Submission Number: 560891-00733 

Received: 10/31/2012 8:34:06 PM
Commenter: Rebecca LaMarche
Organization: Pleasant Hill Veterinary Hospital
State: Oregon

Agency: Federal Trade Commission
Initiative: Request for Comments and Announcement of Workshop on Pet Medications Issues, Project No. P121201
Attachments: No Attachments
Submission Text
As a practicing veterinarian, I would like to voice my concerns about the issue of human pharmacies selling pet medications. Primarily, pharmacists are not trained in animal physiology or pharmacology. A human pharmacist cannot make informed decisions about drug interactions, side effects and appropriate choices of medications for pets. A human pharmacist is not trained or able to council pet owners appropriately. If this were to pass, I would certainly hope that a law requiring pharmacists to study comparative pharmacology would pass as well. Far simpler, allow veterinarians, who are already experts on animal care and welfare, to provide the pharmaceutical knowledge and expertise to pet owners that they already do.