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*The date and signature must be written indelibly.
*The date and signature must be written indelibly.
Prescriptions for controlled drugs are valid for 28 days and cannot be faxed or sent to a suppler electronically.
Prescriptions for controlled drugs are valid for 28 days and cannot be faxed or sent to a suppler electronically.
==The Drugs Cascade==
The VMR states that legally vets are required to treat animals with medications that have been:
# safety tested in the species being treated
# have proven efficacy for the condition being treated, wherever possible. This precludes the use of generic drugs from the field of human medicine.
Where there are no products that meet this criterion, vets can prescribe a medicine that is:
# authorised for the same condition but in another species, or
# for another condition within the same species.
As these medications have not been tested in the animal for the condition being treated, use of them requires the vet to inform the owner od this and the owner must give consent for the ('off label') use of the medication.
If there is no suitable medication in these categories, then the vet can prescribe:
# a human medicine authorised in the UK, or
# a veterinary medicine authorised in a European country (for any species but if it is to be used in food producing animals it must be authorised for use in another food producing species). Failing these alternatives, it is possible to use a veterinary medicine that has been manufactured by a pharmacist, veterinary surgeon or manufacturer authorised to manufacture that product by the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State must also certificate any medication that has been imported from non EU countries.
''It is important to realise that failure to treat animals according to the cascade is now a criminal offence.''