home_delivery

Two years ago, the US Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI)
issued the statement that “ordering drugs from internet pharmacies is dangerous and
has caused the death of numerous people”. Based on their findings, the investigators
described the internet drug business as “Rx Roulette”. Medications shipped were
frequently damaged, mislabeled, improperly stored, or just plain fake. The lack of
oversight by the doctors and pharmacists resulted, in a few cases, in the wrong
medications reaching the patients. As a result of these investigations, the DEA
created a special task force and politicians enacted numerous safeguards to protect
consumers.
Unfortunately, most of these safeguards have completely ignored veterinary
pharmaceuticals. As a result, there is still widespread abuse by internet “pet
pharmacies” that seemingly operate outside the boundaries of current pharmacy
regulations. Some of these internet pharmacies have been fined for dispensing
foreign products that differ from their US counterparts in strength and labeling. A few
have also been fined or placed on probation for selling pharmaceuticals without a valid
Doctor-Patient relationship as required by law (i.e. the pets were not under the care of
a veterinarian). Lately, pharmaceutical manufacturers have even taken matters into
their own hands by initiating lawsuits against a few internet pet pharmacies in an effort
to force compliance with existing pharmacy laws. In addition, since online pharmacies
don’t know the people shopping on their site, it is always possible for an owner to end
up with products that may be toxic or dangerous to other household pets (i.e. some
flea preventatives for dogs may be fatal to cats sharing the same household).
Despite these concerns, a few pet owners still prefer to order their pets preventative
medications over the internet. The two reasons most often given for this preference
are the convenience of home delivery and the lower cost.
As veterinarians, we are obviously concerned about the products our clients order for
their pets and use in their homes. We want to ensure that the pharmaceuticals and
products they are purchasing are:
•        effective for their labeled indications
•        safe for or around all of the pets in the household
•        backed by any applicable manufacturers’ warrantees or guarantees
•        and recommended by our clinic
In order to satisfy these needs, we have contracted with a home delivery service that
we know our clients can trust. This service fills the client’s desire for home delivery at
a fair price, while also answering to us as your veterinarian in regards to the products
they sell. That means we can and will stand behind any products purchased from this
company. We will also do our best to resolve any issues that may arise from the
purchasing and use of these products. We know that this company only purchases
product through ethical and legitimate channels, and that means the manufacturers will
also stand behind the products and support us in the event of any adverse drug
reactions with any of our patients. We also know that the products are not expired,
mislabeled, or mishandled prior to being sold. That improves the safety of the
products when used as directed. Lastly, we believe the company can be competitive in
price with internet pharmacies with regards to selling equivalent ethical products for
flea and heartworm prevention.
Due to the continued increase in the costs associated with stocking certain
products in the hospital, North Dekalb Veterinary Clinic will soon be encouraging
all clients to use our home delivery service for their heartworm and flea
prevention needs as well as for the purchase of many prescription diets. We
believe this will be a win-win situation for both the clients and the hospital. We will be
able to save on ordering, stocking, shipping and insurance costs. This will allow us to
pass savings directly on to our clients that order through our home delivery service.
We will also have access to a wider variety of products and will not be limited by
storage space. Eventually, we plan to significantly reduce the amount of product we
have on hand so that we may continue to concentrate on providing medical and
surgical services while still meeting our clients needs for the myriad of products now
available for their pets. If you have not yet tried our home delivery service, we urge
you to take a few moments and give it a try. Please contact our office if you have any
questions or concerns, or if your pet is not yet registered with our service.
Clients can click on the link below to be directed to the website for the Vet Store, our
recommended home delivery service.