September 26 , 2011

Volume IX, No. 6

Registration Open for the 129th ISVMA Annual Convention

Please plan to join us for an outstanding convention on November 11-13, 2011 at the Peoria Civic Center in Peoria, IL. Once again, the ISVMA Education Planning Committee has done an outstanding job of bringing in well-known national speakers for you to meet in a more intimate setting than the super-sized national and regional meetings.

Eight wet labs will be offered over the three-day weekend:

Wet Lab 1 - Class IV Laser Therapy (Friday)
Wet Lab 2 - Surgery Made Simple: Practical Soft Tissue Technique (Friday)
Wet Lab 3 - Extracapsular Stabilization of the Stifle & Medial Patella Luxation Correction (Saturday)
Web Lab 4 - Ophthalmology Surgery (Saturday)
Wet Lab 5 - External Fixation of Simple Fractures (Saturday)
Wet Lab 6 - Ophthalmology Surgery (Sunday) REPEAT OF SATURDAY
Wet Lab 7 - Small Ruminant: Artificial Insemination & Embryo Transfer Demo (Sunday)

To download the program/registration brochure, get additional information on speakers and course content, review the list of exhibitors and to register online please visit http://www.isvma.org/events/convention/2011_convention/attendees_page.html.

AVMA Legislative Call to Action!
Tell Congress to Oppose the Fairness to Pet Owners Act

TAKE ACTION!

Once again, giant box store Walmart is in the business of going after small businesses. This time it’s veterinary clinics. They have launched an aggressive campaign aimed at their customers, urging them to take action and call on Congress to require mandatory prescription writing by passing H.R. 1406, the Fairness to Pet Owners Act.

The legislation—introduced by Reps. Jim Matheson of Utah and Lee Terry of NE—is still in the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, but has had three Members sign on since it was introduced: Rep. Phil Gingrey (GA), James Moran (VA), and James Sensenbrenner (WI). We are concerned that a large number of calls to support the bill will result in increased co-sponsorship and movement of the bill within the Committee.

From Illinois, Reps. John Shimkus (19th district), Adam Kinzinger (11th district), Bobby Rush (1st district), and Jan Schakowsky (9th district) sit on the Committee of jurisdiction. Reps. Shimkus and Schakowsky also sit on the Subcommittee of jurisdiction.

Walmart just sent out this message in support of the Fairness to Pet Owners Act of 2011.

This bill requires veterinarians to write a prescription at the time of prescribing a product for a companion animal, regardless of whether or not you would also be dispensing the product to your client. Veterinarians would also be required to provide a written disclosure notifying the pet owner that they may fill the prescription through you, the prescriber, or another pharmacy.

This legislation is unnecessary and redundant. AVMA has a long standing policy encouraging veterinarians to write a prescription in lieu of dispensing when asked by a client. And pet owners already have the freedom to take a prescription to be filled at the pharmacy of their choice.

Tell your Member of Congress why they should oppose this bill:

• This legislation is unnecessary and redundant.
• The American Veterinary Medical Association is supportive of a client’s right to have their prescription filled at the pharmacy of their choice and encourages veterinarians to write a prescription when asked by a client.
• Pet owners have the freedom to take a prescription to be filled at the pharmacy of their choice.
• State laws already govern veterinary prescription writing making this bill unnecessary.
• The interests of large retail stores shouldn’t dictate how veterinarians operate their practice.
•AVMA believes that the prescribing veterinarian is the most appropriate professional to provide guidance and education when dispensing a prescription product.

It’s time for veterinarians to take action! If you don’t speak up, the only message Congress will hear is Walmart’s!

If you have questions, please feel free to contact Dr. Ashley S. Morgan, Assistant Director, at the American Veterinary Association’s Governmental Relations Division at amorgan@avma.org.

ISVMA 2011 Fall Equine Meeting

This equine CE program will be held at Merritt & Associates Equine Hospital, Wauconda IL on Sunday, October 9, 2011.

This full day of continuing education is offered to DVMs, CVTs, practic personnel and students with the session topics focused strictly on the horse.

The day begins at 8:00am with registration and continental breakfast. The first educational session begins at 8:30am. The meeting is scheduled to end by 5:00pm. Attendees will earn 7 hours of CE.

