Pet Medications Workshop

The Federal Trade Commission hosted a one-day public workshop to examine competition and consumer protection issues in the pet medications industry. The quality and cost of pet medications is an important pocketbook issue for many consumers. In 2011, 62 percent of U.S. households owned a pet, and Americans spent an estimated $50 billion on their pets, including nearly $7 billion for prescription and over-the-counter pet medications.

The workshop brought together consumers, veterinarians, business representatives, economists, lawyers, academics, and other interested parties to consider how current industry distribution and other business practices affect consumer choice and price competition for pet medications; the ability of consumers to obtain written, portable prescriptions that they can fill wherever they choose; and the ability of consumers to verify the safety and efficacy of pet medications that they purchase. The workshop examined ways to inform and empower consumers to obtain the highest quality and most cost-effective healthcare products for their pets. The workshop also examined the extent to which recent changes to restricted distribution and prescription portability practices in the contact lens industry might yield lessons applicable to the pet medications industry.

Webcast and Transcript

The workshop webcast videos are available for viewing (under Video, below). Viewers may want to review the panelist slide presentations (under Event Materials, below) as they watch the videos. A transcript of the workshop is available as well (under Transcripts, below).

For more information contact:

Stephanie Wilkinson (Conference Organizer)
Office of Policy Planning
petmedsworkshop@ftc.gov
202-326-2084