 | It has been suggested that this article be merged into Veterinary pharmacist . (Discuss) Proposed since August 2021. |
Veterinary pharmacy is a field of pharmacy practice, in which veterinary pharmacists may compound medications, fill prescriptions, and manage drug therapies for animals. [1] Veterinary pharmacists are licensed pharmacists who specialize in the distribution of medications for animals. [1]
In the United States, The first mention of veterinary pharmacy may date back to around 1960, when literature was published synthesizing veterinary medicine and antibiotic usage. [1] The role of a pharmacist in veterinary practice has expanded largely due to the workings of drug company production methods, in addition to prices of veterinary medication. [2] For instance, veterinarians historically compounded medications themselves, due to a lack of commercially available veterinary medications. [2] While this has changed, with multiple drug companies such as Merck Animal Health selling $3.3 billion worth of drugs for pets and livestock, due to expensive approvals necessary from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), most drugs are often approved for one particular type of patient. [2] As drugs may be approved for simply one species, compounding is extremely beneficial in veterinary medicine. Under the Animal Medicinal Drug Use Clarification Act, medicines may be compounded to fit the needs of more than one type of animal. [2] Pharmacists are therefore valuable to veterinarians in their extensive knowledge of pharmacokinetics and pharmacology. An increasing number of pharmacies are stocking animal medications, [3] which might require modification to best treat animals. For instance according to the FDA, 75,000 pharmacies compounded 6,350,000 medications for individual animals.[ when? ] [4] Additionally, veterinary pharmacy has gained prominence due to the pricing of veterinary medication. As pet owners advocated for more options for their pets' medications in the US, the Fairness to Pet Owners Act was introduced into Congress, and would allow pet owners to find the cheapest medication for their pet. [5]
In the United Kingdom pharmacists were involved in dispensing veterinary prescriptions and even treating and euthanasing small animals up to the early 1950s but this activity largely ceased with the escalating requirements of human health under the growing National Health Service and the passing of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966. There were a few pharmacies that supplied farmers but it was not until the late 1970s when the term Veterinary Pharmacist came into currency. In 1981 the RPSGB Diploma course in Veterinary pharmacy was initiated by professionals such as Michael Jepson and Steven Kayne, the former of whom led what was to become an institution until he retired in 2004. [6]
In addition to oversight by the FAO, [7] and the OIE, which governs the Terrestrial Animal Health Code, the veterinary pharmacopeia is regulated by various governmental bodies, including
Pharmacology is a branch of medicine, biology and pharmaceutical sciences concerned with drug or medication action, where a drug may be defined as any artificial, natural, or endogenous molecule which exerts a biochemical or physiological effect on the cell, tissue, organ, or organism. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical function. If substances have medicinal properties, they are considered pharmaceuticals.
A medication is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and relies on the science of pharmacology for continual advancement and on pharmacy for appropriate management.
Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are medicines sold directly to a consumer without a requirement for a prescription from a healthcare professional, as opposed to prescription drugs, which may be supplied only to consumers possessing a valid prescription. In many countries, OTC drugs are selected by a regulatory agency to ensure that they contain ingredients that are safe and effective when used without a physician's care. OTC drugs are usually regulated according to their active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) rather than final products. By regulating APIs instead of specific drug formulations, governments allow manufacturers the freedom to formulate ingredients, or combinations of ingredients, into proprietary mixtures.
Pharmacists, also known as chemists or druggists, are health professionals who control, formulate, preserve and dispense medications and provide advice and counselling on how medicines should be used to achieve maximum benefit, minimal side effects and to avoid drug interactions. They also serve as primary care providers in the community. Pharmacists undergo university or graduate-level education to understand the biochemical mechanisms and actions of drugs, drug uses, therapeutic roles, side effects, potential drug interactions, and monitoring parameters. This is mated to anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology. Pharmacists interpret and communicate this specialized knowledge to patients, physicians, and other health care providers.
Pharmacy is the clinical health science that links medical science with chemistry and it is charged with the discovery, production, disposal, safe and effective use, and control of medications and drugs. The practice of pharmacy requires excellent knowledge of drugs, their mechanism of action, side effects, interactions, mobility and toxicity. At the same time, it requires knowledge of treatment and understanding of the pathological process. Some specialties of pharmacists, such as that of clinical pharmacists, require other skills, e.g. knowledge about the acquisition and evaluation of physical and laboratory data.
