Things We Can Do, Things We Cannot Do #3

WE CANNOT ACT AS A PHARMACY ON BEHALF OF ANOTHER VETERINARIAN, WE CANNOT FILL PRESCRIPTIONS WRITTEN BY ANOTHER VETERINARIAN.

This restriction is due to intersection of the California Pharmacy Code with the California Practice Act. The practice act stipulates that we (the doctors and staff at Beverly Oaks) must have a valid Veterinarian-Client-Patient Relationship. The Pharmacy Code says veterinarians can’t act as pharmacists. We can maintain our own in-house inventory of medications to supply to our clients, patients and meet their needs, but we can’t act as a pharmacy and fill a prescription for medication for a client or patient from another veterinary practice.

We understand this may be inconvenient, especially if you run out of your pet’s insulin on a Saturday night, but we are a medical practice, not a pharmacy, and we will have to comply with the rules and regulations that California has established to protect the California consumer and their pets.