POLICY
FDA, known for transparency, continues to stonewall vets and dog owners on heart disease data. Did farm lobby get senators to muzzle them?
One reason for the atypical FDA resistance could be because in 2020 Dr. Solomon, the FDA CVM director, made what he apparently believed was a private vow to the pet food industry not to issue any more updates about DCM in dogs following pressure that was applied by a group of farm state senate Republicans (and Democrat Jon Tester of the farm state of Montana) in a letter to then FDA Commissioner Hahn.
Veterinarians, owners demand FDA action and transparency amid more diagnoses of DCM in dogs thought to be linked to diet
“I’m angry, my vet is angry. I’ve been angry and incredibly sad, for three years,” Martha Martin, who owns two working labrador retrievers, both diagnosed with the disease, told the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine earlier this year…..
What happened to the Pet Insurance Model Law? Why the surprise pull-back?
It’s been three weeks since the pet insurance model law was removed unexpectedly from the agenda of the final 2021 meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) where the law was to be considered and put up for a vote. The Pet Insurance Model Law has been in the works for more than two years. TCR has […]
Pet insurance companies forced to declare themselves for or against consumers
Pet Insurance Working Group Puts Transparency on Agenda with Consideration of Data Reporting Requirements
Leading East Coast veterinary hospital announces reduced emergency services, citing nationwide shortage of vets, support staff, and unprecedented patient volume
MSPCA Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston, one of America’s leading veterinary teaching hospitals, announced last week that it would begin diverting non-life-threatening emergency cases arriving between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. Angell is the first major vet hospital in the Northeast to announce a formal policy of diverting non-life-threatening emergency cases that TCR is […]
FDA issues another letter to firm behind deadliest dog food recall in years. Letter threatens more letters.
The FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) is kicking its letter-writing rhetoric up a notch. On Tuesday afternoon, the agency issued a strongly worded “WARNING LETTER FY21-HAFE6-04″ to the manufacturer responsible for the deadliest dog food recall due to aflatoxin contamination on record. The FDA says that at least 130 dogs were poisoned to death […]
Five recalls in twelve months: Sunshine Mills, Inc. has one report of illness believed to be linked to recalled dog food, FDA says
This story was updated at 4:18 a.m. EDT on Thursday, August 5.*
Siobhan Delancey, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, told TCR Wednesday that there had still been only one report – an illness – thought to be connected to the recalled food.
We still have received only one report (8/2/21, after the recall was announced). This was an illness report and the dog is reported to have recovered. FDA has not yet determined whether the symptoms were caused by the food or another trigger. I’m afraid I can’t provide location information.
Pet insurers threaten to oppose model law if regs block lengthy waiting periods; consumer reps blast industry trade group NAPHIA
During a contentious ninety-minute Pet Insurance Working Group meeting on July 22, insurance regulators and consumer representatives clashed with pet insurance industry stakeholders over language that would restrict the ability of pet insurance companies to impose lengthy waiting periods on consumers in what would be America’s first significant piece of pet insurance legislation. “We have […]