Session will include:

• Marian Little, DVM - PPID/Equine Cushing’s Disease 2011: From Hirsutism to Optimism
• Stuart Shoemaker, DVM, Dipl ACVS - High Field MRI Technology in Equine Science
• T.K. Pope, BS, MS - Advanced Regenerative Therapies Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Therapies
• Laurie R. Goodrich, DVM, MS, PhD, Dipl ACVS - Regenerative Medicine & the Use of Bone Marrow Derived Mesenchymal Stem

Registration is available online. For full meeting details, speaker bios and a faxable registration form you can download the meeting brochure. Pre-registration closes on October 1, and seating is limited to first 50 registrants.

The meeting is generously sponsored by Milburn Equine and Luitpold Pharmaceuticals Makers of Adequan. Speaker Sponsors include Advanced Regenerative Therapies, Boehringer Ingelheim, MREquine with support from Merritt & Associates Equine Hospital, (Waudonda IL). There will be a vendors’ area to give attendees an opportunity to thank these folks for their generous support of this fine meeting.

Researchers Reverse Type II Diabetes in Mice

Dr. Ross Laybutt and colleagues at the Diabetes and Obesity Research Program in Australia found they could reverse diabetes type II onset in mice by blocking ld1, a gene that triggers type II diabetes by essentially turning off the pancreas' insulin-producing capabilities, even when the mice were fed high-fat diets. Researches say the information could lead to drugs to reverse type II diabetes in people. News-Medical.Net (Courtesy AVMA)

ISVMA Offers Sponsored Benefit Programs to Increase Your Practice Income

The ISVMA Membership Services Committee reviews options for sponsored benefit programs designed to help veterinary practices operate more efficiently and increase profits! Programs include discount merchant services (credit card processing), bulk energy purchasing and debt collection. The ISVMA Membership Services Committee is exploring other reputable companies that can provide additional benefits to our members. These programs save our members money AND provide a valuable non-dues income stream for ISVMA.

Please check out the approved ISVMA sponsored benefit programs:

TransFirst Health Services: ISVMA members can save money on processing credit card transactions in clinic by participating in this program. For more information, please contact Rene' Buzicky at TransFirst Health Services, (800) 577-8573 ext. 160, rbuzicky@transfirst.com.

Energy Plus®: You have the opportunity to choose your energy supplier. The ISVMA has partnered with Energy Plus®. Now, ISVMA members within the ComEd service territory have the opportunity to choose an electricity supply company that offers Activation Bonuses and Cash Back rebates on electricity. CLICK HERE or call 877-830-6820 and mention Offer Code “IVM-5578” to inquire today.

Diversified Services: Many ISVMA members have already utilized this service to help recover delinquent payments on client accounts. For more information, contact Jerry Kane at Diversified Services Group, (888) 494-7900, jmk@divservgrp.com.

About the Photo

The Black-crested Titmouse (Baeolophus atricristatus) is a common songbird of dry oak, mesquite, and riparian woodlands from Oklahoma and Texas south through northeastern Mexico. Indeed, this species along with various others, such as the Least Grebe (Tachybaptus dominicus), Green Kingfisher (Chloroceryle americana), Golden-fronted Woodpecker (Melanerpes aurifrons), and Couch’s Kingbird (Tyrannus couchii), is really a subtropical species whose range extends north into the southern United States. Although thought of as a “Texas specialty” in the U.S., the Black-crested Titmouse is more widespread in northeastern Mexico and, like the aforementioned woodpecker, actually reaches southwestern Oklahoma.

The Black-crested Titmouse is closely related to the Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) and has often been considered conspecific with it, largely because of a broad front of hybridization in central Texas; these titmice also hybridize in southwestern Oklahoma. Unlike its widespread sister species, however, comparatively little field work has been conducted on the Black-crested Titmouse. Nonetheless, it is generally assumed to be similar in most aspects of its ecology, demography, and behavior, although it is slightly smaller and differs in habitat and, somewhat, in song. That said, the species may differ in some key aspects in their ecology. For example, the Black-crested Titmouse is thought to be less overtly agonistic than the Tufted, and it may use its black crest as a signal in territorial disputes.

I photographed this Black-crested Titmouse in Salineno, TX in February 2010.

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