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The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 268 No 7196 p597-604
4 May 2002

Pet owners should be aware of range of outlets for veterinary medicines

Scale monopoly

The Competition Commission says that a scale monopoly situation may exist in the supply of pharmaceuticals because National Veterinary Services Ltd, a subsidiary of Dechra Pharmaceuticals Plc, supplies at least a quarter of veterinary prescription only medicines to veterinary surgeons. This finding does not imply that this situation operates against public interest, says the commission, and this will be investigated in due course.

Veterinary surgeons should make customers aware that they can obtain medicines on prescription from other sources such as pharmacies, according to the Competition Commission, which is conducting an investigation into the supply of prescription only veterinary medicines.

On 16 April, the commission published a list of issues that it intends to consider further before the final report of its investigation is delivered to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry next January.

The commission will investigate whether veterinary surgeons fail to inform customers that they are entitled to have a written prescription for their pets' medicines, therefore reducing customers' choices and increasing the prices that they pay for veterinary medicines. It will also look at whether veterinary surgeons may have indicated to manufacturers or wholesalers that they should refuse to supply pharmacists, or supply them on less favourable terms.

The commission has received complaints from pharmacists who say that although they want to purchase veterinary POMs, they are unable to obtain supplies from manufacturers and wholesalers.

Changes to the classification of prescription only veterinary medicines, in order to improve availability and competition, is another issue that the commission wishes to address. It will also investigate whether regulations regarding efficacy testing and maximum residue limits unnecessarily restrict the introduction of new medicines on to the market.

The commission asks whether there should be a regulatory provision allowing pet shops, supermarkets and other retail outlets to register in the same way as agricultural merchants and saddlers, so that they can obtain and sell pharmacy and merchant list (PML) products.

A copy of the statement of issues can be found at www.competition-commission.org.uk.

The Marsh report, an independent review of veterinary dispensing published last year (PJ, 26 May 2001, p700), made similar recommendations regarding the provision of prescriptions.