eVRx℠ Veterinary Prescriptions

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In the News

Concerns that excessive livestock antibiotic use could increase drug-resistance among human pathogens has put veterinarians under scrutiny. GlobalVetLink’s eVRx℠, a secure web-based tool to support responsible antibiotic use, is designed to help veterinarians optimize prescribing habits and insure continued food safety.

ISU Professor and former USDA Deputy Undersecretary of Food Safety responds to CBS News segments on antibiotics Read more

Benefits

Provide a private, user-friendly prescription management tool to ease the paperwork burden on veterinarians and producers.

Maintain veterinarian and producer privacy through a web-based application.

Improve veterinary/producer dialogue to the benefit of pig health.

Archive non-alterable legal documentation of judicious use of antibiotics.

Provide a source of data for comparison of pig health outcomes with treatments.

Support two of the Take Care program’s Responsible Use Principles:

- Assess the advantages and disadvantages of all uses of antibiotics.

- Use antibiotics only when they provide measurable benefits.

Current Situation

Antibiotics are critical tools in efficient and profitable pork production. The use of these tools is being threatened by legislators, regulators, and ill-informed consumers. Scientific risk assessments to date have shown no reason for public health concern. However, antibiotic use is still perceived to be a food safety risk.

Government officials believe a more proactive strategy is needed for veterinary oversight of drug use. “FDA (Food and Drug Administration) finds it difficult to support conclusions that such uses of medically important drugs are consistent with judicious use principles,” said an FDA senior scientist. Legislation is pending in many congressional committees restricting antibiotic use for swine producers.

Pork Industry Impact

Producing healthy pigs is essential for food safety, animal well-being, and the competitiveness of the swine industry. Antibiotics play an important role in the production of healthy pigs.

Losing the freedom to choose our individual antibiotic programs would have a crippling effect on the pork industry. To keep the government from mandating how we manage disease, the industry must prove we are using antibiotics responsibly.

Solution

Implement a web-based tool to conveniently document prescriptions, drug use and outcomes within your practice. We encourage you to view a Sample eVRx Certificate.

This project is a collaboration of the Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine and GlobalVetLink, L.C. and is funded in part by the National Pork Board.