From Mr B. G. Spencer, MRPharmS
SIR,-The earlier letters from my friends David Evans (PJ, May 13, p725) and Andrew Cairns (PJ, May 20, p770) have not elicited a response from a manufacturer or from its trade organisation, the National Office of Animal Health, probably because they do not have a leg to stand on.
There can be no justification for having a product in the Irish Republic which is legally available for sale there from pharmacies direct to the public, when the exact equivalent is a prescription only medicine in the United Kingdom. What happens in the border towns? Do UK pharmacists send their customers to buy products in Ireland?
The answer lies squarely with the UK licence holder, who could put a case for change of registration from prescription-only medicine to pharmacy medicine which, given adequate data, would no doubt be accepted by the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, resulting in a change of product category forthwith.
The Veterinary Pharmacists Group of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society has been in discussion, to my knowledge, with at least two manufacturers for the past three years, to try to get a commonsense attitude to the registration and categorisation of certain companion animal products, but to no avail. All we are promised is jam tomorrow, or, more correctly, jam next decade!
It is in the interests of manufacturers, pet owners, veterinarians and animals to widen the responsible and professional distribution of medicines by re-categorisation of products from POM to P. Given the opportunity, pharmacists will stock animal medicines, are technically capable of supplying them, and will provide the necessary service and back up required by the pet-owning community.
It is encouraging to hear that four of the largest pharmacy multiples are actively progressing a regional marketing exercise with a view to entering this lucrative product area. The potential is huge and the profits are good, and the Veterinary Pharmacists Group Committee is ready and willing to assist any other pharmacists who may wish to widen their professional experience and scope. A telephone call is all it takes.
Brian Spencer Sutton Coldfield