Prescriptions

From the Georgia Veterinary Practice Act "It is unlawful for a veterinarian to release, prescribe, and/or dispense any prescription drugs without having examined the animal and established a valid veterinary/client/patient relationship."  

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.Veterinary-Client-Patient Relationship means that "(A) The licensed veterinarian or his or her licensed designee has assumed the responsibility for making medical judgments regarding the health of the animal and the need for medical treatment, and the client (owner or caretaker) has agreed to follow the instruction of the licensed veterinarian; (B) There is sufficient knowledge of the animal by the licensed veterinarian to initiate at least a general or preliminary diagnosis of the medical condition of the animal. This means that the licensed veterinarian has recently seen and is personally acquainted with the keeping and care of the animal by the virtue of examination of the animal or by medically appropriate and timely visits to the premises where the animal is kept; and (C) A licensed veterinarian is readily available for follow up in the case of adverse reactions or failure of the regimen of therapy."

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There is no specific time designation that is stated in the Georgia Veterinary Practice Act as to what constitutes "recently seen and is personally acquainted with the keeping and care of the animal by the virtue of examination of the animal or by medically appropriate and timely visits."  This is left to the discretion of each individual veterinarian, ie based on his or her own best judgment.  Veterinarians are therefore left to their own devices to determine what time periods are available. In making these determinations most veterinarians follow what the general trend seems to be.  Right now most of us are in agreement that for some medications a year is reasonable, for others six month intervals may be more reasonable, and for a few medications even more frequent intervals may be appropriate.     

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Therefore, at Friendship Springs Veterinary Care, in order to meet the intended spirit of the Georgia Practice Act, we have deemed it prudent to require a brief medical visit every six months for renewal of all prescription medications except certain parasite preventive/treatment medications where we follow a twelve month recommendation.  Medications requiring more frequent evaluation are decided on a case by case basis.  Additionally, in the case of heartworm medications we require a current heartworm test, the timing of which may be based on the last dose of medication given.  If these requirements cause any inconvenience, we do apologize for that inconvenience.  However, we ask that you please understand that these requirements are based on current legislation that has been passed into law and are therefore not negotiable.