I'm not that familiar with veterinary practises, but as well as obtaining medicines under false pretenses, this one has been struck off for acting 'unprofessionally' in some seemingly quite disturbing ways! I dread to think what 'misuse of an endotracheal tube' involved!

http://www.rcvs.org.uk/Templates/Int...NodeID=5874224

Those of us with animals I'm sure hope that our vets are acting with the same level of professionalism as we would expect from our doctors in the UK. I would hope this is an isolated case of this type, but are there other abuses going on in Britain regarding animal treatment that indicate that vets generally aren't being held to the same standards as doctors?

One trend that concerns me particularly is the tendency for large practices/veterinary companies to develop, and for the vets to then start trying to 'push' treatments and medicines on to pet owners that aren't actually really required. I've seen this happen with a former vet practice I used to go to - it was bought out by a larger company, and suddenly prices rose substantially, and ever visit involved the vet 'recommending', or essentially trying to sell, some kind of food/product/remedy for something other than what the visit was about. I've been told the former owner of the practise who stayed on as a manager didn't last long, apparently because of the 'commercial pressures' placed on them by the new company.

Is this not also a form of professional misconduct from vets that needs to be dealt with?

Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying vets themselves are 'bad', but that they seem to be under pressure to increase profits by playing on the fears of owners who don't know for themselves what they do or don't need. Thankfully I have found an independant vet practice myself that I trust (and I've also taken the time to educate myself a bit on what I am likely to need or not need for my animals).

This just just seems to be an issue that is important in the lives of many people, but that is slipping under the radar and being ignored.

__________________