Prescription Writing for Internet Pharmacies

We, at Happy Tails Animal Hospital, understand your desire to purchase pharmaceutical supplies at the lowest possible cost.  Many people do not understand why veterinary hospitals may charge more for pharmaceuticals than internet pharmacies.  Some believe that in doing so, veterinary hospitals are making huge profits on pharmaceutical sales.  That is certainly not the case.


We are happy and willing to write prescriptions for you to purchase your products on-line if you choose.  We must, however, follow certain protocols for such prescription writing in order to limit our liability.  With the advent of E-commerce, internet scams and fraud have also become a billion dollar business.  We cannot be aware of all the problems on the internet and certainly do not wish to act as the “internet police”, but it is certain that some pharmacies are in violation of standard pharmaceutical practices.  Some of them have had their pharmaceutical licenses placed on probation and have been fined for re-packaging and mislabeling products.  There are, however, others that may be reputable and reliable. We cannot, however, make any recommendations as to a specific internet pharmacy and which category they would fall into.

Happy Tails Animal Hospital assumes no responsibility for the efficacy, dosing instructions, proper packaging or dating of any medication received outside of our hospital.  We will not sign any prescriptions FAXED to us by an internet pharmacy upon your request, as this puts our doctor’s signature on a prescription request from an unknown pharmacy.

We can, and will do this:

• Write a prescription for your pet on our own legal prescription pad. You can pick that prescription up at the hospital, and then you may get that prescription filled at the pharmacy of your choosing (including internet pharmacies).

 

• We respectfully request that you call our office at least 24 hours in advance of the anticipated time you would like to pick up the written prescription so that our doctors can have it prepared for you when you arrive.

 

• Please DO NOT ask any internet pharmacies to call us directly, as we will not give phone authorization, just as we will not sign prescriptions that are faxed to us.

Please understand that we are here to help you and your pets in any and every way.  As your pet’s doctor, we wish to help protect them by making you aware of the fraud and deception that has, unfortunately, infiltrated the internet pharmacy business.  As such, we have been forced to limit our liability by outlining and adhering to these few simple rules regarding prescriptions obtained outside our hospital.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation,

The Doctors and Staff at Happy Tails Animal Hospital