Farmers and ranchers have a new set of guidelines to follow for over-the-counter antibiotics for livestock.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) enacted new regulations on June 11 for producers. According to this new set of rules, farmers now must require over-the-counter antibiotics to be prescribed by their veterinarians before they can be used.
According to the FDA website, "all affected animal drug sponsors opted to either voluntarily change the approved marketing status of certain medically important antimicrobial drugs for animals from over-the-counter (OTC) to prescription (Rx) or to voluntarily withdraw approval of their affected OTC animal drug applications."
University of Tennessee professor and extension veterinarian, Lew Strickland spoke to the Democrat about these regulations.
"What the new regulations now are, that kicked in gear back in June 11, is a producer will have to have a prescription from their veterinarian to be able to walk in and purchase those antibiotics. And to get that prescription, that producer would have to have what we call a VCPR, veterinary client patient relationship, with a veterinarian," Strickland said. "That veterinarian would examine their animals, determine what problem may be going on, and then determine what antibiotics would be best to correct that problem..."
Producers then could take the veterinarian's script for the antibiotic to buy what they need. Strickland specified they could be able to buy the medication either at a local store or online. He added it would depend upon what it discussed between the producer and veterinarian.
"The whole reason that this new regulation came along in the first place, is the concern over antibiotics being used in animals...in the overuse causing antibiotic resistance," Strickland said. "Antibiotic resistance could potentially then be conferred to (human beings) because we're consuming the animals that the antibiotics are being used on. So what are the positives there is we're looking at a reduction and antibiotic resistance. But of course, a negative would be the extra expense that the producer has to go to find that veterinarian."
Strickland said producers have told him they struggle finding veterinarians in their area, especially ones who are able to come out to their farm or ranch for an appointment. This means producers must put in extra effort to find an available physician if needed. However, he also said there could be benefit to bringing someone else onto the farm.
"I tell owners not to look at that veterinarian as being a negative but as a positive because there is a condition that's called 'barn blindness,' where...you're on that farm every day, you walk by something and you don't even see it," Strickland said. "...having another set of eyes on that farm is a good way to go, 'Well, hey, have you ever paid attention to this? This may be your problem."
Strickland strongly encourages producers to set a VCPR with their veterinarian. He said in most U.S. states veterinarian have the ability to re-prescribe medicine to farmers if they have already examined the animal within the year.
"Under this VCPR, as long as that veterinarian has seen those animals and has an intimate working knowledge of the farm, they can write another prescription within that 12-month period without having to see those animals again. Go ahead and get that VCPR established, keep it established...," Strickland said.