Submission Number: 560891-00575 

Received: 10/4/2012 3:52:04 PM
Commenter: John Abrahms
Organization: 
State: California

Agency: Federal Trade Commission
Initiative: Request for Comments and Announcement of Workshop on Pet Medications Issues, Project No. P121201
Attachments: No Attachments
Submission Text
It is an inevitability that more players are entering into the world of providing pet drugs to the consumer. As a veterinarian, I think it is absurd to assume that veterinarians should corner this market. Veterinary Medicine will not cease to exist if clients can buy their pet's prescriptions at Wal-Mart or elsewhere. What it may force veterinarians to do is not to mark up their drugs so absurdly as to stay reasonablly competitive with the other pharmacies. If veterinarians truly care about their patients then they should realize that the medications that they prescribe are expensive and that many clients can not afford them. So why not have sources for more affordable pet medications? The issue that I have as a veterinarian is making sure that these other pharmacies are legimitate and get product from the actual drug companies. This should be the law. It should also be the law for those companies that are providing pet drugs to consumers to have to disclose fully where the product comes from. It is the issue of drug safety that needs to be addressed. I would be more then happy to provide a pet owner with a prescription to Costco or Wal-Mart or Pet Meds if I knew that the product they carried was safe and real and had the backing of the drug company.