Vet Med Practice Proposed Changes for "Alternative Therapies"

Just as an FYI to all those who may take their pups to canine massage therapists, acupuncturists, chiropractic, etc...

"This is an important notice to those of you who value services such as massage, chiropractic, homeopathy, and other complementary or alternative therapies.
Please read on and respond before Monday, February 14th.
Thanks so much.
Beverly Adams, CMT, CBW

The American Veterinary Medical Association is proposing some changes to their veterinary practice act. They are described in the link below.

Monday is the deadline for public comments on the proposed model veterinary practice act (MVPA).

It is up to each individual state to adopt the wording as presented. If adopted verbatim, basically every technique, therapy and service with a few exceptions such as horse shoeing is considered the practice of veterinary medicine. Owners rights to choose services for their animals would be removed. Non veterinarians offering complementary care will no longer be allowed to practice.

Comments can be made by going to:

http://www.avma.org/issues/policy/mvpa.asp

Please do not be deterred by the large document. Go to sections 2-7, 2-19, Comment of the Commentary to Section 2, and Comment on the commentary to Section 6

This is not a time to speak in anger, but rather from the heart with genuine concerns about your rights as an animal owner, care provider or educator.

Please pass this information on, there are only 5 days left.

Contact Beverly Adams, CMT, CBW
at BRTMbga@gmail.com
OR
434-609-3708 (c) if you have any questions."

While we certainly need controls for consumers' protection, I also feel veterinarians can't possibly keep up with the latest innovations in all animal-related services, so it is restrictive to allow them to try to keep others from continuing to practice/provide them.

With these regulations in place, it could become increasingly difficult for people to get these treatments for their pets, due to reduced availability (lack of vets in the area who practice them or even subscribe to these treatment methods) and/or increased cost.

This was the only section I could find that might provide for an exception for non-veterinarian masseurs, acupuncturists, chiropractors... and, well, I suppose you could even group trainers and behaviorists under these regulations depending on how you interpret things.

Section 6-5: "Any member in good standing of another licensed or regulated profession within any state, or any member of an organization or group approved by the Board within the rules and regulations, providing assistance requested by a veterinarian licensed in the state, acting with owner consent from the client, and acting under the direct or indirect supervision and control of the licensed veterinarian. Providing assistance involves hands-on active participation in the treatment and care of the patient. The licensed veterinarian shall maintain responsibility for the veterinarian-client-patient relationship."

Of course, it also notes that it must be approved by the Board... so an application process may come into play... or it might be an assumed thing that branches out into a list of "areas."

Either way, it seems like it would also be a headache for many veterinarians as it would mean they would need to "okay" and "oversee" any care a patient may get outside of that provided by the DVM alone. It would mean more time spent and more paperwork.

Upon looking into it further and asking some questions, I received the following information...

Right now most of the alternative practices are not regulated, so the process of adding licensure or certification would have to be set up in each state and it would have to be brought through the legislature. There are a few professional organizations that are trying to move in that direction but it would take anywhere from five to ten years and requires a strong national professional organization to back and fund it.

So the short of it is, that no - this is not a loop hole. :/