Best practices model in preliminary stages

Minnesota and Wisconsin state organizations are in the preliminary stages of teaming with dairy veterinarians to better define the best role and best practices dairy veterinarians should follow in dairy practice, following the recent passage of a Minnesota resolution.

The "Resolution Regarding the Role of the Veterinarian in Prescribingand Dispensing Drugs to Dairies in Minnesota" may potentially lay thegroundwork for a future best practice model, reports Dr. Paul Rapnicki ofthe University of Minnesota at the ACVIM Forum in Denver in late May.

"The resolution is that veterinarians are getting together to seeif as a profession we can come up with some guidelines as a profession onhow we can address all these emerging food animal, food safety, drug useissues," Rapnicki says.

The resolution was drafted by the Minnesota Veterinary Medical Association(MVMA). The Wisconsin Veterinary Medical Association is working on a similareffort. MVMA has also had contact with the Michigan Veterinary Medical Association,which may also get involved with the model development at a later point.

"Our association (MVMA) has agreed we want to work on this as aprofession," says Rapnicki. "We want to get veterinarians together... so that when the message comes out, we're a little more uniform."

The date of completion for a best practices model is yet to be determined.

Recognition of issues

The resolution was initially established to address pertinent drug-relatedhot topics within the dairy profession.

Several issues surrounding the prescription of drugs for use on dairies,distribution of drugs to dairies, proper veterinary/client/patient relationships,and the proper control of prescription and extra-label use of drugs on dairiescontinue to be a source of disagreement, confusion, and controversy withinthe profession and the dairy industry, according to Rapnicki.

Fundamentally, the veterinary profession has the responsibility to:

* assure that drugs are properly used for the proper animals atthe proper time.

* protect the safety of food at all times

* promote the welfare of animals on dairy farms

* contribute to the client's interests in operating their dairyfarm.

* and affirm the legal and necessary role of the veterinarianin overseeing the use of prescription and extra-label drugs.

"Often, veterinarians are unclear or in disagreement about whatconstitutes a legitimate Veterinary Client Patient Relationship (VCPR),"says Rapnicki. "Drugs may arrive on dairies without clear protocolsfor their use and without effective methods to monitor their use in practicalterms."

However, he says, drug distribution channels to dairies are changingrapidly and "there is no clear path the dairy veterinary professioncan follow to properly interact with these entities while serving the bestinterests of their clients and the public."

Under the AMDUCA law (Animal Medicinal Drug Use Clarification Act), onlyveterinarians can legally authorize use of prescription and extra-labeldrugs, however in practical application this legal requirement is oftennot met, according to Rapnicki.

"Too often, the role of the veterinarian as the medical decisionmaker for drug use and their role of distributor of drugs is confused inboth the profession's and the producer's minds," he says.

The best practices process spearheaded by Minnesota and Wisconsin isone that could eventually apply to other states as well.

"We're hoping to coordinate this with other states, because otherstates have the exact same issues our guys do. There's no sense having everyoneworking on this issue separately."

"This is a very new initiative on the part of Minnesota organizedveterinary medicine," says Rapnicki. "If successful, dairy practitionerswill look to these best practices as a template to illustrate how to conductthemselves in daily practice."