BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

David Mills — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 20:01:17 GMT

[quote userid="25265" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31290/bbc-panorama-why-are-vet-bills-so-high/248404#248404"]it’s not so much that leaving the EU enabled the UK to do anything different. It’s more that either knowing we were leaving, or being in the transition period and outside of some of the institutions, meant that we wouldn’t lose as much political capital in exercising those provisions.[/quote]

One and the same thing regardless of legal technicalities or bureaucratic nonsense.

Brexit allowed earlier roll out of the vaccine. It also allowed unilateral huge investment in developing the vaccine in the UK.

Remember the Netherlands or Belgoum impounding vaccines in a jealous spat? BJ actually considered a military action to seize them back.

I do find it funny when people call Brexit a failure. You only have to see how sidelined the EU is now in geopolitics (Ukraine, Russia, Iran, Israel, Greenland, economic policy) and the advantages of being able to act independently. Committee and consensus trying to please the factions across a failing EU project will only become more outdated.

To think Brexit has led to worse economic conditions is ludicrous.

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

Cinzia Gandini — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 22:23:04 GMT

[quote userid="25265" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31290/bbc-panorama-why-are-vet-bills-so-high/248404#248404"]So it’s not so much that leaving the EU enabled the UK to do anything different.[/quote]

Exactly. Ultimately, apart from a few specific cases, the regulations will align. In my opinion, it might be viewed as a relatively expensive way to achieve political independence.

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

Ben Walker — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 22:12:21 GMT

Thanks Cinzia Gandini. That’s a really measured explanation.

So it’s not so much that leaving the EU enabled the UK to do anything different. It’s more that either knowing we were leaving, or being in the transition period and outside of some of the institutions, meant that we wouldn’t lose as much political capital in exercising those provisions.

I don’t see how that could be proven either way, but it is at least plausible and explains how an EU exit would affect something before it happens. I genuinely appreciate you taking the time to explain.

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

Cinzia Gandini — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 19:02:24 GMT

[quote userid="25265" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31290/bbc-panorama-why-are-vet-bills-so-high/248400#248400"]I just can't see what Brexit had to do with any of it.[/quote]

The EU’s institutional design strongly incentivises centralised approval during crises to avoid fragmentation. The UK, being outside that coordination logic, didn’t face that constraint.

The EU’s institutional framework strongly favours coordinated, centralised approval through the EMA to ensure uniform access and avoid fragmentation. Although Member States legally had the option under Article 5(2) of Directive 2001/83/EC to issue temporary national authorisations, doing so would have meant breaking from the common EU approach. The UK, being outside that coordination framework, did not face the same political and institutional incentives to wait for a collective decision.

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

Andreas Ege — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 18:41:17 GMT

[quote userid="25265" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31290/bbc-panorama-why-are-vet-bills-so-high/248400#248400"]I just can't see what Brexit had to do with any of it.[/quote]

The official government press release at the time clearly stated that the vaccine rollout was based on and confirmed to EU regulations.

Even though it seems a lot of people in favour of Brexit see it as a success of Brexit, from a regulatory point of view it clearly isn't.

What I can imagine is, that the Brexit mind set psychologically paved the way for that decision, though, and in that sense could be seen as a Brexit success.

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

Ben Walker — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 17:27:59 GMT

Cinzia Gandini

I understand all of that. But the claim wasn't that the UK granted a temporary approval of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine before other EU countries. It was that Brexit allowed it to happen.

Regulation 174 has been part of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012 since it was created. It complies with Article 5(2) of EU Directive 2001/83/EC, which states:

"Member States may temporarily authorise the distribution of an unauthorised medicinal product in response to the suspected or confirmed spread of pathogenic agents, toxins, chemical agents or nuclear radiation any of which could cause harm."

This isn't me speculating. The explanatory notes of the The Human Medicines (Coronavirus and Influenza) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 statutory instrument says exactly that and adds that:

"Pending the grant of an EMA licence for a COVID-19 vaccine, each Member State of the EU, and separately now the United Kingdom, has the option of temporarily authorising an unlicensed vaccine’s sale or supply in their territory (as provided for in Article 5(2) of the Directive), if they consider this to be justified on public health grounds."

I just can't see what Brexit had to do with any of it.

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

Cinzia Gandini — Thu, 19 Feb 2026 09:57:20 GMT

[quote userid="25265" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31290/bbc-panorama-why-are-vet-bills-so-high/248388#248388"]Could you elaborate on that claim please?[/quote]

The UK regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), used an emergency authorization mechanism (Regulation 174).

This allowed rapid, rolling review of data.
Approval was granted on 2 December 2020.
Vaccinations began six days later.

