Online veterinary pharmacy Vet-Medic has announced the results of a survey which showed that veterinary practices are charging pet owners 100% more than online pharmacies for well-known drugs.
The survey compared the prices charged by veterinary practices, online pharmacies, pet superstores, supermarkets and veterinary medicine suppliers. Amongst other things, it found a six-pack of Frontline for cats available online for £16.33, vs £38.95 in practice. Optimmune was available for £23.86, compared to a practice in North London selling it for £59.81.
Andrew Evans, Managing Director of Vet-Medic said: "This research offers huge insight into the pricing structures of pet medication. When we commissioned the research to help us keep our own pricing competitive, we made an assumption that online shopping should come out cheaper but were staggered by how much."
He added: "Not many pet owners are aware that vets are obliged, in most circumstances, to provide them with a prescription when asked. How and where the prescription medicine is purchased is actually the owners' choice."
The BVA responded to the survey yesterday. President-Elect Harvey Locke said: "The Vet-Medic claim that veterinary practices are over-inflating the price of veterinary medicines is an unfair accusation.
"Veterinary practices will mark up the cost of the medicines they supply in order to cover the costs of keeping and dispensing them. This includes having trained staff available, buying the necessary equipment, and storage facilities that are governed by strict rules, and covering the cost of wasted medicines that have a short shelf life.
"Online pharmacies have similar overheads but are able to buy in much larger quantities than the average veterinary practice due to the much higher volumes sold. Many of the internet prices revealed in the survey are around the same cost as veterinary practices can buy the medicines from wholesalers suggesting that some of the internet companies are sourcing cheaper drugs abroad.
"As with many products buying online can be cheaper and consumers have a choice. Many pet owners choose to use the veterinary practice pharmacy because a lot of advice and assistance is available, including demonstrations on how to administer the treatments.
"Vet-Medic's assertion that pet owners don't know that they can obtain a prescription from their veterinary surgeon is also false. Over 50% of UK practices are registered under the RCVS Practice Standards Scheme. One of the conditions of the scheme is that a notice must be displayed in the waiting room informing clients that prescriptions are available on request, the price of a prescription, and the price list of the top ten medicines that the practice has dispensed in the last three month period.
"It's important to remember that under the law veterinary practices are not allowed to fix the price of medicines. As they are independent businesses this means that it is up to each practice to charge according to their own circumstances to cover their individual overheads."
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thanks,Harvey.maybe that will shut some of them up,but very often the press do not let the truth stand in the way of a good story!
Harvey's comments are measured and statesmanlike, but as Bob says, that may not be enough to stop the press when they think they have a good story
I would have prefered a much more robust retort, along the lines of "How dare you ctiticise £1million + philanthropists "
The facts are indisputable We needed the same Uni entrance subjects, but higher grades than medical or dental students, so every one of us has turned down the chance to be a doctor or dentist. Comprare average earnings of the 3 professions, make allowances for tax and NI contributions, and assume a 40 year career, and the figures are there-we have given away more than £1,000,000 each in order to be veterinary surgeons
I just wish that FACT could be splashed across the front page of every newspaper
Wynne
One client of mine can get a bag of Royal Canin ,delivered, cheaper than my wholesale price without VAT !
maybe it's fallen off the back of a truck?
That's why, I think, we should not discount our intellectual property, by making consultation fees low.Rather lower your drug prices and charge more for your experience and study time.
Duncan
This is an issue that is going to plague us as vets until we draw up guideline pricing for professional fees. In South Africa, where i hail from in the now distant past, the SAVA (equiv of BVA) draws up an annual price guideline list, with minimum and maximum fees allowed for every procedure you can care to have listed on your practice system. This is not price fixing, since it has quite a broad range, which allows for variables including socio-economic & overheads. This means that vets can confidently charge within the framework - and if anyone complains - show them in black & white that we are not ripping them off. When will we as vets do this? We certainly cannot continue to rely on markup on drugs and diets and consumables that the public can source cheaper than we can from our wholesalers...