Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Education About Compounding is Essential


This article from the Veterinary Practice News makes excellent points about why educating veterinarians is so important and must be done.

Education is Key

By Marissa Heflin


The American Assn. of Equine Practitioners has set its own Equine Veterinary Compounding Guidelines. The organization wants to educate veterinarians on compounded drugs so they can make the best choice for patients, says Eleanor Green, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, Dipl. ABVP.
“Veterinarians need to be aware that compounded products are not FDA-approved products and that they have not gone through the rigorous testing nor have they gone through the rigorous quality assurance process that FDA-approved drugs do,” she said.
“They also need to educate their clients when they are faced with picking a drug for their patient to weigh the benefits versus the risks.
And it is a risk because there is a larger percentage (of compounded products) that do not contain what the label says, so it can either be insufficient treatment or it can be toxic.”
Prescribing veterinarians should understand that their professional liability policy may not respond to allegations of negligence arising from the use of compounded drugs, according to the AAEP’s guidelines. The organization encourages veterinarians insured with the AVMA-Professional Liability Insurance Trust to review comments at AVMAplit.com.
In addition, veterinarians need to be aware that compounding, including formulation in a novel drug-delivery system such as transdermals may affect the absorption and depletion of a drug, according to the AVMA’s policy on compounding. This may result in drug concentrations above or below the therapeutic range and lead to an adverse drug event, including therapeutic failure.

Article found here

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