VFDs for Vets:  What these changes mean to veterinarians

Responsibilities

  • Must be licensed to practice in the state that the animals reside in
  • write VFD in context of a valid VCPR (see VCPR for more details)
  • ​Must issue the VFD in compliance with the drug's approved conditions for use​​​

Medically Important Antimicrobials

Below are FDA's ranking of Antimicrobial drugs important for use in human medicine as listed in the appendix of GFI #152.  They are ranked as Critically Important, Highly Important and Important.  Any drug included in any of these categories will be affected by these new regulations and will require veterinarian oversight for their use in the feed or water of livestock.

Required Information on VFD order

  • Veterinarian's name, address and telephone number
  • Client's name, address (home or business), and telephone number
  • date of VFD issuance
  • expiration date of VFD (as long as 6 months or as specified on drug label)
  • name of VFD drug(s)
  • species and product class of animals
  • approximate number of animals to be treated
  • indication for which the VFD is issued
  • level of VFD drug in the feed and duration of use
  • withdrawal time, special instructions or cautionary remarks
  • number of refills authorized if permitted by the drug approval
  • statement: "Use of feed containing this veterinary feed directive (VFD) drug in a manner other than as directed on the labeling (extralabel use), is not permitted."
  • an affirmation of intent for combination VFD drugs as described in 21 CFR 558.6(b)(6)
  • veterinarians electronic or written signature
​Photo source

VCPR: Federal vs State Definition


Some states have their own definition of a VCPR.  Veterinarians in those states will abide by the State definition.  If the state does not have a defined VCPR, the federal definition applies (21 CFR 530.3(i).  

States following the federal definition:
Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin.

States following their state definition:
Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, 

For more details click here.
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Critically Important

Highly Important

Important

Not Important for Human Medicine

Drugs in these classes will not be affected by the new regulations.

Drugs Affected by this Legislation

A number of feed-use medications and water-use medications were affected by these guidelines December 2016.  A general list of affected antimicrobials is below.  A product specific list may be found on the FDA site.

Affected Feed-Use Antimicrobials

Affected Water-Use Antimicrobials