Bill would Protect Mobile Vet Practices from Drug Charges

Vets who make farm calls to treat horses currently risk prosecution under the Controlled Substances Act.
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

Veterinarians who make farm calls to treat equines currently risk prosecution under the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA), but new legislation pending in the U.S. House of Representatives would amend that law to protect operators of mobile veterinary practices.

Passed by Congress in 1970 and enforced by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the CSA is intended to prevent the unauthorized manufacture, sale, and transport of drugs that are likely to be abused. Under current law, veterinarians who carry certain drugs, including those used for pain management and euthanasia, to farm calls or in mobile veterinary units could be in violation of the act.

Chris Huckleberry, deputy chief of staff for Congressman Kurt Schrader, said that in October Schrader began hearing rumors from state veterinarian associations that some of their members could be in violation of the CSA. In response, Schrader and 16 other members of Congress submitted a letter to the DEA asking the agency to clarify its policy relative to the rumors and to provide a list of drugs commonly carried by veterinarians that, under the CSA, qualify as controlled substances.

“We couldn’t get that clarification from them, so Rep. Schrader wrote the legislation,” Huckleberry said

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Pat Raia is a veteran journalist who enjoys covering equine welfare, industry, and news. In her spare time, she enjoys riding her Tennessee Walking Horse, Sonny.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
338 votes · 338 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!