This new pet drug made me so angry (unpacking the issues)

😡 The cost of a new veterinary drug for hypertension in cats is skyrocketing by 1200%, and it's not even a new active ingredient!

1️⃣ Amlodipine, a drug we've used safely and effectively for years, is now also available in a veterinary-specific version—but at what cost?
2️⃣ The new version costs $94 a month for a standard-sized cat, whereas the human equivalent only costs $27 for a four-month supply.
3️⃣ Veterinary professionals are legally bound to use these more expensive animal versions due to prescribing regulations, without considering cost.
4️⃣ This isn't a lone example; similar price hikes exist for other drugs like furosemide and clomipramine, increasing costs by 400% or more.
5️⃣ The lack of affordable options could price many pet parents out of the ability to treat their pets' chronic conditions, which is simply unacceptable.

💡 Understanding these industry practices can help you navigate your pet's healthcare choices more informedly. It's crucial that we, as pet parents, advocate for fair pricing and transparency in the medications our pets need 🐱

Find out more in the show notes at https://ourpetshealth.com/podcast/new-pet-drugs Jump into episode #162 to find out the other ways the pet healthcare industry is broken

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Transcript

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I love it when new treatment options become available. And over the years, it's actually these new additions that have, in some ways, completely revolutionized the impact that I've been able to have on my patients in my consulting room. But news of a new drug release a few weeks ago really made my blood boil. Welcome to the Call the Vet Show, the podcast that helps pet parents understand and optimize the health of their furry family so they can live the full and happy life you want for them. And here's your host, veterinarian doctor Alex Avery. Hello, and welcome back to another episode of the call the vet show. I'm really pleased to be bringing you another episode after such a long break. I've had a lot going on, kinda personally, nothing bad. It's all been good with school holidays and number of appointments and things and the time that I normally produce these podcasts and, actually spending some time enjoying myself rather than tied to my computer in the nice weather which, has been much needed if I'm honest. But that said, I wanted to bring you this episode because if you can remember back to a few episodes ago now, and I'll leave links in the show notes, I discussed how the pet health, the pet care industry is broken for you, it's broken for your pet, and it's broken for me and my fellow veterinary professionals. And the story that I'm bringing you today is a really good example of just one way the pet health care industry is broken, and it's a big reason why vets get a lot of blame. But as you'll see, it's really not your vet's fault. But before we get into that, as always, I'd love it if you could share this with any pet loving friends and family that you have just to help me spread the word and to help me impact the lives of more pet parents and more pets out there no matter where you are on the wide world. And if you're not already, hit that subscribe or follow button just to make sure you don't miss out on any future episodes. So without further ado, let's jump into just why this new drug made me quite as angry as it did. And now, on with the show. And at first thought you might think that this is because it is a dangerous drug, there are unacceptable side effects, or it just doesn't work very well, but that's actually not the case. This new drug is the active ingredient is amlodipine. Now this is a drug that we have been using for a very long time to treat primarily hypertension, high blood pressure in cats. So if it's a safe drug, it's a an effective drug. It does a really good job. Then why am I so against it? Well, what I'm against is that this is a new veterinary licensed drug. It's come out in the UK but the situation is similar across the world, if not this drug with others which I'll discuss in a little bit. And my issue is the price. So this new Amlodipine comes in at a cost of about 94 dollars a month to treat a standard sized cat. Now I've converted that from, UK pounds into New Zealand dollars, which is where I am. Clearly, if you're in the US, you know, the the costs are going to be slightly different, but you'll get the gist in just a second. Because for human amlodipine, 28 tablets comes in at $27. And when you think of the standard dose for a normal sized cat being at a quarter of a tablet, it's an eighth of a tablet for cats less than 4 kilograms, you see that one box will actually last for 4 months. So on the one hand with our veterinary license drug, it's costing $94 a month. On the other hand, we've got the human amlodipine which is costing $27 for 4 months. And yes, this human tablet is not easy to give in terms of palatability so it may be quite challenging to give your cat. Equally a quarter of a tablet is pretty small. Really, does the cost justify that improvement in ease of administration? Does it justify the cost of about$3.10 per day versus about 24¢per day to treat a cat in need. And, you know, I get that there is a little bit of change in packaging. There's a coating that's been applied, but it's not like there's been a whole load of research and development to come up with a new drug. It's not like there's a completely new formulation that's needed. It's not like there's some special kind of packaging that is cat only. It's just that price is ludicrous and there are other examples of this being the case. Another really common one is furosemide or furosemide. So we use this in cases of heart disease is the most common reason that we would use this. A 40 milligram tablet of a dog particular version comes in at about 68¢ per tablet. 