Vet medicine costs rip off!!

Johnb44

My 12 year old lurcher has been diagnosed with a heart condition, no surprise due to her age and a poor start in life ( she was a rescue dog) I noticed she was short of breath and coughing and her gums were not very pink (a fair indicator for congestive heart failure) took her to the vets who after £400 worth tests said she has congestive heart failure!! they did offer to send her to a cardiologist for confirmation for another £2-3000 I passed on this and she was prescribed Pimobendan and frusemide one helps with load on the heart and the other is a diuretic to prevent fluid build up. She is not going to get better but the medication has proven to prolong life for some months and above all keep her comfortable.
The killer is the cost one months supply £155 !! so i did a little research the same medication from a reputable online supply company ......
£55 and they are making a healthy profit on that, basically my vets charge £2.20 for a tablet that retails for around 50-55p and 10p each for tablets that retail for about 0.04p. Morale of the story get a prescription and buy online.

I understand that they are running a business and need to make a profit but a 400% + mark up is surely unethical and bordering on exploitative( we don't want our animals to suffer) so unless you know there is an alternative they have you over a barrel. It seems they can charge what they like with impunity, as the only other choice is to let my dog suffer and die.
People say doan't moan too much or they might refuse to write prescriptions , I say moan like hell and then maybe they will stop exploiting their customers with this shameful overcharging.

krlyr

They can't refuse to write a prescription - the RCVS guidelines state so.

However, comparing the cost of medication from your vet vs. online pharmacies is like comparing the prices in Costco vs. your local corner shop.
The latter will have far less storage to take advantage of bulk discounts, less buying power for other discounts.
They likely have higher overheads in proportion to their sales, and it's likely the profits from the sales have to cover more overheads - so the profit on a tin of bins helps pay towards their shop signage, for example. For a vet, profit on medication may get eaten up by a lower profit margin, or even on a loss, elsewhere in the business - for example, my vets offer free consultations when you need flea/worming treatment, which does cost them in terms of someone's time.

Rent on a shop premises is going to be different to compare to rent of a commercial warehouse - a premium is paid for a more convenient location, customers won't want to drive to the middle of nowhere for vet visits.

Salaries of warehouse operatives is going to be hugely different to that of qualified vets and vet nurses.

You'll have wastage, as well. An online store that sells nationwide will likely get through medication at a much faster rate - whereas a small vet practice may only use up half of a packet before it reaches expiration date. When I had rabbits, I know quite a few vet practices would struggle with getting through the minimum pack size of myximatosis vaccinations, as they came in packs of 3 or 4 but with a fairly short shelflife.

A vet surgery will need to be cleaned to a much higher standard than a warehouse - cleaners and cleaning materials will cost. A warehouse won't need to sterilise their equipment, for example!

Talking of equipment - forklifts can be costly, but nowhere near that of x-ray machines, blood analysis equipment, anaesthetic machines, etc.

All these costs need to be covered in one way or another - some will be by the consult fee, or the surgery costs, but every part of a business has to contribute to profit in some way.

Yes, some vets probably do add a fair whack of profit. So do some online companies, I bet. But comparing the two is like apples and oranges, their business structures are quite different.

Better_Days

I spoke to my vet about this and she explained that the online pet meds retailers sell the medications for less than the practice can buy them for. Apparently vets are restricted as to who they can buy medications from - not sure what the criteria are.

As krlyr explains the cost of the meds from your vets includes overheads and expertise that the online retailers simply doesn't have. My vet surgery does write prescriptions to buy online (charges over £10 per item) but the owner of the practice told me that feels he isn't getting paid for work done when he does so. I compromise by purchasing the initial prescription from the vet, and if it is ongoing then buy online.

However I agree the markup is horrendous on some meds, and you don't see many vets going bankrupt. I have a friend who works at the vets as a nurse, and the pay is NMW, and hours sometimes antisocial. Also the markup on some things, like for example saline when an animal has an op would make your hair curl (and you can't go online in those circs)

OTOH it is a very stressful profession and the suicide rate is higher than the national average and some other professions.

I do think vet practices need to be a bit more realistic about clients going online and purchasing meds. For too long they have relied upon the fact that clients didn't have an option. Now that there is an option this needs to be taken into account in the business model, instead of being sniffy with clients who are just trying to cut costs in what is often a very expensive business. As things stand I can understand why clients feel they are being ripped off when there is such a significant price differential between the vets and online prices.

sheramber

Who do you go to if your animal reacts badly to the prescribed medecine?

It wouldn't be the online supplier. You would expect your vet to be available but they can only be there if they make enough profit to cover their surgery costs and give themselves a wage.

Vets spend many years training and end up with tens of thousands of pounds of debt.

By all means buy where you want but don't run your vet down. You will probably need him one day.

Shoshannah

Johnb44 wrote: »

My 12 year old lurcher has been diagnosed with a heart condition,

I'm sorry to hear about this diagnosis, which is never a good one to have. I hope she does well on her meds and maintains a good quality of life for many months to come.

no surprise due to her age and a poor start in life ( she was a rescue dog) I noticed she was short of breath and coughing and her gums were not very pink (a fair indicator for congestive heart failure) took her to the vets who after £400 worth tests said she has congestive heart failure!!

