Abray,
I agree with you and believe that the best way to save money and have a healthy dog is to be as
informed about pet vaccines as possible -- that's why I actively distribute data to the pet-owning public.
Veterinary trade publications have frankly addressed the issue of the link between vaccines and income.
A related story
Improving Veterinarians' Income a Top Goal of AVMA President-elect candidate Childers. can be found at
http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/mar04/040315g.asp.
In an August 2004 cover story in
Veterinary Economics entitled Targeting Changing Vaccine Protocols by Roger F. Cummings, they state that:
"In the 1970s and ’80s many veterinarians derived a substantial percent of their total incomes from vaccinating dogs and cats. .....And in many practices today, the vaccination reminder is the one thing that drives visits from healthy pets. So changing your vaccine protocols could have a significant affect on practice finances."
Dr. Alice Wolf, Professor of Small Animal Internal Medicine at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine, stated in an address (
Vaccines of the Present and Future http://www.vin.com/VINDBPub/SearchPB...00/PR00141.htm) at the 2001 World Small Animal Veterinary Association World Congress that:
“some veterinarians use the recommendation for vaccinations as a way to ensure client visits for yearly examinations and, least appropriate, as a ‘profit center.’”
In an October 1, 2002
DVM Newsletter article entitled,
AVMA, AAHA to Release Vaccine Positions, http://www.dvmnewsmagazine.com/dvm/a...l.jsp?id=35171, Jennifer Fiala reports,
"The statement stresses AVMA's stance on education, a reduction in the profession's dependence on vaccine sales, which account for a significant portion of practice income, ..........Veterinarians must promote the value of the exam and move away from their dependence on vaccine income. "
DVM's July 1, 2003 article,
Developing Common Sense Strategies for Fiscal Responsibility http://www.dvmnewsmagazine.com/dvm/a...l.jsp?id=61694 declares that,
"The purpose of this article is to focus on the third of these essential cornerstones: the economic realities of protocol changes, and how medical and surgical standards including reduced frequency of vaccination can be compatible with financial viability; and, yes, even success. ........For a real eye-opener of potential revenue loss, research practice records for the most recent 12 months of client activity to determine the estimated number of adult canine patients that were seen for annual vaccinations. Multiply this number times the revenue loss calculated above on an individual patient basis to determine the total potential lost income. "
From a July 1, 2003 [b]DVM article entitled,
What Do We Tell Our Clients? ,
http://www.dvmnewsmagazine.com/dvm/a...l.jsp?id=61696,
"It has finally happened. The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) has released canine vaccine guidelines. Some practitioners may dread it and consider the recommendations as a 'practice buster.' ......The concern of course is the loss of our 'vaccine hook.' "
On Page 18 of the
American Animal Hospital Association's 2003 Canine Vaccine Guidelines, the task force declares:
"However, the ethical issue that our profession struggles with today is whether economics justifies giving an animal a drug (vaccines are biologic drugs) that is not necessarily required. As a minimum, we should allow pet owners to make this choice rather than make it for them."
If anyone would like copies of the American Animal Hospital Association's Canine Vaccine Guidelines, the 1992 French challenge study demonstrating that dogs were immune to a rabies challenge 5 years after vaccination, the 2003 Italian study documenting fibrosarcomas at the presumed injection sites of rabies vaccines in dogs, as well as Dr. W. Jean Dodds' papers on vaccinal adverse reactions, please e-mail me at ledgespring@lincoln.midcoast.com.
Excellent information on veterinary vaccine is available at the sites below:
Duration of Immunity to Canine Vaccines: What We Know and Don't Know, Dr. Ronald Schultz
http://www.cedarbayvet.com/duration_of_immunity.htm
World Small Animal Veterinary Association 2007 Vaccine Guidelines http://www.wsava.org/SAC.htm Scroll down to Vaccine Guidelines 2007 (PDF)
The
2003 American Animal Hospital Association's Canine Vaccine Guidelines are accessible online at
http://www.leerburg.com/special_report.htm .
The
2006 American Animal Hospital Association's Canine Vaccine Guidelines are downloadable in PDF format at
http://www.aahanet.org/PublicDocumen...s06Revised.pdf .
Veterinarian, Dr. Robert Rogers,has an excellent presentation on veterinary vaccines at
http://www.newvaccinationprotocols.com/