MVAH maintains a limited pharmacy in house for several reasons:

Convenience to our clients
Many medications used are pet specific and not carried by traditional brick and mortar pharmacies.
For accuracy in handling, storing, and dispensing, including the ability to explain and assist you in how best to administer doses to your pets
To maintain manufacturer guarantees and medical coverage in the event of adverse reactions or product failures
Because of our relationship with manufacturers and major distributors, we often have access to rebates, free doses, and coupons that we can also assist you in taking advantage of.

We are obviously aware that there are many other options nowadays for clients to get their prescriptions filled and respect our clients’ right to do so. However, the amount of time dedicated to trying to process email, fax, and phone requests takes doctors and staff away from patient care. Due to the excess amount of time and the difficulties involved in ensuring accuracy of prescriptions, we are unable to authorize refills over the phone or by fax. This policy exists regardless of whether the pharmacy is internet-based or is brick and mortar.**

If you choose to get your pet’s prescription elsewhere, we are happy to provide you a written prescription at no charge.

For your and your pet’s protection, we recommend considering the following:

A written prescription will be provided directly to you upon authorization by the doctor that the medication, dose, and monitoring exams and/or lab profiles are current in accordance with federal and state prescribing laws.
We will keep a copy of the original written prescription as part of your pet’s medical record. We recommend that you keep a photocopy at home as well and provide the original written prescription to the pharmacy (either through the mail or in person). We recommend this process so that the prescription can be authenticated in the event of a medication error, failure, or reaction.
Please double check your prescription against the physical copy that you have kept at home to ensure that it is filled and labeled correctly with the correct directions. Be sure to check that the pharmacy you use is fully licensed and researched for Board of Pharmacy disciplinary actions. For boxed veterinary pharmaceuticals, please check to make sure that the product is manufactured and labeled for use in the United States rather than imported from another country (this is illegal.)

**Exceptions will be made for compounded medications that are only available to be custom made for a specific pet by a trusted compounding pharmacy that we have a personal relationship with, and for small emergency supplies of medications that will have life-threatening consequences if missed.

References:
https://www.avma.org/public/PetCare/Pages/online-pharmacies.aspx
https://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm048396.htm
https://health.maryland.gov/pharmacy/Pages/index.aspx
https://nabp.pharmacy/