Category: Factual & Arts TV
Date: 23.10.2005
Printable version
This morning, 91Èȱ¬ ONE's environment and countryside programme Countryfile exposes the unlawful selling of potentially dangerous veterinary medicines - including antibiotics which, if they're administered without controls, can reduce our resistance to disease.
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Farmer and reporter Adam Henson travels to the Irish town of Enniscorthy, where Garahy's pharmacy is selling prescription-only drugs to UK farmers who don't have prescriptions.
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That's illegal under Irish law - and anyone who imports them into Britain intending to use them on their animals is committing an offence under UK law.
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In the last three years, more than 30 people, most of them farmers, have been prosecuted in the UK for using animal drugs illegally.
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Many of them had bought the drugs over the phone and imported them by mail order.
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Last month, a British trader who sold animal drugs illegally to farmers was jailed for six months.
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So why is this illegal trade thriving? Many UK farmers say it's down to the high prices charged by British vets.
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For example, a steroid like dexadresson costs around £16 a unit in the UK, but only £6 as an import.
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Dry cow tubes, which cost £10 a pack in the UK, cost £5 a pack in Ireland.
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After being challenged about the high price of animal drugs in the UK, Stephen Ware from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons said: "I believe that the fees that I and many of my colleagues have charged have been modest.
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"I believe that the charges we have made for medicines have not been excessive by any standards."
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He blames the booming trade in illegal imports on the fact that farmers are struggling financially and they're attempting to cut their costs.
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On his trip to Ireland, Adam Henson managed to buy several prescription-only drugs at Garahy's, after posing as an ordinary farmer and placing his order over the phone.
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When Adam's producer called into the pharmacy to pick them up, he wasn't asked for any identification or a prescription or a VAT number.
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He could have been anyone. The drugs he bought ranged from antibiotics for conditions like mastitis, to Marbocyl 10%, a powerful antibiotic which has been linked with human health problems if it's overused.
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Adam says: "Not only can some of these drugs contribute to health problems in humans if they're used without adequate controls, but some can be dangerous to the person who's using them because they're so strong.
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"That's why they're prescription-only drugs."
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So why should the average consumer care? Well, vets like Jim Brodie say that because the drugs are bought on the black market, nobody knows how many of them are being given to animals.
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Too many antibiotics getting into the human food chain means bacteria develop a resistance to them and cases of bacterial food poisoning rise.
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Brodie set up his own legal discount drug outlet when he realised how high prices at his veterinary practice were driving customers away.
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He says: "I think there are a lot more illegal imports going on than people can even imagine. I think it's a very, very major problem. We could end up with serious residue problems, we could end up with resistance problems and eventually a public health issue."
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In a statement, DEFRA said they were "seriously concerned" over the risks to public health from illegal imports and that the Government is changing the law to break the vets' monopoly on drug sales.
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From November, farmers will be able to ask their vet for a prescription, then use it to shop around for the cheapest supplier.
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But, because of the close relationship between farmers and their local vets, people like Jim Brodie are sceptical about whether the new law will work: "The relationship between farmer and vet is very close. If you've been told when you ask for a prescription that 'Yes, you can have a prescription but I might not come and calf your cow at midnight', then I wonder how far they'll push the vet for a prescription."
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Notes to Editors
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If any of the above is used please credit Countryfile on 91Èȱ¬ ONE, Sunday 23 October 2005, at 11.00am.
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