Price cap should be placed on vet prescriptions, watchdog says

Pet owners could beryllium paying doubly arsenic overmuch for commonly prescribed medicines from vet practices than they could wage online, a watchdog probe has found.

The Competition and Markets Authority, which has been investigating the assemblage since 2023, said terms caps should beryllium placed connected prescriptions provided by vets to halt favored owners from being ripped off.

It recovered customers could beryllium paying doubly arsenic overmuch for commonly prescribed medicines from vet practices than they could wage online, leaving them spending "hundreds of pounds more".

It said vets should person a medicine interest headdress of £16 and should beryllium required to archer customers astir savings they could marque by buying medicines online.

"These measures volition assistance punctual consumers to see buying medicine online and support them from having to wage excessive prices for the prescriptions they would request to bash so," it said.

"Pet owners wage 16.6% much connected mean astatine ample vet groups than astatine autarkic vets. For astatine slightest 3 of those ample groups, mean prices accrued faster astatine practices they bought than astatine practices that remained independent."

The CMA's 21 projected measures include:

• A request for vet businesses to people broad terms lists
• Changes to marque it easier for favored owners to entree cheaper medicines online
• Requiring vets to springiness wide terms accusation to favored owners arranging a cremation
• Giving favored owners wide terms accusation erstwhile they are choosing a treatment, with prices successful penning for treatments implicit £500 and itemised bills

"The existent regulatory strategy is not acceptable for purpose. It lone regulates idiosyncratic veterinary professionals and not vet businesses, contempt the bulk of practices being portion of a ample firm group," the CMA study found.

This breaking quality communicative is being updated and much details volition beryllium published shortly.

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