The Veterinary Medicines Directorate is cracking down on internet pharmacies in an attempt to reduce the availability of illegal veterinary medicines, the agency’s operations director, John FitzGerald, revealed during the BSAVA congress last month.
Speaking at a joint RCVS/VMD session on the new medicines inspection system, Mr FitzGerald reassured veterinarians that the profession would not face unfair competition from businesses able to bypass the strict rules being imposed on veterinary practices.
A team has been set up at the directorate’s headquarters to identify websites linked to the sale of animal medicines and to check that their practices conform to current legislation. Indeed, the agency is considering introducing a kite-marking system to identify those practices which have been inspected and shown to be operating with the appropriate controls in place, he said.
“We recognise that this is an area in which a lot of animal medicines are being sold, some in a very professional way – and others which are not so professional. We have recently been involved in an operation in which medicines worth €2 million were seized in France and Belgium. These were destined for an illegal website in the UK and two people are in custody awaiting extradition. We take this exceptionally seriously.”
Mr FitzGerald was responding to a question on whether or not internet pharmacies were required to see the original prescription issued by a veterinary surgeon before dispensing the product. He acknowledged that a faxed copy was acceptable under the current rules.
Suspicious scrips
Although with modern photocopying equipment there is no guarantee that any prescription is genuine, the VMD was particularly concerned about the possibility of abuses in this situation. The responsibility for identifying any suspicious-looking scrips lay with the pharmacist dispensing the products. He added that several cases of forged prescriptions have come to light.
The VMD was aware that the current system may need tightening up and was in consultations on the possibility of introducing a new offence of tampering with a prescription which could be included in the next revision of the medicine regulations, he said.
Another issue concerning practitioners at the meeting was the requirement to destroy any multidose vial of medicine or vaccine 28 days after the seal had been broached. Mr FitzGerald recognised that this resulted in perfectly usable products being wasted.
He said the 28-day deadline had no legal force but was the duration suggested in EU guidelines. A partial solution to the problem would be for veterinarians to persuade their suppliers to provide product in smaller packages. But he also accepted that companies have no incentive to carry out studies to show that their products are usable for longer periods while the current guidelines are in place.
The main purpose of the session was to give veterinarians, nurses and practice managers some guidance on the requirements of the inspection system and what practices would need to do to satisfy the VMD’s inspectors – or those from the Royal College in the case of practices being inspected as part of the practice standards scheme.
Pam Mosedale, a member of the RCVS inspection team, outlined the main features of this process, insisting that it was not simply an investigation of the premises where medicines were kept.
“When it comes to the medicines part of a practice inspection, it is not just about the physical areas where drugs are stored. We want to see that these areas are clean and tidy but more importantly we want to see how you have trained your staff and that they understand the protocols in place within the practice for the storage and dispensing of medicines.”
