one of the largest veterinary compounding pharmacies in the U.S. 

• "As a veterinarian, it is critically important that compounded medications are available and in-stock in office & on our ambulatory vehicles in order to begin immediate treatment. In-stock access to compounded medication is a vital component in mitigating the disease process; without the ability to have compounded medications in-stock, our patients would suffer unnecessary pain and potentially disabling or fatal outcomes if there was a delay in the availability of compounded medicine. To state it clearly - Our ability to practice veterinary medicine in the best interest of the animal and client is fundamentally compromised when we are limited in our ability to keep compounded medications in-stock."
   
• "I use office stock of compounded medications every day in my practice!"
   
• "Without an office stock of compounded medications, patients' health would suffer and be at risk due to unavailability of immediate access of necessary medications. For certain situations, any delay or change in treatment that would be caused by not having medication on hand could even be life threatening."
   
• "Why must our patients wait to receive effective treatment? With office stock of compounded medications I can often resolve symptoms and cure disease before a special order can be received and dispensed to the client - wouldn't you want that for yourself, why not our patients, too?"
   
• "There are many occasions where the quality of care to our patients would be dramatically compromised if we do not have the ability to have in-stock compounded medications immediately available for our patients. Not to mention the financial impact it would have on our practice & the pet owner if we had to order each time a patient needed a medication rather than taking from our office stock."
   
• "Having office stock compounded medications for in-house use for hospitalized and surgery patients and leave-in ear treatments allows us to keep overhead low (essential for clients in this economic climate) yet provide quality medicine."
   
• "Some patients/cases need the medicine ASAP and could suffer from the delay it takes to get the medicine compounded. Many clients run out of a medicine AND THEN come to the office. Having to then compound it means the patient misses a dose or two."
   
•  "Having office stock increases owner compliance and in turn the well-being of the animals."
   
• "Many times office stock of certain medications means the animal can start treatment when necessary, not have to wait until shipments arrive, which could be several days depending."
   
• "Owners appreciate having the medication on hand to treat a sick pet immediately. We can give the first dose in the office to start care immediately."
   
• "We do use metronidazole that has been compounded into a liquid suspension that we dispense from our office."
   
• "We have office compounded meds for emergency use. Beyond that, compounded meds are called in for specific patients."
   
• "The fact that it may become illegal for me to keep a small stock of compounded meds for patients yet it is legal for me to make my own compounded medications in house is ridiculous. Much more likely for errors to occur that way. Meds should be compounded by a licensed compounding pharmacist and then only the brief storage and prescribing out to patients should be left to us."
   
• "There was already a large negative impact when our state stopped allowing compounds for office use."
• quoted from here