Food and Drug Regulations as they Affect the Practicing Veterinarian

Abstract

The veterinary practitioner today is faced with a number of conditions which affect his daily operations that those of us in practice 20 years ago, or even 10 to 15 years ago, did not even consider. The most important of these are:1. Loss of drugs routinely used in practice for many years;2. The long delays in approval of new products due to increased demands by FDA for safety and effectiveness data;3. In food animal medicine, the public announcements of dangers from residues in animal source food products and the practitioner's moral and legal responsibilities to preyent residues;4. The great changes in livestock operations where the size of the operation necessitates first diagnosis, and most treatment, by employees at the livestock operation; and5. The public awareness of malpractice and the trend toward many more court claims against veterinary practitioners.