Action | Prescribing of opioids |
Stage | Proposed |
Comment Period | Ended on 2/9/2018 |
Overall I support tightening regulations on dispensed schedule II-IV drugs. However, I do not feel veterinarians are part of the reason for the opioid crisis in the Common Wealth or in the country, but we should safe guard that we don't become part of the problem. I think tightening dispensed duration and quantity is good as well as re-evaluation time periods and documentation. I do agree with other comments that extending the Buprenex dispense duration and re-examination requirements for chronically ill cats would improve care and quality of life, especially since quantity and strength is so low. To re-examine a cat every 7 days for Buprenex is not practical. For documented chronically ill cats, a 30 days supply followed by a re-examination is more reasonable with a maximum dispensed amount of 3mg (10 ml of 0.3mg/.ml) per 30 days. Well below the abusable amount for a human.