Commentary
The article linked here represents a disturbing trend in animal advice pieces featured in all types of today’s media. Chelsea Huckabay asserts that four OTC drugs featured in it are safe for dogs. To our knowledge, Huckabay is not a veterinarian, and there is no indication that a veterinarian edited this article.
We reached out to our colleague and AHD follower, *Elaine Blythe, PharmD, veterinary pharmacist, for her comments on the information Huckabay shares. Blythe’s comments will resonate with veterinary teams and animal health professionals who share the frustration and challenges of informing pet owners and keeping pets safe . . . too often from their owners.
This reminds all of us to check materials before passing them on to other animal owners to help ensure animals’ safety and owners’ peace of mind. Read this piece and you’ll likely react as Elaine and I did.
Source: MSN.com, ALot.com, appeared November 18, 2024. Link.
I am concerned that such information coming from a non-veterinarian may not be legal. Any use of human drugs in veterinary patients is extra-label drug use. State and federal laws are clear that a veterinarian is the only person who can legally authorize extra-label drug use.
All conditions for which those drugs are reported as safe first require evaluation and diagnosis by a licensed DVM within the context of a valid veterinarian-client-patient relationship.
While those drugs could be used in dogs under the supervision of a licensed DVM, laypersons are not qualified to evaluate nor diagnose conditions that might lead to the use of those drugs in an extra-label manner.
* Elaine Blythe, PharmD and veterinary pharmacist
NOTE: The Animal Health Digest team appreciates Blythe’s response.