State of Kansas

Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners

Permanent Administrative Regulations

Article 7.-STANDARDS OF VETERINARY PRACTICE

70-7-1. The practice of veterinary medicine. Each veterinarian shall meet the following minimum standards in the practice of veterinary medicine.

(a) Storage compartments. Each veterinarian shall maintain clean, orderly, and protective storage compartments for drugs, supplies, and equipment. Refrigeration shall be available for drugs that require it.

(b) Field sterilization. Each veterinarian shall provide a means of sterilizing instruments when practicing veterinary medicine away from a veterinary premises.

(c) Conflict of interest. When representing conflicting interests, including representation of both the buyer and seller of an animal to be inspected for soundness, the veterinarian shall make full disclosure of the dual relationship and shall obtain express consent from all parties to the transaction.

(d) Health certificates. A veterinarian shall not issue a certificate of health unless the veterinarian has personal knowledge, obtained through actual inspection and appropriate tests of the animal, that the animal meets the requirements of the certificate.

(e) Patient acceptance. Each veterinarian shall decide which medical cases will be accepted in the veterinarian’s professional capacity and what course of treatment will be followed once a patient has been accepted. The veterinarian shall be responsible for advising the client as to the treatment to be provided.

(f) Control of services. A veterinarian shall not allow any professional services to be controlled or exploited by any lay entity, personal or corporate, that intervenes between the client and the veterinarian. A veterinarian shall not allow a nonlicensed person or entity to interfere with or intervene in the veterinarian’s practice of veterinary medicine. Each veterinarian shall be responsible for the veterinarian’s own actions and shall be directly responsible to the client for the care and treatment of the patient.

(g) Anesthesia and anesthetic equipment. Each veterinarian shall provide anesthesia services as needed. Each anesthetic agent shall be administered only by a veterinarian or a person trained in its administration under the direct supervision of a licensed veterinarian. Each veterinarian shall use disinfectants capable of eliminating harmful viruses and bacteria for cleaning anesthetic equipment.

(h) Patient records.

(1) Length of maintenance. Each veterinarian shall maintain a patient record for three years from the date of the last visit.

(2) Necessary elements. Each veterinarian shall ensure that all patient records are legible and made contemporaneously with treatment or services rendered. All records shall include the following elements:

(A) Patient identification. Patient identification shall include the patient’s name, species, breed, age or date of birth, sex, color, and markings;

(B) client identification. Client identification shall include the owner’s name, home address, and telephone number;

(D) a complete record of the physical examination findings and treatment or services rendered.

(3) Manner of maintenance. Each veterinarian shall maintain records in a manner that will permit any authorized veterinarian to proceed with the care and treatment of the animal, if required, by reading the medical record of that particular patient.

(i) Medication records. The veterinarian shall ensure that each dose of a medication administered is properly recorded on the patient’s medical record. All drugs shall be administered and dispensed only upon the order of a licensed veterinarian.

(j) Controlled drugs. The veterinarian shall ensure that a separate written ledger is maintained when a controlled drug is administered or dispensed.

(k) Locked area. If controlled drugs are used, the veterinarian shall ensure that a locked area for the storage of controlled substances is provided.

(l) Dispensation of medications for companion animals.

(1) All prescription drugs to be dispensed for use by a companion animal may be dispensed only on the order of a licensed veterinarian who has an existing veterinary client-patient relationship as defined by the Kansas veterinary practice act. The veterinarian shall ensure that labels will be affixed to any unlabeled container containing any medication dispensed and to each factory-labeled container that contains prescription drugs or controlled substances dispensed for companion animals. The label shall be affixed to the immediate container and shall include the following information:

(A) The name and address of the veterinarian and, if the drug is a controlled substance, the veterinarian’s telephone number;

(B) the date of delivery or dispensing;

(D) the species of the animal;

(E) the name, active ingredient, strength, and quantity of the drug dispensed;

(F) directions for use specified by the practitioner including dosage, frequency, route of administration, and duration of therapy; and

(G) any cautionary statements required by law, including statements indicating that the drug is not for human consumption, is poisonous, or has withdrawal periods associated with the drug. If the size of the immediate container is insufficient to be labeled, the container shall be enclosed within another container large enough to be labeled.

(2) The term “companion animal” shall have the meaning specified in K.S.A. 47-816 and amendments thereto.

(m) Dispensation of medications for food or commercial animals. All prescription drugs to be dispensed for food used by a food animal or used by a commercial animal may be dispensed only on a written order of a licensed veterinarian with an existing veterinary-client-patient relationship as defined by the Kansas veterinary practice act. That veterinarian shall maintain the original written order on file in the veterinarian’s office. A copy of the written order shall be on file with the distributor, and a second copy shall be maintained on the premises of the patient-client. The written order shall include the following information:

(1) The name and address of the veterinarian and, if the drug is a controlled substance, the veterinarian’s telephone number;

(2) the date of delivery or dispensing;

(3) the name of the patient, the client’s name, and, if the drug is a controlled substance, the client’s address;

(4) the species or breed, or both, of the animal;

(5) (A) The established name or active ingredient of each drug or, if formulated from more than one ingredient, the established name of each ingredient; and

(B) the strength and quantity of each drug dispensed; and

(6) directions for use specified by the practitioner, including the following:

(A) The class or species of the animal or animals receiving the drug or some other identification of the animals; and

(B) the dosage, the frequency and route of administration, and duration of therapy; and

(C) any cautionary statements required by law, including statements indicating whether the drug is not for human consumption or is poisonous or whether there are withdrawal periods associated with the drug.

(n) Supervision.

(1) Each veterinarian shall provide direct supervision of any employee or associate of the veterinarian who participates in the practice of veterinary medicine, except that a veterinarian may provide indirect supervision to any person who meets either of the following conditions:

(A) Is following the written instructions for treatment of the animal patient on the veterinary premises; or

(B) has completed three or more years of study in a school of veterinary medicine.

(2) A veterinarian may delegate to an employee or associate of the veterinarian only those activities within the practice of veterinary medicine that are consistent with that person’s training, experience, and professional competence. A veterinarian shall not delegate any of the following:

(A) The activities of diagnosis;

(B) performance of any surgical procedure; or

(C) prescription of any drug, medicine, biologic, apparatus, application, anesthesia, or other therapeutic or diagnostic substance or technique.

(o) Pain management. Each veterinarian shall use appropriate and humane methods of anesthesia, analgesia, and sedation to minimize pain and distress during any procedures on companion animals. (Authorized by and implementing K.S.A. 47-821; effective Feb. 21, 1997; amended Jan. 20, 2012.)

Dirk Hanson, DVM

Executive Director

Doc. No. 040118