The UK chose speed, accepting regulatory risk at the national level

The EU went through the centralized process via the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

The EMA also did a rolling review.
But it granted conditional marketing authorization on 21 December 2020, not emergency use.
The European Commission then formally approved it for all 27 member states.
Vaccinations started 27 December.

The EU chose a full (though accelerated) authorization route, which is legally stronger and more uniform across member states.

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

Ben Walker — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 08:01:23 GMT

[quote userid="3169" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31290/bbc-panorama-why-are-vet-bills-so-high/248387#248387"]I think look at COVID vaccine roll out, vastly faster than if we stayed in the EU.[/quote]

Could you elaborate on that claim please? I can’t make sense of how that works.

The first COVID vaccine was administered in the UK on 08 Dec 20. EU rules applied to the UK until 31 Dec 20. What does Brexit have to do with it?

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

Michael Woodhouse — Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:02:15 GMT

[quote userid="16672" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31290/bbc-panorama-why-are-vet-bills-so-high/248381#248381"]Has anyone considered the implications of Brexit on several of the costs as well? [/quote]

I've given it some thought and I don't think it's made much or any difference to running my kind of practice. Has probably had more of an impact on practices using 'cheap' foreign TB testers, and abattoir workers.

[quote userid="16672" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31290/bbc-panorama-why-are-vet-bills-so-high/248381#248381"]and create more paperwork for exports, taking up vet time?[/quote]

You can call it what you like, but it created a huge amount of paid work for vets. Due to a restructuring we have less export work now (a national cheese factory now exports from a different part of the country) but Brexit probably brought me somewhere around £60,000 in new turnover doing export work, that didn't exist before - many multiples more than my TB testing income. An AHC is more work than a pet passport, but charged appropriately, more profitable too. In many ways it presented an opportunity for the profession.

[quote userid="16672" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31290/bbc-panorama-why-are-vet-bills-so-high/248381#248381"]eems like it was an overwhelming failure [/quote]

No. I think look at COVID vaccine roll out, vastly faster than if we stayed in the EU. I've never found getting my passport stamped on holiday a particular bugbear. If you asked me to vote today I'd still vote to leave, no regrets.

We still have access to European drugs via SICs, UK supply has got worse, but then companies have stepped into the breech and supply of imported drugs is probably better now than ever before. I don't see a single draw back. Could just do with getting rid of Labour, but that will happen soon enough.......

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

Martin Hamilton — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 23:08:38 GMT

Has anyone considered the implications of Brexit on several of the costs as well? I know there's a huge proBrexit crowd on here, but didn't it lead to a worker shortage as EU vets left and create more paperwork for exports, taking up vet time?

Brexit was admittedly the straw that broke the camels back and made leaving the UK that bit easier (I hated the direction the country was going in so decided it was a good time to take a break and try something else...didn't plan on a permanent move but here I am). Seems like it was an overwhelming failure and certainly didn't make running a veterinary business cheaper, did it? I'm not in the thick of it so perhaps I'm wrong and it made things cheaper?

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

David Mills — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 20:27:14 GMT

[quote userid="9179" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31290/bbc-panorama-why-are-vet-bills-so-high/248376#248376"] I'm fairly confident that 100% of vets I know and work with have some form of mental instability[/quote]

What do you class as "mental instability"?

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

Chris Milligan — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 23:44:06 GMT

[quote userid="3169" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31290/bbc-panorama-why-are-vet-bills-so-high/248378#248378"]I'm the most mentally stable person going....[/quote]

i used to tell myself that too..

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

Michael Woodhouse — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 23:11:56 GMT

[quote userid="9179" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31290/bbc-panorama-why-are-vet-bills-so-high/248376#248376"]I'm fairly confident that 100% of vets I know and work with have some form of mental instability[/quote]

I'm the most mentally stable person going.....

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

Chris Milligan — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 23:06:42 GMT

[quote userid="16672" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31290/bbc-panorama-why-are-vet-bills-so-high/248311#248311"]maybe that says more about those of us that chose to leave the UK to practice elsewhere more than anything else...[/quote]

good to see it isn't just Cambridge that trained its vets to be deeply suspicious!

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

Chris Milligan — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 23:04:33 GMT

[quote userid="3169" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31290/bbc-panorama-why-are-vet-bills-so-high/248312#248312"]found that unnatural hair colours such as blue, green, pink, and purple strongly correlated with higher self-reported mental instability.[/quote]

not sure this qualifies as EBVM Michael - I'm fairly confident that 100% of vets I know and work with have some form of mental instability and only a few dye their hair

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

Clive Ansell — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 12:54:09 GMT

[quote userid="4181" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31290/bbc-panorama-why-are-vet-bills-so-high/248350#248350"]

Stephen Pointing said:
You talk about veterinary prices. What about dental charges?

