Tucker Carlson Posts Telemed Funded Attack On AVMA, ‘Vet Scam’
AVMA Responds: "In contrast to what Mr. Spector suggests, AVMA is s staunch proponent for telemedicine – when it is used responsibly. An in-person veterinary visit is not just a legal requirement – it is critical to the delivery of quality veterinary care."

Conservative pundit and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson posted a nearly one-hour telemedicine industry funded attack on the veterinary medical profession’s main trade association on Monday.

In it, Mr. Carlson “interviews” vet telemedicine Dutch Pet CEO and founder Joe Spector, who is a major advertiser and has been locked in a key, high stakes, multimillion dollar lobbying battle with the AVMA, which does not oppose telemedicine but, rather, the absence of a VCPR (a veterinary client patient relationship), a detail Mr. Spector omits. Mr. Spector does make several allegations about the AVMA’s lobbying strategy, including that the trade group is threatening its veterinary constituents with imprisonment for participating in telemedicine.

Reached for a response to the video, including Mr. Spector’s allegations about the AVMA’s lobbying strategy, AVMA spokesperson Lisa Howard provided the following statement:

The approach of the American Veterinary Medical Association and its more than 110,000 members is veterinary care built upon rigorous education and training, clinical expertise, collaboration, trust, and compassion.

An in-person visit is the most accurate and safest way to practice veterinary medicine – it significantly improves the likelihood of a correct diagnosis and development of a treatment plan that works for that animal and its owner. In addition, in most states, it is illegal to prescribe without seeing the animal patient in person and it is illegal to do so in all states for certain types of prescriptions per federal law. Once an in-person visit has been conducted to establish a relationship between a veterinarian, an animal patient, and its owner, the use of telemedicine in the delivery of veterinary care offers benefits for animal patients, animal owners, and veterinarians.

In contrast to what Mr. Spector suggests, AVMA is s staunch proponent for telemedicine – when it is used responsibly. An in-person veterinary visit is not just a legal requirement – it is critical to the delivery of quality veterinary care. We are aware of complaints to state veterinary boards and liability insurance claims involving telemedicine conducted in the absence of an in-person examination. These complaints reflect examples of adverse outcomes, including animal death. We are also aware of telemedicine platforms offering veterinary prescription drugs for sale, the dispensing of which without an in-person examination by a veterinarian would cause the drugs to be adulterated under federal law.

The AVMA is committed to ensuring that all veterinary services are provided with professionalism and adhere to the same standard of care, whether delivered in person or through electronic means within a previously established veterinarian-client-patient relationship.

 

Here is an excerpt from Mr. Spector’s “interview” with Tucker Carlson in the YouTube video, which already has over 100,000 views in the six hours since it was posted:

The main industry association, the AVMA has basically made these vets feel that if they do telemedicine, the FBI will show up at their house. It has scared them to death from doing telemedicine….What they’ll say and and again like I think this is why I want your listeners to know this. It’s just so insane. They will say that the federal law requires requires you to have a physical exam no matter what. Like no matter if it’s an opinion, a quick question. They’ll um say that the FDA website requires a physical exam, which it doesn’t. But in every conference, in every newsletter, they’ll say, “Oh, well, we asked the FDA and they said that you need a physical exam, so if you violate this, you might go to jail.” That’s what they’ll say at every conference for years now. And they’ll vilify me and Dutch and they’ll say, “This guy is going to hurt your dog. If there’s telemedicine, millions of dogs will die.”

This is not the first paid advertisement Mr. Carlson has produced with Dutch. There are several posts, including this from July: