Comment from Jessica Graves
AnonymousSupportIndividual
Summary: An emergency veterinarian is requesting the inclusion of several specific medications (Apomorphine, Gabapentin, Metronidazole, Hydromorphone, Buprenorphine, and Phenobarbital) on the list of bulk drug substances for compounding. The commenter argues that these medications are essential for treating specific conditions, managing pain, and providing safe alternatives for animals that cannot tolerate commercially available products.
The following compounded medications for use in Veterinary Medicine are necessary for the safe and reliable treatment of diseases and conditions that cannot be addressed by commercial medications: Apomorphine, Gabapentin, Metronidazole, Hydromorphone, Buprenorphine, Phenobarbital. Apomorphine is a necessary medication to induce vomiting in dogs that ingest deadly toxins such as xylitol, rat bait, chocolate, grapes and human medication overdoses. Apomorphine is not commercially available. Without Apomorphine animals would die of toxicity and endure invasive and risky procedures to attempt decontamination. Animals that are less than 20 pounds cannot safely and effectively be treated with commercially available Gabapentin and Metronidazole capsules or tablets. The commercially available liquid Gabapentin contains Xylitol which is deadly to dogs. Phenobarbital is a medication to control seizures that is not consistently available or in an accessible concentration for use. As an emergency veterinarian I need to have Phenobarbital available to treat seizures on an emergency basis as a compounded product. As an emergency veterinarian I use Hydromorphone to treat severe pain for animals that have been victims of severe trauma or need painful surgeries. Buprenorphine is not available commercially in an oral form and we need to use it in cats that cannot be prescribed other oral pain medications such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatories because they are toxic to cats. Likewise injectable Buprenorphine is not commercially available in a concentration or consistently available to use in our critical patients that need pain management for painful surgical procedures or trauma. Buprenorphine is a safe medication to use in animals that have liver and kidney disease and cannot receive other types of pain medications like non-steroidal anti-inflammatories. Please keep these medications available for use by veterinarians with our animal patients.