A woman in Connecticut was charged last week with trying to get painkillers from a drug store by using her dog’s name. Kymberly Smith, who’s 38, faces more than two dozen charges related to her alleged repeated attempts to obtain painkillers at a pharmacy under her dog’s name.
Police said Smith is charged with using her dog Zack’s name to get Hydrocodone, which is marketed under several names including Vicodin. She was a veterinary technician for several area veterinarians when she began using their ID number to call in prescriptions for herself under the name “Zack Smith.” She surrendered to police and was released after posting bond.
Hmm.. I wonder if it would be a problem if I got a prescription for my dog, Kylie, for the new doggie fat pill, and then I took it?
It was in the news late last week that Pfizer will market Slentrol, a liquid formula, to the estimated 5 percent of U.S. dogs that are 20 percent over their ideal weight. The FDA released a statement that said the drug’s “mechanism for producing weight loss is not completely understood,” but seems to cause less fat absorption.
Kylie’s pretty trim so I’m not sure how I could get her vet to prescribe it, but I think I could really use some Slentrol!
–update 1/10/07————————-
I coincidentally just found this information today about real doggie downers and thought it was relevant:
A growing number of U.S. pets and zoo animals are overcoming anxieties and mellowing their behavior with the use of human anti-depressants, a report said.
The Los Angeles Times said over the last decade, Prozac, Buspar and Amitriptyline have been introduced into the veterinary world to treat cats for indoor spraying, dogs and birds for separation anxiety and self-destructive compulsive grooming.
Veterinarians who prescribe psychoactive drugs do not immediately pull out prescription pads. Instead, they do medical work-ups on animals to rule out physical causes for destructive or neurotic actions and prefer to use behavior modification instead of, or along with drug therapy.
Source: United Press International
