Drug Legislation

Introduction

The Veterinary Medicines Regulations, which are revised and updated on an annual basis govern the supply and prescribing of veterinary drugs. The Veterinary Medicines Regulations replaced the Medicines Act 1968 in 2005. The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), which is a department of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) check the safety and efficacy of veterinary drugs for owners, animals and the environment prior to a drug reaching the sales market. Once a drug is authorised, the VMD collect information from veterinary surgeons about suspected adverse reactions to medications. The VMD also inspect premises where veterinary drugs are manufactured, stocked or supplied to the general public and enforce the regulations where necessary.

In 2003 the Competition Commission investigated the supply of veterinary medicines, and an Order was drawn up by the Department of Trade and Industry to alter the way in which prescription only medicines (POMs) were supplied to the public in the UK. The aim of the order was to increase public awareness of the price of POMs, to encourage the use of prescriptions to give the public more choice of suppliers, and to increase the manufacturer’s supply of POMs to other outlets such as pharmacies. The Competition Commission’s involvement with veterinary medicines was to investigate trading conditions – in this case monopolies; it has no interest in drug safety or efficacy.