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By Erik Hawkins
May 08. 2016 2:01AM
Pets snared in state’s drug crisis?
Veterinarians are raising privacy
concerns over New Hampshire's
Prescription Drug Monitoring Program.
Photo illustration by Rich
Beauchesne/Seacoastonline
CONCORD — A recent tool in the state's fight against the drug crisis may have unintended consequences that link pet
owners' private medical information with their pets' and some New Hampshire veterinarians are concerned.
“I'm frankly very frustrated,” Sonnya Dennis, a veterinary practitioner from Newfields, said of the Prescription Drug
Monitoring Program, or PDMP. “It feels like they went about this backwards … the software simply wasn't written for
vet patients.”
New Hampshire was the 49th state to implement a PDMP, which tracks patients' opioid and other controlled drug
prescriptions. Legislators seem confident in its ability to curb at least some of the drug diversion in the Granite State.
However, Dennis said some veterinarians fear owners' private medical data being linked with their pets' could prove
troublesome. She fears the system as a whole may have been rolled out without enough forethought.
New Hampshire adopted its PDMP in 2012 under Gov. John Lynch, but the program was only implemented in full in
2014. The program remains voluntary but recommended for most practitioners and is intended to provide a
comprehensive history of certain medications prescribed to a patient to prevent diversion, such as so­called “doctor
shopping.”
Veterinarians are recommended, but not required, to report certain pain medications dispensed to pets and to query the prescription history of the pet's owner
before dispensing them. Pending legislation, HB 1423, now in the state Senate could require veterinarians to participate by the end of the summer.
Dennis pointed out some of the idiosyncrasies she sees within current PDMP standards that could lead to privacy breaches as veterinarians are not bound by
HIPPA regulations.
“It's one thing for me to know what my patient is getting," she said. "I'm not legally protected, nor is my client legally protected for me to know what they're
getting prescribed though.”
The linked data between pet and owner could also lead to unintended consequences for the owner, according to a May 2014 article by Liberty Memorial
University researcher Robert Simpson.
“An animal owner will potentially be unable to obtain an appropriate medication for themselves due to a pet or multiple household pets' prescriptions entered
into the PDMP," Simpson said. "Thus, a problem arises, distinguishing legitimate prescriptions obtained for one’s pet and those that may be fraudulently
obtained."
Many veterinary practitioners in the state have not utilized the database to report or query as of yet, according to the most recent PDMP report to the
governor. In the semi­annual report for Sept. 30 to Dec. 31, 2015, the number of veterinarians utilizing the program dropped from 32 to two, though 219 were
registered in December.
“I haven't done it yet because, twofold: We're not required yet, but also because I have deep concerns that because vets are not bound in the same realm as
HIPPA," Dennis said. "We, as vets, might have serious confidentiality concerns."
Dennis said she fears some veterinarians may simply decide not to prescribe certain medications to avoid the confusion of the PDMP querying and reporting
process. She said while veterinarians are concerned about drug diversion, some also fear legislators are missing the mark by requiring them to report.
Rep. Tom Sherman, D­Rye, is a practicing physician who sits on the state Joint Task Force on the Heroin and Opiate Crisis. He said while he is aware of possible
privacy concerns with the data, there is concern that if veterinarians were exempted from the PDMP, they may become “targets” for drug­seekers.
“I think veterinarians recognize that,” he said. “People ask me why the veterinary board is involved. They are also prescribing and the chance for abuse exists,
not from animals, but from pet owners.”
Dennis said the amount of drug diversion at veterinary offices in New Hampshire is likely “a drop in the bucket.” “I have very dear friends who are medical
doctors who are very quick to say that all the street (ketamine) is coming from vets," she said. "It's a sexy story, but it's simply not so."
According Simpson's research, in 2012, there were only three to four cases of “vet shopping” recorded nationwide by states reporting. The New England branch
of the Drug Enforcement Agency did not return calls requesting the number of documented “vet shopping” cases in New Hampshire.
Sherman said last week that during a recent committee hearing on HB 1423, a pharmacist testified about a client training their dog to cough and going “practice
to practice” to obtain hydrocodone­containing cough syrup. “That's a kind of humorous example, but it does happen,” he said.
The story of the trained dog was referenced as early as 2002 in a Pharmacy Times article by John Burke, formerly of the Cincinnati Police Pharmaceutical

2. 6/28/2016 Pets snared in state’s drug crisis? ­ Gate House
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Diversion Squad, that indicates the case occurred in Ohio.
Kentucky ended the requirement for veterinarians to query its PDMP, called KASPER, in 2012 for some of the same reasons brought up by Dennis, according
to KASPER Program Manager David Hopkins.
“One of those factors was the concern that the pet medication information was being linked to the owner on some PDMP reports,” he said last week.
Hopkins said state law enforcement indicated drug diversion from veterinary offices was insignificant. Legislators concluded the cost of forcing veterinarians to
report outweighed the benefit.
Massachusetts does not require veterinarians to participate in its PDMP, but has seen a significant decline in prescription drug diversion, according to a 2015
report to the governor.
Sherman said he was supportive of the state Senate’s amendment to HB 1423, which removed the requirement for veterinarians to query the history of the
person bringing the animal to the office, now only requiring the pet and legal owner be queried.
“It is significantly less onerous than what was in the bill in January,” Sherman said.
“One thing I would say if I was a vet, would be to make sure there is full disclosure in the client relationship," he continued. "There are ways to mitigate the
liability and that would be with full disclosure and agreement with the clients. I don't think that is at all insurmountable."
Dennis said if something was done regulating or clarifying veterinarians' confidentiality requirements, some of her colleagues' concerns may be relieved. She
suggested requiring all pets in the state to be micro­chipped to curb both possible drug diversion and confusion in PDMP reporting.
“That would be their unique identifier, then no matter where 'Fluffy Doe' is taken, 'Fluffy Doe' is 'Fluffy Doe,' and if I go to query that number and there
are (several) scripts from around the state, I can say, 'OK, this might be something worth reporting,'” she said.
Sherman said the Legislature is likely open to changes in the requirements, but broad compliance needs to come first, so lawmakers have all the information
they need.
If HB 1423 is signed by Gov. Hassan, the Board of Veterinary Medicine will have until Sept. 1 to adjust its rules to require use of the PDMP.
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