A prescription, often abbreviated ℞ or Rx, is a formal communication from a physician or other registered health-care professional to a pharmacist, authorizing them to dispense a specific prescription drug for a specific patient. Historically, it was a physician's instruction to an apothecary listing the materials to be compounded into a treatment—the symbol ℞ comes from the first word of a medieval prescription, Latin: Recipere, that gave the list of the materials to be compounded.
A prescription drug is a pharmaceutical drug that legally requires a medical prescription to be dispensed. In contrast, over-the-counter drugs can be obtained without a prescription. The reason for this difference in substance control is the potential scope of misuse, from drug abuse to practicing medicine without a license and without sufficient education. Different jurisdictions have different definitions of what constitutes a prescription drug.
The regulation of therapeutic goods, defined as drugs and therapeutic devices, varies by jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the United States, they are regulated at the national level by a single agency. In other jurisdictions they are regulated at the state level, or at both state and national levels by various bodies, as in Australia.
Off-label use is the use of pharmaceutical drugs for an unapproved indication or in an unapproved age group, dosage, or route of administration. Both prescription drugs and over-the-counter drugs (OTCs) can be used in off-label ways, although most studies of off-label use focus on prescription drugs.
An online pharmacy, internet pharmacy, or mail-order pharmacy is a pharmacy that operates over the Internet and sends orders to customers through mail, shipping companies, or online pharmacy web portal.
An auxiliary label is a label added on to a dispensed medication package by a pharmacist in addition to the usual prescription label. These labels are intended to provide supplementary information regarding safe administration, use, and storage of the medication. Auxiliary labels provide information which can augment but not replace verbal counselling from a pharmacist.
In the field of pharmacy, compounding is preparation of a custom formulation of a medication to fit a unique need of a patient that cannot be met with commercially available products. This may be done for medical reasons, such as administration in a different format, to avoid a non-active ingredient the patient is allergic to, or to provide an exact dose that isn't commercially available. Medically necessary compounding is referred to as "traditional" compounding. It may also be done for medically optional reasons, such as preference of flavor or texture, or dietary restrictions.
A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, absorption via a patch on the skin, suppository, or dissolution under the tongue.
A veterinary pharmacist is a specially trained pharmacist who dispenses veterinary drugs and supplies or products and advice to owners of companion animals and livestock. In addition, they advise the regulatory bodies and are involved in the formulation of veterinary drugs.
A pharmacy is a retail shop which provides pharmaceutical drugs, among other products. At the pharmacy, a pharmacist oversees the fulfillment of medical prescriptions and is available to counsel patients about prescription and over-the-counter drugs or about healthcare and wellness issues. A typical pharmacy would be in the commercial area of a community. Mail-order dispensing is a recent development.
Medication costs, also known as drug costs are a common health care cost for many people and health care systems. Prescription costs are the costs to the end consumer. Medication costs are influenced by multiple factors such as patents, stakeholder influence, and marketing expenses. A number of countries including Canada, parts of Europe, and Brasil use external reference pricing as a means to compare drug prices and to determine a base price for a particular medication. Other countries use pharmacoeconomics, which looks at the cost/benefit of a product in terms of quality of life, alternative treatments, and cost reduction or avoidance in other parts of the health care system. Structures like the UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence and to a lesser extent Canada's Common Drug Review evaluate products in this way.
Pharmaceutical packaging is the packages and the packaging processes for pharmaceutical preparations. It involves all of the operations from production through drug distribution channels to the end consumer.
Separation of prescribing and dispensing, also called dispensing separation, is a practice in medicine and pharmacy in which the physician who provides a medical prescription is independent from the pharmacist who provides the prescription drug.
Drug disposal is the discarding of drugs. Individuals commonly dispose of unused drugs that remain after the end of medical treatment. Health care organizations dispose of drugs on a larger scale for a range of reasons, including having leftover drugs after treating patients and discarding of expired drugs. Failure to properly dispose of drugs creates opportunities for others to take them inappropriately. Inappropriate disposal of drugs can also cause drug pollution.
Drug recycling, also referred to as medication redispensing or medication re-use, is the idea that health care organizations or patients with unused drugs can transfer them in a safe and appropriate way to another patient in need. The purpose of such a program is reducing medication waste, thereby saving healthcare costs, enlarging medications’ availability and alleviating the environmental burden of medication.
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