URGENT: Protect your animals from the FDA’s dangerous plan!
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration(#FDA) is proposing regulatory guidance for compounded #animal medications that will likely cost you more — and even put your animals’ lives and health at risk.
Act Now: https://bit.ly/3aG6Og8
No, that’s not an exaggeration.
It’s called “Draft Guidance for Industry #256,” and it will make it harder and more expensive for #veterinarians to get the right medication for your #pets. We need your help to stop it.
#Veterinarians use compounded drugs because of the variety of dosage forms needed for so many varieties of animals. #Hamsters and #horses, #alpacas, and #angoras ... they all need very different dosages, and current #FDA-approved medications simply are not manufactured in the number of forms and dosages needed.
That’s why #pharmacy #compounding is so essential to animal health. When a pharmacy compounds a custom drug for your pet, they create the exact dose necessary, per the veterinarian’s order.
But GFI #256 will require that all animal #compounding begins with existing, #FDA-approved drugs, rather than with bulk ingredients (unless the #veterinarian documents that the compounded version is better and necessary). That means wasting time and adding frustration … but it also means your costs will likely go up.
#FDA-approved drugs are almost always more expensive than compounded medications made specifically for your pet from bulk ingredients by your pharmacist. Think of the price difference between a restaurant meal and one you cook at home. (It’s worse, actually. FDA-approved medications cost an average of three times as much as #compounded ones.)
#Vets might not have what they need on hand. Veterinarians keep some compounded medications in stock in their offices, too, but GFI #256 will limit those “office-use” drugs to a list of only certain compounded meds a vet is allowed to keep on hand for when immediate administration of the drug to an animal is necessary. That list will cover cities and suburbs, #farmland and ranches, #zoo animals and house pets, and will almost surely limit veterinarians’ options – and may put your pet at risk in the process.
Interestingly, the #FDA has no authorization from #Congress for this effort to regulate either #veterinary #medicine or animal compounding in this way.
That’s why a #bipartisan group in the House of Representatives — led by Donald Norcross (NJ), Mark Pocan (WI), and Ted Yoho (FL; he is also a veterinarian) — has written a letter asking FDA to withdraw GFI #256. They’re asking more members of #Congress to sign on.
We need you to urge your representative to sign the Norcross/Pocan/Yoho letter!
We’ve made it incredibly easy to send a message to your representative. We’ve even written a sample message to get you started! Just click the link below to send a message to #Congress and to the #FDA: Don’t put my #pets at risk!
And hurry, please. The comment period on the proposed regulatory guidance will be closing soon.
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