CVMA backs legislation pressing pharmacy board

Sacramento, Calif.-As the California State Board of Pharmacy argues a legal loophole freeing the agency from controlling the dispensing of veterinary drugs, state veterinary leaders say pending legislation should tie the knot.

At presstime, S.B. 175 was moved to the California Senate's Businessand Professions Committee for review. Language in the bill amends the pharmacyboard's definition of dangerous drugs from "any drug or device unsafefor self-use except veterinary drugs that are labeled as such" by replacingthe veterinary exception with the term "in humans or animals."

If passed, it's a modification that should serve the industry well, saysDr. Dick Schumacher, California Veterinary Medical Association's executivedirector.

"This should settle the issue, but it didn't have to come to this,"Schumacher says. "Plain and simple, this is the pharmacy board's responsibilityand they're shirking it. We shouldn't have had to take these measures."

Hands-off approach

Posturing itself against veterinary drug responsibilities, pharmacy boardleaders also claim they're not taking PetMed Express complaints and forwardinggrievances to the California Veterinary Medical Board (CVMB).

"I suspect that's the real reason why the pharmacy board's takingthis approach against veterinary medicine," CVMB Executive OfficerSusan Geranen says. "Budget cuts have left them short staffed, andthe complaints have become more work for them."

Pharmacy board Executive Officer Patricia Harris did not return a phonecall seeking comment, but in a previous interview with DVM Newsmagazine,she says: "We just figured it out in the last six months that we don'thave jurisdiction over vet drugs. It's been a very gray area, but we havelegal opinion backing this."

Taking a stand

CVMB also has legal opinion defending the veterinary profession's stance,Geranen says, but despite meetings with Harris, the issue has yet to beresolved, leaving dangerous drugs such as ketamine with no prescriptionoversight.

"I just don't understand why it's come to this," Geranen says."We can fix it with legislation, but why do we have to jump throughall these hoops?"