The DEA is shifting its stance to registered veterinarians who were mostly flying below the radar till now. The risk of being pulled up for non-compliance is staring them in the face with legal consequences.

The Controlled Substances Act prescribes strict controls and regulations regarding the prescribing, administering and dispensing of controlled substances listed in Schedules I through V. Every entity or healthcare professional that handles such controlled substances is first required to obtain a license from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). A host of other rules and regulations follow the registration.

The requirements extend to veterinarians too; they are also mandated to obtain a veterinary DEA license for prescribing controlled substances and abide by other legal protocols.

However, the veterinary end of healthcare has always been characterized by a certain laxity when it comes to executing the Controlled Substances Act. The DEA mostly focuses its attention on regular healthcare professionals, hospitals, pharmacies and the like in a bid to control the misuse and abuse of controlled substances.

The prevailing belief is that as veterinarians deal with animals and not humans, there is hardly any scope of wrong prescriptions and other illegal diversions. Therefore, the DEA looked at veterinarians only when some malpractice was brought to their notice.

On the other hand, DEA-registered veterinarians have also been taking advantage of this latitude and tend to have a more slipshod approach in maintaining records and other requirements related to controlled substances.

The Change in Attitude

DEA-registered veterinarians can no longer hope to escape scrutiny as the DEA has turned its eagle eye to this end of healthcare. Even those veterinarians who are not indulging in illicit activities need to pull up their socks when it comes to recordkeeping, security and other aspects of handling controlled substances.

DEA audits and surprise inspections of veterinarian facilities are becoming more and more common to check for any kind of non-compliance. Therefore, it is advisable to follow the regulations to the letter and ensure that everything stays in order at their end.

Not just this, the DEA-registered veterinarians also need to exercise due caution when prescribing controlled substances to prevent intentional misuse of the same. The pet owners are known to try to take the healthcare professionals for a ride in a bid to secure such prescriptions for illicit activities.

The DEA compliance covers varied realms of regulations. The licensed veterinarians have to use the appropriate forms, maintain the records as mandated, undertake regular inventory checks and also renew their DEA controlled substance licenses on a regular basis. Everything from the storage of the prescriptions and drugs to their disposal has to be carefully monitored, recorded and so on. Additionally, the facility has to be prepared for audits and inspections from the DEA authorities.

This is where professional assistance comes into the picture. Having a DEA compliance expert – like Titan Group - on the team will ensure that everything from the DEA license veterinary to prepping the staff for audits is taken care of!