The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency on Saturday said that draft amendments to regulations on human medicines for veterinary use would allow pre-stocking of medicines by veterinarians to ensure animals’ medical rights.
The Regulations Governing the Use and Management of Human Drugs on Dogs, Cats and Non-economic Animals (人用藥品使用於犬貓及非經濟動物之使用管理辦法) announced in 2024 would officially take effect in July.
The agency has announced 701 pharmaceuticals for human use that can be applied to dogs, cats or non-farm animals, but only 216 are registered as animal medicines eligible for veterinary use.
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Many pet owners and veterinarians are worried that more than 500 medicines yet to be registered might not be legitimately stocked at veterinary clinics, given that only registered medicines can be supplied by pharmaceutical companies directly to veterinarians.
An online platform set up by Sincere Animal Hospital superintendent and veterinarian Liu Jung-tsung (劉榮宗) has listed four issues that would impact the medical rights of pet owners as well as pets and other non-farm animals.
First, some lifesaving medicines such as diuretics, which are often used to treat heart disease, are yet to be registered by any pharmaceutical company.
Second, medical oxygen, which is indispensable to anesthetic operations and critically ill patients requiring supplemental oxygen, is also yet to be registered.
Third, pharmaceutical manufacturers are facing increased costs due to registration fees, label revision and extra warehousing, which could push up pharmaceutical prices.
Fourth, pet owners must get a prescription from a veterinarian to exchange for unregistered medicines from pharmacies, meaning they cannot obtain large quantities for preparation purposes.
In response to concerns, agency deputy director-general Fu Hsueh-li (傅學理) said a meeting with relevant agencies would be held on Friday with amendments to the regulations being planned to permit pre-stocking of such medicines by veterinarians and establish a convenient supply mechanism for medical gases.
Industrial oxygen should also be legally banned from being used to substitute for medical oxygen in veterinary facilities, he said.
Meanwhile, Federation of Taiwan Pharmacists deputy secretary-general Lee Yi-hsuan (李懿軒) said that although the registration rate remained low, pharmaceutical companies should not be blamed, as the agency did not hold a policy briefing with the industry until Feb. 9.
Taiwan Veterinary Medical Association chairman David Tan (譚大倫) yesterday added that many pharmaceutical operators are yet to register their pharmaceutical products as animal medicines, mainly because changing label information and packaging would increase costs.
Hiring veterinary pharmacists would also largely increase both the costs for veterinary clinics and their charges to pet owners, given the small scale of most domestic animal hospitals, he said.
Critically, the current training system for pharmacists is solely focused on human healthcare and does not provide separate training for veterinary medications, he said.
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