We LOVE our pets, and we want to care for them properly, which is often unbelievably expensive. A law providing freedom to pet owner to have their pet prescriptions filled wherever they can afford to should be our right.

The AVMA's (American Veterinary Medical Association) "Principles of Veterinary Medical Ethics" states that veterinarians should honor a client's request for a prescription in lieu of dispensing (Section III-C). But the Ohio Veterinary Medical Licensing Board has yet to take action to require Ohio Veterinarians to do this by law!

Ohio is BEHIND! Ohio is one of only 10 states that has not taken action to protect pet-owners on this issue. To-date, 40 states have instituted specific statutes, rules, etc. to require veterinarians to provide a written prescription at the request of a client rather than require that the prescription be bought directly from them. If your vet is willing to sell/dispense it to you, they should be willing to provide you with a written prescription so you can purchase it yourself at a more reasonable cost from any other pet pharmacy! 

When a veterinarian refuses to provide a pet owner with a written prescription and instead forces the client to buy the prescription directly from them (often at a much higher cost), it demonstrates unprofessional and highly unethical conduct!

Ohio should be making pet ownership more accessible and affordable to pet owners, and allowing this unethical behavior to continue among Ohio veterinarians is not in the best interest of a better, more pet-friendly, society.

Let me inform you as to why I am so passionate about this issue; Ohio wants citizens to take having outdoor 'community cats' spayed/neutered into their own hands (and pocketbooks). I pay $75 out-of-pocket per cat to TNR (trap, neuter, release) 'community cats'. This often adds up to thousands of dollars per year. When the veterinarian who performs the spays/neuter I paid her for then offers me a prescription for pain medication for these cats post-surgery, (and in some cases, pregnant cats undergoing a spay are in a lot of pain post-surgery) for an additional $12-15 per cat. I could get the same medication and dosage from Chewy for $1.50. She's marked the price up 8 times what I could buy it for with a written prescription on Chewy. When I ask her for a written prescription for the same medication, she refuses and it's perfectly within the law to do so.

This is clearly just one problem that prevents more people like myself from TNR with their community cats. STOP making it so expensive and difficult for us to do GOOD THINGS FOR ANIMALS! 

Source: https://www.avma.org/advocacy/state-local-issues/veterinary-prescription-orders#:~:text=If%20the%20veterinarian%20is%20prescribing,request%2C%20with%20a%20written%20prescription