Vet prescription filling fee?

[107barney]

OMG i would be livid. I would add up how much you guys spend over there, tell them the number, and ask if they would like you to go elsewhere or would they like to waive that fee. I've been to a # of vets and have never been charged a fee of this kind.

[kjc]

Originally Posted by ShowGirlLola

I'm surprised so many of you have had luck at human pharmacies. I tried to get my poodle's meds there and couldn't because the doses she needed were too small, she was 13lbs.

I think the $11 fee is ridiculous, especially since your meds aren't a one time deal. I've never been charged a filling fee for myself or my pet, didn't even know they existed.

You need to find a compounding pharmacy and price her meds there... there are a few online too.

One of my vets charged a 'Waste Disposal' fee... IE throwing away trash!

Where I worked the markup on meds was between 300% and 500%, and that was quite a few years ago.

[Wylie's Mom]

I'd be pretty mad - if it were me, I'd let the practice manager know that I'd be looking for another vet. I think my vet only charges a filling fee if you ask for a prescription, but fill it elsewhere - like at 1800PETMEDS or something. It'd be much more palatable to just build the dang fee into the rest of the practice, rather than charge an obvious fee for this, geesh, common sense...?

[ladyjane]

My vet does not charge for written prescriptions. I don't know what she does about the online stuff because that can be a bit more time consuming for them. But...to write a RX and hand it to me? I would never pay for that!

[ladyjane]

Originally Posted by Teegy

Do you recollect if this was one of the online stores you dealt with as a few friends of mine in the states shope here for their heartworm meds and antibiotics. Let me know as I'll pass along your warning.

No, it was years ago. But...I found some links that may be helpful in checking pharmacies out:

Save money by ordering drugs from Canada? Not so fast

Fight Health Care Fraud and Scams - Online Pharmacy Fraud - AARP

FDA shuts down 1,677 online pharmacies - CNN.com

From the above link:

Catizone said most of these sites are based overseas, with a common scam of site operators presenting themselves as Canadian to lure U.S. customers seeking more affordable medication from a trusted place.
"The fact of the matter is very few, if any, of these sites are actually based in Canada or (are) Canadian," Catizone said. "In fact, they are located in China, India, Pakistan, around the world."

[yorkiemini]

In a human doctors office there is a concept called "billable hours" (attorney's use this too). It mean that in the business anytime you are working (other than lunch) you should be able to bill for what you are doing. Too much non-billable activity means you are losing money with overhead etc.

That being said, I consider prescription refills as being part of the commitment I make to the patient when I see them at their office visit - in other words I see that time as already billed and paid for.

I do not stock meds so don't do inventory etc, but ongoing rx care should be part of the package in my oppinion