You gave your dog her pill and an hour later you
noticed she was drooling a lot more than normal.
After contacting your veterinarian, you thought
it was important to let someone know, but whom?
If your animal is having an unwanted side effect,
the FDA wants to hear from you.
Side effects can be as mild as decreased
appetite, a change in behavior, or panting, or
as serious as a seizure, collapse, colic in a horse
or death.
Even if you are not sure whether a drug caused the
side effect, we still want you to report it.
At the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine, or
CVM, your reports help us identify problems that
could impact animal or human health.
Now let's talk about other kinds of problems that you
can report.
An accidental exposure is when an animal or a person
is mistakenly exposed to an animal drug.
For example, a dog steals the container of his
flavored pills and eats all of them, then develops
diarrhea and vomiting.
Another example is if a veterinarian draws up an
injection of medication for a sick cow,
accidentally pricks herself, and later has
swelling and pain in their hand.
It's important to carefully handle and store
all medications.
We want you to report side effects related to
accidental exposures for both animals and people.
When a drug doesn't work as it is supposed to, we
call this lack of effectiveness.
For example, your cat is given a dewormer for
intestinal parasites but at your follow-up
appointment, the worms are still present, or your dog
receives a pain medication for arthritis, but it
doesn't seem to help.
You can also report a product problem such as an
abnormal color, damaged packaging, or a label that
is missing an expiration date.
Say you receive a refill of an injectable
medication that you have been giving to your horse.
When you take out the vial to administer a dose, you
notice that the normally clear liquid is cloudy.
This is a product problem that should be reported.
Broken or crushed tablets could lead to an underdose.
That may result in a product not working as expected.
A product problem can also result in an accidental
exposure, like when a damaged vial leaks and the
product gets on your hands.
These are just two examples of why it's
important to report the product problems you
experience.
Product use errors, also known as medication
errors, are preventable and important to report.
These can occur in the veterinary clinic, at a
pharmacy, or even in your home.
For example, a drug may be given the wrong way, such
as by mouth instead of on the skin as intended.
Or similar drug names or bottles that look alike
could cause confusion and lead to an animal
receiving the wrong drug or the wrong dose.
Your report can help us identify potential
problems and explore ways to minimize errors.
Side effects, accidental exposures, lack of
effectiveness, product problems and medication
errors can cause harm.
Now that you are familiar with what you can report,
we hope you are more comfortable sharing your
experiences with us.
Your reports help us keep animals and people safe.
For information on how to report, please go to the
website on your screen.
And remember, Your Report Matters!