Why is Vetmedin injection single use only?

Re: Why is Vetmedin injection single use only?

Martin Atkinson — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 15:27:12 GMT

I would use it sparingly. As a cautionary tale, I had a dog some years ago when Vetmedin had not long been available, presented cyanotic in apparent acute cardiac failure. I used Percutol and gave it a Vetmedin capsule. It actually made it worse and it turned out that it had chocolate poisoning. The owners were asked if it had been fed chocolate at the initial consultation and had answered in the negative but subsequently found their daughter had been feeding it cooking chocolate. Theobromine acts on the cardiac myocytes by increasing calcium uptake - giving it a calcium channel blocker is not the wisest therapy under those circumstances! I wouldn't like to think how it would have gone if it had had an IV injection of pimobendan that acted instantly.

Re: Why is Vetmedin injection single use only?

Utlendigur — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 14:29:07 GMT

[quote user="Aisling McGrath"]Just at cardiology cpd, and a discussion came up about why Vetmedin injection is single use only? [/quote]

Makes more money for the drugs company?

EU regulations? - think delvo...

Re: Why is Vetmedin injection single use only?

Jenny Smith — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 14:07:54 GMT

Its only a dose for a 25kg dog anyway, so even if you could re-use, you wouldn't get much use out of it. I've found in most of the cases I'm using it in, it's the bigger DCM type dogs, so a whole bottle gets used anyway.

Has anyone else used it yet? I really like it, you can feel an improvement in pulses and see the mmems/CRT improving. Great stuff :)

Jenny

Re: Why is Vetmedin injection single use only?

Anthony Todd — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 13:53:33 GMT

[quote user="Aisling McGrath"]Just at cardiology cpd, and a discussion came up about why Vetmedin injection is single use only? No preservative? Loses activity? Other??? [/quote]

Nah, some minion just copied the human regs into the vet ones without changing it to "28 days".

Or they're using exactly the same prep. as the human and changing the label.....

Re: Why is Vetmedin injection single use only?

John Flynn — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 13:35:57 GMT

Another one I'd love to know about is perfalgan (100ml bottles with injection port of paracetamol injectable in case trade name differs in UK). Does it lose efficacy / alter in a significant fashion due to pH change or whatever on introduction of air to the vial, or is it just single use because no antimicrobial preservative present?

Don't know the answer re vetmedin either I'm afraid.

Re: Why is Vetmedin injection single use only?

Martin Atkinson — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 13:26:43 GMT

[quote user="Aisling McGrath"]Just intrigued as we were trying to think of other similar products that are single use e.g. Augmentin and why that is so [/quote] Well Augmentin goes a nasty dark brown colour within a very short time - whether this affects its efficacy or not I don't know but I've used it twice in 8 hrs and nothing adverse has happened but wouldn't leave it longer. Can't comment on Vetmedin.