28 human tablets is $4. So that's a huge price difference again. And this is a drug that we have been using for for decades decades. There's nothing new about it. All that's happened for all intents and purposes is a drug company has paid a license fee. They've slapped a picture of a dog on the box. They've maybe added a coating. They've maybe, not in this case, but in the the other case, they've maybe changed the size of the tablet so you're not having to mess around with quartering tablets. But really, that does not it does nothing to justify the cost. Another one, we've got clomipramine. So this is, a behavioral drug that we'll use in, cases of anxiety and phobia potentially. A 25 milligram human capsule comes in about a dollar 2¢per tablet. A 20 milligram Clomicon tablet comes in at about $4.88 a tablet. And okay. They're different sizes. It's a tablet versus a capsule. But again, is the cost justified? And here's the kicker. Because of the prescribing cascade, and I've spoken about that in other videos that I'll leave links to somewhere, vets legally have to use the animal version of these drugs not the human version. To do otherwise would quite simply be breaking the law. They cannot take cost into the equation. And this cascade goes as follows. It's to use the product licensed for use in that species for that condition. If that's not available, if there isn't a licensed product for that species or for that condition, we need to use a product that's licensed for use in that species for a different condition or licensed for use in a different veterinary species. If there's nothing there, only then can we use the off label use of human medication. So it comes a long way down the track. You know, costs cannot come into the decision. And pharmaceutical companies, you know, believe you me, they know this. And so they continue to regurgitate these human drugs that we've we've simply been using for years. We're familiar with. There are no concerns. You know, there's nothing that is being brought to the table to add to the welfare, add to our ability to treat or for me to treat my patients, for you to treat your pets. They're ticking a few boxes and they're laughing all the way to the bank. And yes, they may be changing the tablet size. They may be even changing the formulation to make it a liquid from a tablet. They may be putting a flavored coating to make it easier to give and I absolutely applaud that. That's fantastic to have that option but it should be an option. It should be something where we can say, well, look, I'm struggling to as a pet parent, we should be able to say, look, I'm struggling to give this and I would rather pay the premium to give something to to that I can actually give to my pet versus battling every day and actually it never happening. But we should also have the option to say, well, look, my costs are somewhat limited and that is the reality in a lots of cases especially with the money that we're talking about, the cost for these tablets that we're talking about and at the current climate as well. We should have the option to say, look, I appreciate that there's an option that's easier, but I'm treating a Labrador. They'll eat anything. So I don't worry, and I'd rather have that cheaper option, you know, or whatever it is. Because does the change that's being made warrant a 1200% price increase in the case of this amlodipine? My other two examples are 400% price increase over the human generic. Because the issue is that these new treatments, they're just ramping up that minimum cost to treat all manner of diseases, especially all manner of chronic diseases. And as a result, pricing actually a huge number of animals and a huge number of pet parents just like you out of their ability to treat conditions that maybe previously would have been affordable. And that, in my view, is simply unacceptable. Helping your pet live the happy, healthy life they deserve. So I hope today's episode shedded some light on, an issue that you may not have been aware of. And actually, I've just looked it up this second and where I discuss this more is episode number 164. So jump back a few episodes if, you know, this kind of touched a nerve and you want to learn a little bit more and about some of the other issues that are affecting the veterinary health care industry. You won't be disappointed. And I think it's really important that, pet parents are are more aware of these issues because there's a lot of villainization of veterinarians and veterinary staff out there and a lot of the time it's actually not our fault. Now that's not to say there's not some bad apples out there but but by and large, we are here to help you and we're here to help your pet in what can be sometimes very challenging circumstances. But with all that being said, that's it for me for this episode. I hope to see you in the next one. But until then, I'm veterinarian doctor Alex. This is the Call the Vet Show because they're family. That's it for this episode of the call the vet show. Be sure to visit call the vet dot org to join the conversation, access the show notes, and discover our fantastic bonus content. We'll see you next time.