Did these tests involve X-rays of her chest? I agree that CHF is a consulting room diagnosis in many cases, but without chest X-rays you really have no idea regarding the degree of pulmonary oedema present. You could have refused tests and gambled on the correct treatment if you wanted.

The killer is the cost one months supply £155 !! so i did a little research the same medication from a reputable online supply company ......
£55 and they are making a healthy profit on that, basically my vets charge £2.20 for a tablet that retails for around 50-55p and 10p each for tablets that retail for about 0.04p. Morale of the story get a prescription and buy online.

How much do you think the veterinary practice pays for the tablets? I'm telling you now it will be more than 50-55p / 0.04p.

I understand that they are running a business and need to make a profit but a 400% + mark up is surely unethical and bordering on exploitative( we don't want our animals to suffer) so unless you know there is an alternative they have you over a barrel. It seems they can charge what they like with impunity, as the only other choice is to let my dog suffer and die.

Heart medications are notoriously expensive. How much do you think you would pay for these medications for yourself if we had no NHS? The mark up on drugs may be higher than we'd like, but it's drugs or services. Something has to pay the bills. If you want cheaper drugs, you'd have to pay more for services such as consultation fees.

People say doan't moan too much or they might refuse to write prescriptions , I say moan like hell and then maybe they will stop exploiting their customers with this shameful overcharging.

A vet cannot refuse to write a prescription because you moan about them. It's in the RCVS Code of Professional Conduct:

10.2 Veterinary surgeons must:

1. ensure clients are able to obtain prescriptions, as appropriate. (A veterinary surgeon may prescribe a medicine of category Prescription Only Medicine, Veterinarian (POM-V), only following a clinical assessment of an animal under his or her care; a prescription may not be appropriate if the animal is an in-patient or immediate treatment is necessary);

I'm sorry that you feel exploited by your vet.

teddysmum

Pimobendan (aka Vetmedin) is a brilliant drug, which acts quickly. I had two cavaliers who had 18+ good months, once their MVD (mitral valve disease) got to the stage where drugs were needed. You may find that Fortekor (once the primary choice for heart treatment) will help later, as it gives a lift. Also,if the Frusemide no longer copes with fluid, Moduret is helpful, as it works in a different way and costs pence.


When I had my two 'heart' dogs my vet always did me prescriptions for online and told me that he only paid a few pence less than I paid, for tablets costing about 80p. (This was confirmed by my son who delivers vet products; some to my vets' practices).

jumpedtheshark

sheramber wrote: »

Who do you go to if your animal reacts badly to the prescribed medecine?

It wouldn't be the online supplier. You would expect your vet to be available but they can only be there if they make enough profit to cover their surgery costs and give themselves a wage.

Vets spend many years training and end up with tens of thousands of pounds of debt.

By all means buy where you want but don't run your vet down. You will probably need him one day.

You go to the vet. That's how they justify the charge for the piece of paper prescription, which you can then take away and get filled elsewhere.

sheramber

jumpedtheshark wrote: »

You go to the vet. That's how they justify the charge for the piece of paper prescription, which you can then take away and get filled elsewhere.

No, the charge is for the vet's expertise to diagnose the problem and know what treatment to prescribe and for his time to write the prescription out.

Shoshannah

jumpedtheshark wrote: »

You go to the vet. That's how they justify the charge for the piece of paper prescription, which you can then take away and get filled elsewhere.

If you had paid as much as some vets have to be allowed to sign that 'piece of paper', I bet you'd want to charge more than a tenner.

mountainofdebt

well I've known that the vets that I've always gone to, even before we had mutt, was expensive and since we've had said mutt, talking to other dog owners they've said the same about the practice.

Mutt needs his annual vacs and this year I've asked another practice what they would charge and its £20 less than my usual practice.

Rumour has it that my usual practice is expensive because we're subsidising (whether its true or not I don't know) all the charity work it does.

I must admit I'm going with the cheaper option this year for vacs - will be interesting to see the difference

jumpedtheshark

sheramber wrote: »

No, the charge is for the vet's expertise to diagnose the problem and know what treatment to prescribe and for his time to write the prescription out.

No, that's the appointment fee, which pays for their expertise, their time and the use of their facilities. The prescription fee pays for their legal liability in relation to the piece of paper, i.e. should they prescribe the wrong medication, wrong dosage, etc. That fee would apply whether or not they dispensed the medication themselves, though they might not charge it separately and might absorb it into other charges.

Shoshannah wrote: »

If you had paid as much as some vets have to be allowed to sign that 'piece of paper', I bet you'd want to charge more than a tenner.

Which is why I am charged an appointment fee.

I feel a little picked on here when all I was pointing out is that, by charging the prescription fee, it is the vet that is responsible if there is anything wrong with the prescription.

For one of my dogs, every 2 months I pay my vet approximately £180 for blood tests, a follow-up appointment and a paper prescription, which I fill at a human pharmacy online. Between my two dogs, my vet receives over £1,000 a year from me for appointments and blood tests. It is an independent, family practice, not a chain vet. I am also happy to pay the fees because they are a good vet practice. But let's not 'run down' the need to resort to online pharmacies for medication. One of my dog's three medications costs £8 approx every 8 days, whereas it would be £35 every 8 days from the vets. How many could afford that?