board update - Veterinary Practitioners Registration Board of Victoria

It was clear that the veterinary practitioner did not
inform the complainant of the effects of this
medication. This caused some distress to the
complainant as they did not understand what was
involved. The veterinary practitioner advised the
Panel that dogs with this condition are usually
admitted for surgery and therefore discharged at a
later time when they are no longer under the
influence of these drugs. The Board and the
veterinary practitioner are aware of the
complainant’s distress and the veterinary
practitioner regrets the incident and offered an
apology.
The Panel found that the veterinary practitioner did
not record the drugs or the doses used in the clinical
records for the dog. The Panel accepted the
veterinary practitioner’s statement that this is normally
recorded and was unable to explain why this was not
completed in this case.
The Panel understands that both verbal and written
communications are essential in cases where any form
of procedure is involved. The public has little
understanding of the procedures involved in the
diagnosis of specific conditions and relies on
veterinary practitioners to be clear in communicating
what is required.
ALFAXAN®
From Jurox Pty Ltd
In the Winter 2005 Board Update the complaints case
study no. 1 mentioned the use of Alfaxan® In
response Jurox Pty Ltd has requested the Board to
insert the following information.
Alfaxan® was a product that was never registered for
use in dogs. Alfaxan® was an image product of the
very successful cat (and monkey) anaesthetic Saffan®.
Both Alfaxan® and Saffan® were formulated in a
Cremaphor carrier that was well known for initiating
histamine release and anaphylactoid reactions that in
dogs were potentially fatal, hence Alfaxan® was
specifically registered for use in cats only.
In the late 1990’s Jurox reformulated the active
alphaxalone in a cyclodextran carrier and then developed
Alfaxan®-CD (a powder for reconstitution) and further
Alfaxan®-CD RTU. This resulted in a removal of the
histamine release seen with Alfaxan® and Saffan®. Thanks
to this Alfaxan®-CD RTU is now becoming more and more
well known as a safe and reliable anaesthetic for use in both
dogs and cats.
Alfaxan®-CD RTU is a very different formulation of
alphaxalone, is registered for use in both dogs and cats and
can be used with confidence in both species.
Understanding the way people abbreviate drug names Jurox
made the decision in 2002 to cease making and selling
Alfaxan®.
LEGAL REQUIREMENTS FOR MICROCHIP IMPLANTERS IN VICTORIA
From 1 December 2005 only registered veterinary
practitioners or suitably qualified persons will be
able to implant microchips into dogs and cats in
Victoria.
ALL persons, including registered veterinary
practitioners, wishing to be authorised to implant
will have to complete a microchip 'course' or, for
future graduates, have done the specified training as
part of their veterinary degree. This course is
currently being developed by the AVA and will be
set up to minimise the impost on veterinarians. The
course is necessary to ensure veterinarians are aware of
the new legislative requirements and their
responsibilities under legislation in regard to
permanent identification, technology, record keeping
and forwarding of information to registries (which will
need to be licensed).
For more information please call the Department of
Primary Industries on (03)9217 4347.
APOLOGY
In the Winter 2005 Board Update a list of registered
veterinary specialists was given with incorrect
information regarding those specialists whose
speciality is Veterinary Surgery – Small Animal. It
is unfortunate that ‘Surgery’ was replaced with
‘Medicine’
and we apologise to all those specialists whose listing
was incorrect.
A corrected listing can be found on the next page with
the addition of two newly endorsed specialists.
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