Would this be a sneaky thing to do?

[pony_baloney]

The vet I’ve been using since moving to this area twelve years ago will only write prescriptions with Vet’s First Choice. I wouldn’t mind, but their prices are much higher for the Prascend ($315/160) and Equioxx ($92/60). BI has convinced her that Prascend available from other sources (Valley Vet, etc.) isn’t “real” and my vet will not use them for filling her prescriptions. She is the owner/head vet at the practice (two younger vets as well) and is doing the less physical calls and will probably retire in the near future.

Is it sneaky or unethical to use a vet from a different practice to do an ACTH on my horse and issue me a script for any supplier I choose? I’ve used Valley Vet in the past, as have many others, without any issues. I wouldn’t mind a few dollars difference in price, but this place just keeps increasing them. My last Equioxx was $79 and Prascend was $298. My horse takes 2mg Prascend a day now. After an ACTH he may need another increase. Wish I was made of money, but I’m not.

She’s very close to my barn and I’ve no problem with her; her experience makes me trust her more than the younger ones. I don’t plan on changing to another practice any time soon and don’t want to cause a problem by doing what I explained above.

[hoopoe]

e) A licensed veterinarian, in the course of professional practice and an existing veterinarian client-patient relationship, shall, upon request, provide a written prescription to a client who does not wish to purchase a prescription item directly from the licensed veterinarian.

this is from the New Jersey code. Notice that it does not say that the vet gets to dictate where the client fills the Rx

I would say your vet is violating a rule or two

they are required to provide you with a written RX for you to fill where you will.

[keysfins]

Why not simply ask your usual vet to give you a written prescription? Just tell her you would like to find the best price for the medication, and that her source is higher than you have found amongst other national pharmacies. You are not required to purchase medication from the vet practice; you should be able to take a written RX to any pharmacy you choose. The key is getting the written prescription. I don’t know if this varies by state, someone else may be able to say whether that is the case.

I would probably want to be honest with my vet and not use another vet to test and write a prescription for what your horse needs. When you add up barn call, blood draw, lab test and then getting a written prescription, how does that compare to your normal vet? And have you factored in that word WILL get back to your current vet that you used another practioner? (Which is well within your right, but will you feel you need to explain why to your current vet? See first sentence above.)

I’d prefer to keep my business with my current practice, for continuity and convenience. I am thankful that I can choose where to fill a prescription, and it usually balances out when I need something STAT from my vet practice.

ETA:Hoopoe and I were posting at the same time.

[HungarianHippo]

OP, that sounds like going to a lot of trouble just to avoid a conflict conversation. 99% of the time, the conversation where you say out loud and clearly, “This is what I want”, is far easier than people think. Just tell your vet what you want.

[pony_baloney]

If it matters, horse and vet are in PA.

I have asked her to write a prescription for Valley Vet, which she has done in the past for Prascend, and she refused for the reasons given in my post. She doesn’t want to have to (in her words) “vet” these places.

My BO used her practice for her horse’s ACTH and is buying the drugs from the same place. But she also frequently uses another local vet as well, who has no problem with other suppliers. He said he would write an rx for her but only if he took an ACTH first, which is fine. He gave my horse fall vacs last year while seeing the other horses. My BO suggested to me we retest ACTH with him.

I’d like to be loyal but after she flatly refused my request, I wonder what’s in it for her? With the high markup, is she getting something in return? My horse is very old and funds are limited and these drugs are very necessary. Having another local vet on hand if an emergency comes up is useful, which is why BO uses both. Luckily my horse doesn’t require a vet too frequently, but he is older.

[keysfins]

@pony baloney

If it matters, horse and vet are in PA.

I have asked her to write a prescription for Valley Vet, which she has done in the past for Prascend, and she refused for the reasons given in my post. She doesn’t want to have to (in her words) “vet” these places.

My BO used her practice for her horse’s ACTH and is buying the drugs from the same place. But she also frequently uses another local vet as well, who has no problem with other suppliers. He said he would write an rx for her but only if he took an ACTH first, which is fine. He gave my horse fall vacs last year while seeing the other horses. My BO suggested to me we retest ACTH with him.

I’d like to be loyal but after she flatly refused my request, I wonder what’s in it for her? With the high markup, is she getting something in return? My horse is very old and funds are limited and these drugs are very necessary. Having another local vet on hand if an emergency comes up is useful, which is why BO uses both. Luckily my horse doesn’t require a vet too frequently, but he is older.

So you asked her to write an actual prescription on paper that you can take to any pharmacy? And she will not? There’s something odd if she won’t do that, IME.

If she refuses to do that, without a valid reason, then it might make sense for you to use the “back up” vet to do so. And having a relationship with another vet/practice is always nice in case one can’t make it out to a call in an emergency, for example.

[MGLpony]

I actually prefer to have an ongoing relationship with two different vet practices if possible. For the cattle, I haul out to one for routine work and a second one for emergency visits. I plan to do the same with the new horse. For me it’s not a question of loyalty; rather, practitioners can vary in their skills and services and I need the option to choose according to the situation at hand. Also, as someone else mentioned, you may need a “back-up” vet. I say, “Go for it.”

[mswillie]

@pony baloney

If it matters, horse and vet are in PA.

I have asked her to write a prescription for Valley Vet, which she has done in the past for Prascend, and she refused for the reasons given in my post. She doesn’t want to have to (in her words) “vet” these places.

