When I graduated from veterinary school in 2006, acupuncture was still relatively uncommon in veterinary medicine. I received some exposure to it during vet school (Dr. Xie of Chi University was a professor at the University of Florida), but it wasn’t discussed very often and I knew of few vets who were offering the service to their clients. In recent years, however, that has changed. Acupuncture services have gradually become more widespread and more accessible to pet owners.1,2
The DEA is decreasing production of opioids again this year by another 20%. This will likely have a direct effect on our use and availability for our patients. We use opioids routinely for analgesia, especially for surgical procedures so this is causing some panic in our community.
This is mainly going to cause a shortage of schedule II drugs (for us this will mostly be hydromorphone, morphine, and fentanyl). And not only will these drugs be more difficult to get, but the price could be much higher.
Topics: Opioid, Pain Management