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however, the last thing an organization like AVHO wants is to be thought of as trying to control a monopoly. We simplistically looked at the issue as one of "keeping your promise".

Last night we had a long talk with Paul Pion, DVM , the founder and director of VIN, the online Veterinary Information Network. His opinion is that veterinarians would do better if they stopped looking at selling drugs and products as huge profit centers. He believes that we should all be able to make a living by practicing medicine, much like human doctor do. Here at AVHO, we agree to a certain degree. We believe that there can be a certain degree of profit generated, and convenience for our clients, by selling products and drugs. We know that in our practices, our clients just hate to get a prescription that they have to take to the pharmacy, wait online yet again, and pay the same that they would have paid at our practice. At least in New York, convenience still reigns supreme.

But we agree with Paul that we must STOP looking at the sales of products as part of the ecomonic foundation of our practices. We just learned that we can actually survive, and perhaps even thrive, even without vaccinating pets yearly. Here at AVHO, we hope that soon we'll say the same thing about product sales. It should be considered "gravy" on top of our main economic course, which should be medicine.

So the bottom line is, if you don't like the way that some of these major veterinary manufacturers have played you, and continue to double talk you, then stop buying from them. Buy from a different company. Both SummitVetPharm and Fort Dodge have promised not to sell their products anywhere except through veterinary hospitals. Of course we've all heard this before, but we can also give them the benefit of the doubt.

Or you could carry everything on your shelves that the online pharmacies carry on theirs, and undercharge them. We can certainly do that, and still make a profit, since our doors are already open, and our fixed costs won't change whether we carry one or three flea and tick products. So make your choice, stick to your guns, and let where you spend your dollars speak for you.

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