NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BOARDS OF PHARMACY CALLS FOR PHARMACIES TO HAVE “READY ACCESS” TO A VETERINARY DRUG REFERENCE3 min read
Reading Time: 2 minutesTuesday, October 27, 2015
Plumb’s Veterinary Drugs Makes Current, Reliable Drug Information Available Online
A prominent pharmaceutical organization is calling for pharmacies to have “ready access” to a veterinary drug reference such as Plumb’s Veterinary Drugs, the digital resource of the widely used Plumb’s Veterinary Drug Handbook, if it is applicable to services they provide. Plumb’s Veterinary Drugs applauds the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) for recognizing the importance of having current, reliable information about veterinary medications in pharmacists’ hands.
“Access to up-to-date drug information is key in understanding the significant differences between dispensing medications for people vs pets,” explains Donald C. Plumb, PharmD, co-creator of Plumb’s Veterinary Drugs.
Lauren A. Trepanier, DVM, PhD, DACVIM, DACVCP, an internist and pharmacologist at University of Wisconsin-Madison, also stressed that pharmacists should be aware of important information about veterinary drugs.
“With more and more human drugs being scripted out for use in companion animals, it is really important for human pharmacists to be aware of veterinary-specific contraindications and dosing,” Trepanier says.
The NABP, according to its website, “recognizes and supports pharmacists serving as the healthcare professionals responsible for providing patient care that ensures optimal medication therapy outcomes [and] recognizes the ongoing and critical need for patients’ medications to be managed by a licensed pharmacist and state regulatory agencies to aggressively enforce standards of care.” There are more than 50 NABP member boards of pharmacy, including many U.S. state boards and associate member boards in Australia, the Bahamas, Canada, and New Zealand. The NABP does not have regulatory authority over member boards, but the Model State Pharmacy Act, a document updated each August and available on the agency’s website (nabp.net), provides pharmacy boards with “model language that may be used when developing state laws or board rules.”
The 2015 Model State Pharmacy Act and Model Rules of the NABP includes the rule that:
Each Pharmacy shall have ready access to references, to include at least one current reference in each of the following in each of the following categories, if applicable to the services provided:
- State and Federal Drug laws relating to the Practice of Pharmacy and the legal Distribution of Drugs and any rules or regulations adopted pursuant thereto;
- pharmacology;
- dosage and toxicology;
- veterinary Drugs; and
- general
Plumb’s Veterinary Drugs is an example of a recommended veterinary drug resource that was launched this year. Developed through a partnership between renowned author Donald C. Plumb, PharmD, and Brief Media, Plumb’s Veterinary Drugs provides rapid access, continual updates, and alerts on new drugs; it is also accessible via an Apple mobile app (with an Android app planned for future release). It includes the entire contents of the 8th edition of Plumb’s Veterinary Drug Handbook, the most comprehensive revision to Plumb’s in history, as well as drug updates, a greatly expanded ophthalmology drug section, and novel sections detailing multidrug sensitivity, drug compounding, and toxicology information.
“With our peer-reviewed publications and point-of-care tools such as Plumb’s Veterinary Drugs, Brief Media strives to provide veterinarians with trusted clinical information in an efficient format,” says Brief Media President Elizabeth Green. “The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy has recognized that such information is of vital importance for pharmacists to assure patient safety, whether it be for humans or their beloved pets.”
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