Vets and prescriptions

Fire_Fox

rising_from_the_ashes wrote: »

What's annoying her is that her vets have said that it's "practice policy" not to issue a prescription for more than one months' medication - to any patient, ever!

She has asked if there are any concerns about her dog's condition and has been told that there aren't - so, either the vets are not telling her the truth about this (which I sincerely doubt) or, they are insisting that all their patients have a check up each month, whether needed or not. Also, the fact that her vet told her to use my prescription would imply that they aren't concerned about the dog's condition!

IMVHO seems to imply that they want to make it as difficult as possible for their clients to obtain medication elsewhere and ensures that they are receiving monthly check-up fees.

"Seems to imply" is a guess not a body of evidence, and not having concerns about the dog's condition does not mean it is chronically stable. I cannot see any value in sticking with a surgery that you believe is putting business before animal welfare. Suggesting she use your prescription could imply the vet she saw does not agree with practice policy, could imply the vet was concerned the dog would not get treatment at all for financial reasons. "Nothing stopping" is not the same as suggesting someone breaks the law, we don't know exactly what was asked only what has been inferred from the response.

NHS policy on GP prescribing is currently a blanket one month maximum which has a positive financial implication for pharmacies but a negative financial one for patients. The policy is based on a combination of clinical and financial but the clinical is rarely on a client by client basis, it's sometimes on a drug by drug and sometimes on a condition by condition basis. Vets don't have a single client who can self report symptoms so they may be covering their rears or they may not. It's possible the monthly check ups are a clinical decision, and the prescribing is a financial one or to enforce the clinical decision. Are you sure they are insisting on monthly check-ups for stuff like Stronghold?

Fire_Fox wrote: »

There is a difference between debate and explanation. I am not expecting them to change practice policy but, if it were me, I would want to know whether the practice policy was a clinical decision or a business one. Basically are these check-ups key to the welfare of the cat or trumped up to boost profits? Many cats find visits to the vet highly stressful, and stress is proven to have a negative effect on health ... It's the need for a regular check up that is the issue here, the monthly prescriptions are an offshoot of that. If the check ups are not of clinical benefit I would run the situation by the RCVS.

orlao

snowman2 wrote: »

Wherever these internet sites are getting Metacam 180ml to sell at £18 ish I want some because that is less than half of what I am paying and presumably they are making some profit. I am starting to think I should give up selling drugs as it is not a level playing field, vets are being charged a lot more than these pharmacies for the same drug. Prices for consults and operations will have to go up by 20% to pay for it. Either that or these are foreign imports / fake drugs because these prices you are quoting are obscenely cheap. Stop blaming your vets as it is becoming clear that we are being taken for a ride by the drug companies and wholesalers. I am not being given a chance to compete. Think I might have to make some phone calls on Monday....

I'm guessing that you can't buy from these sites because of the cascade ie it's not for a named animal so you are stuck with wholesalers and whatever price they wish to charge for your practice stock?

As far as the veracity of the meds are concerned, it is an issue that there are a huge amount of fakes on line but I personally will only buy from established uk (with a physical address - no PO boxes - and a land line number) companies and considering that I have been buying prescription meds online for at least 6 years I have had no problems. These meds have included Felimazole which I guess was 'the real thing' as the cat had regular satisfactory blood tests - that really is the only reliable way to tell that the meds are genuine I suppose. I have been buying horse, dog and cat wormers online for even longer!


I do agree with your point that practices should have the same opportunities to buy at the prices available to online pharmacies, as you say it's unfair competition but I've argued the bolded bit above of the quote above with you in the past :rotfl:and I still stand by my belief that ops and consult fees shouldn't be subsidising another clients drug costs...

rising_from_the_ashes

Fire_Fox wrote: »

NHS policy on GP prescribing is currently a blanket one month maximum which has a positive financial implication for pharmacies but a negative financial one for patients.

I get 2 months at a time on most of my (many) drugs - the only ones I need to re-order every month are the hayfever ones which is VERY frustrating at this time of year (and seems silly as they're probably the least "potent" or potentially harmful of all the ones I take)!

orlao wrote: »

As far as the veracity of the meds are concerned, it is an issue that there are a huge amount of fakes on line but I personally will only buy from established uk (with a physical address - no PO boxes - and a land line number) companies and considering that I have been buying prescription meds online for at least 6 years I have had no problems.

Same for me, UK based/registered companies only.

Ben's been for his 6 month check-up today and came away armed with a new prescription - order has been placed and once it comes, I will be checking the box just to see what the country of origin is (although I'll need to find out where it comes from in the first place)!

orlao wrote: »

I do agree with your point that practices should have the same opportunities to buy at the prices available to online pharmacies, as you say it's unfair competition

Ditto

rising_from_the_ashes

Success!

DMs vet called today - they're going to give her a bigger bottle of medication (will last about 2 months - with a discount off it so it works out at about £30).

She can phone when that's due to run out &, providing all is well, can renew the prescription and only needs to physically go for a check-up every 6 months (again, providing all stays well).:)

Fire_Fox

Great result!