I'm not sure the comparison holds up: I recently had a root canal - private dental practice - cost £850; recently referred a dog for similar £2,800

[/quote]

Sounds near the mark.

I've recently had a root canal filling (~£700) and Zirconia crown (~£550) fitted. £1250. Great job, no old style impressions taken, crown was made from images of a hand held 3D scanner. I've had 2 now and both fitted perfectly with no trimming or adjustment at all, amazing tool.

Recent dog referral about £3500 for similar, although a large canine tooth, Did include GA of course, and CT scan.

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

David Scarff — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 10:02:28 GMT

Or something right....

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Sun, 08 Feb 2026 22:13:24 GMT

[quote userid="4181" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31290/bbc-panorama-why-are-vet-bills-so-high/248350#248350"] root canal - private dental practice - cost £850; recently referred a dog for similar £2,800[/quote]

I think I must be doing something wrong.

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

Michael Woodhouse — Sun, 08 Feb 2026 00:20:31 GMT

[quote userid="4181" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31290/bbc-panorama-why-are-vet-bills-so-high/248351#248351"]How about https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7643223/ or https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/256/11/javma.256.11.1268.xml [/quote]

Find me something done in the UK and I'll listen.

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

Martin Hamilton — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 16:10:50 GMT

[quote userid="4181" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31290/bbc-panorama-why-are-vet-bills-so-high/248350#248350"]I'm not sure the comparison holds up: I recently had a root canal - private dental practice - cost £850; recently referred a dog for similar £2,800[/quote]

I'm in a different country now, but to defend the veterinary dental fees to some extent, they require more materials for a dog root canal versus a human (due to the size of pulp/root canal we use large cones which cost more and use far more sealer), and there's the GA involved, whole mouth x-rays, cleaning, charting etc. If you look at the cost for the actual root canal itself it's probably similar in price between the dog that was referred and your own.

What really amazes me are the UK TPLO prices. They seem out to lunch, considering most surgeons I know take less than an hour to do them and are pumping out 5-6 of them in a day. For some reason they seem a lot more inflated than what they do even here in Canada.

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

Rob Loxley — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 12:49:25 GMT

[quote userid="3169" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31290/bbc-panorama-why-are-vet-bills-so-high/248312#248312"]Fancy some EBVM?[/quote]

How about https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7643223/ or https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/256/11/javma.256.11.1268.xml

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

Rob Loxley — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 12:49:19 GMT

[quote userid="13196" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31290/bbc-panorama-why-are-vet-bills-so-high/248304#248304"]You talk about veterinary prices. What about dental charges?[/quote]

I'm not sure the comparison holds up: I recently had a root canal - private dental practice - cost £850; recently referred a dog for similar £2,800

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

Dinu Catilina — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 10:07:15 GMT

[quote userid="12930" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31290/bbc-panorama-why-are-vet-bills-so-high/248348#248348"]

A clinic a friend once worked in issued new staff guidance.

The only change from the previously available guidance was that "all facial hair should be kept neat and tidy".

He was the only male member of the team and happened to have a beard.

[/quote]

Just shows the absolute control the matriarchy exhorts on the fast diminishing male arm of the profession. I propose instituting some type of positive discrimination like maybe paying male vets more. Could this help? Opinions anyone?

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

Beats — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 07:37:13 GMT

A clinic a friend once worked in issued new staff guidance.

The only change from the previously available guidance was that "all facial hair should be kept neat and tidy".

He was the only male member of the team and happened to have a beard.

RE: BBC Panorama: Why Are Vet Bills So High?

David Mills — Sat, 07 Feb 2026 07:21:17 GMT

[quote userid="4103" url="~/f/non-clinical-questions/31290/bbc-panorama-why-are-vet-bills-so-high/248328#248328"]the founder’s style, it makes sense, the founder has always dressed that way, even before gaining fame, and this connects to the fact that some people deliberately choose not to follow a traditional dress code to highlight their independence, sending a message 'I am the boss, I respect the rules, but I don’t have to follow them to the letter, I make my own choices...etc[/quote]

Exactly my point. To an extent, everyone is bound by their employer's rules and, well, culture or viewpoint. Employees have little say in what they wear, they don't particularly get to demonstrate independence. The boss, sure, and if they want to project a message by dressing like a tramp it's their call. But previously you seemed to imply that people dressed how they want to send a message - they can't.

Which in a circular way leads us back to Michael's point - it's his business and therefore his rules. He wants people to dress more smartly than pink scrubs and pink hair. What is wrong with that? Or, more pertinently, how is that wrong and the tech bro boss right or any different?! They aren't.