I don’t think PA law requires the vet to give you a written prescription. Of course there is no law that says you can’t get a new vet. That’s what I would do.

[yaya]

If you won’t talk to your vet about getting a prescription from a different supplier, what are you going to say to her when she notices you are no longer getting prescriptions from her?

[Red_Barn]

@pony baloney

If it matters, horse and vet are in PA.

I have asked her to write a prescription for Valley Vet, which she has done in the past for Prascend, and she refused for the reasons given in my post. She doesn’t want to have to (in her words) “vet” these places.

If you were asking her to investigate some tiny pharmacy somewhere, her excuse might make some sense. But Valley Vet is an enormous national supplier with which any normal vet ought to be perfectly familiar.

I’d call bullshit on that one, OP.

[HungarianHippo]

OK so if you’ve asked and she refused, and given the other vet is already making farm calls to your place (so you can avoid that xtra cost) then I guess I’d just go ahead with the ACTH test with vet #2. No need to be sneaky, though. Easy way to inform your vet would be to drop a copy of the ACTH results in the mail with a note " Dearxxxx I understand your concern with evaluating other pharmacies so I asked Vet#2 to re-do the ACTH and write the Rx. Here are the results for your file. I hope to keep my mare with your practice for her other vet needs; please let me know if any concerns."

[Simkie]

@MGLpony

I actually prefer to have an ongoing relationship with two different vet practices if possible. For the cattle, I haul out to one for routine work and a second one for emergency visits. I plan to do the same with the new horse. For me it’s not a question of loyalty; rather, practitioners can vary in their skills and services and I need the option to choose according to the situation at hand. Also, as someone else mentioned, you may need a “back-up” vet. I say, “Go for it.”

Yep, totally agree. I see no reason to tip toe around my vets, either. You asked for the script to go to valley vet, she said no. If she asks why you’re no longer asking her for scripts, tell her you were unable to continue with the insane markup at her preferred pharmacy, so asked the other vet to write the script for you to fill where you want.

There is nothing wrong with any of that. Go for it.

[2DogsFarm]

Agree with @HungarianHippo & @Simkie
I see no need for “sneaky” - tell your vet you prefer to get the drug at the best (for you) price & if she is not comfortable with giving you a written RX, you will have to go elsewhere for that RX.
Be aware some suppliers or compounding pharmacies will require the vet to fax it to them.

[PrincessPonies]

I think it’s very odd she won’t let you order from somewhere else. If you’re BM is already using both vets then your current one shouldn’t be shocked if you use the other vet once and a awhile. I had the same vet for years but one time my horse needed stitches and another vet was already there. It was just easier. I know my old vet had a specific online pharmacy they were connected to but if I wanted to order somewhere else they would send the fax. In find its best to have other options for both farriers and vets so if something needs to get done it gets done. I don’t hide the fact that if I need to I’ll call someone else.

[bugsynskeeter]

For our pharmacy - we cannot ship prescriptions to customers in NJ, but can in PA. Just an FYI when it comes to where you ship it.

[IronwoodFarm]

I had an older horse who was getting Previcox daily for over 4 years. She had serious arthritis in her knees. My vet’s prices were higher than Valley Vet’s prices, but he was fine with matching that price for me. I do a fair amount of business with him and I don’t quibble about prices for one off treatments. The system we have lets vets sell the drugs they prescribe, so they have control over the mark-up. I would ask for a price match to Valley Vet. If that can’t happen, use another vet for the meds.

And I completely agree that suggesting Valley Vet sells fake meds or low quality meds is ridiculous. The issue is your vet’s mark-up, not the drugs being purchased.

[BeeHoney]

What you choose to do is up to you, but I see no reason to be “sneaky” about this. It is perfectly, 100% reasonable for a client to want to shop around for the best medication price. Personally, if there was an option for another vet, I would probably go in that direction because I think what she is doing is nonsense.

It would be different if the medication you were purchasing was something that had to be specially compounded and she could give you a reasonable, fact based reason for concern. Personally, I think her business would be better served by increasing her fees if they need to instead of making a commission on prescription medications, especially in this day and age where there are many competing pharmacies with prices posted online.

If you want, I guess you could approach this vet one more time about it, but if I were you I would simply accept her answer and move on to another vet who could better serve my needs. FWIW, I regularly shop for equine and dog medications through various sources to find the best buy and I’ve never had a vet have a problem with that.

[Denali6298]

The only time I might have had an issue getting a prescription written was when I was new to the vet practice because I moved. It also was for my dog. The vet mostly wanted to be confident that I knew how to give my dog his adequan shots and was comfortable doing so.

I have never had an equine vet refuse to write me prescriptions.

[Buckshot1]

I would 100% use the different vet.

I recently had a situation where my vet refused to give me a script for my mare’s medication (they are not legally required to do so in my state, and the reason they gave was IMO ridiculous). They would only sell it to me in liquid form. I tried that, it made my life VERY difficult, so I went back to them and after several days I got the message through to the clinic boss that my fussy horse would need the pill form, or would likely not be getting medicated at all (this was an exaggeration…). So they agreed to get the pill form in, just for me, and price match it with an online store.

If we had not been able to come to a compromise I would not have hesitated in switching services.

[Beck]

Perfectly reasonable under the circumstance. It’s only sneaky if you act sneaky about it.