POM(E) Prescription Only Medicine (Exempt) nothing too difficult there on the face of it.  Shouldn't be too difficult to get ones head around it.  And yet..............  Still no product has found its way into this much heralded category. 
I swear, every time I see the letters POM(E) in writing I feel as if I'm reading about the Good Friday Agreement or the South African Truth Commission.  The framework is in place, the legalities are in place, the good-will seems to be in place, a new EC paper mountain has been created and shredded every month for the past yonks.  Fine tuning, arguing and debating every detail until all was no more.  And as for all the hot gas that has been blown off on the subject,
well Richard Branson would be round the world twice in his little balloon and still have enough over for a "brute of a fry-up".
No, I think enough has been said, enough written and more than enough steps taken back from the brink.  It is time for us all to get up off our collective derrieres, get down for one last scrum and with an almighty heave, finally push the opposition (whoever they are)
off the ball and ruck this thing forward to wherever it leads us. If that be down a blind alley well so be it.  I'm fed up waiting to turn the corner just to find out.  So is just about everyone  else so what  are we waiting for ? Christmas ??

The Pharmachem committee expressed their congratulations to Gerry Headon, at the recent committee meeting, on the management buy out of Boileau & Boyd, Whelehans and Perrans.  The committee look forward to the continued growth of the business and the excellent relations
between the committee and Boileau & Boyd.

Article published in Irish Farmers Journal November 7, 1998

POM, Prescription Only Medicine, is affecting every livestock farmer in the land.  It is a key part of the 1996 Animal Medicines Regulations. It was introduced in an effort to put order and control on antibiotics. But along with the controls has come anomalies, inefficiencies and major animal welfare problems.  However, a solution may be at hand in the form of POM(E)

POM(E) is a separate category in the Animal Medicines Regulations. Animal health products listed in the POM category, including all antibiotics, can only be administered by a vet to an animal that he/she has seen.  In this respect, Ireland has the strictest definition of Prescription Only Medicines in the EU.  Products listed in the Irish POM(E) category can be sold by a vet
or a pharmacist without him/her having to visit the animal to make a diagnosis.  Indeed, many of the conditions such as sheep sponging, do not need a diagnosis.  In all cases of POM(E) sales, the farmer would be known to the vet/pharmacist.  Advice could be given on the use of the drug, withdrawal period etc.

An industry-wide effort is underway to persuade the Irish Medicines Board to re-classify certain products form POM to POM(E)
These products include:

• Sheep sponges and PMSG
• Topical antibiotics and foot sprays for sheep
• Calf scour products, such as Hyspan, which is based on Neomycin, an antibiotic not used in human medicine. 
• Treatment for Pink Eye.
• The local anaesthetic Lignocaine, which can be used for dehorning calves.  It is now compulsory to use a local anaesthetic if dehorning a calf of over two weeks.  Coils, CIDRs and other products used in reproduction in cattle.  
• Imizol - the vaccine/drug of choice for use against Red water in cattle.
• Intra uterine products, such as Metrijet.

These organisations have held meetings on the issue.  As of yet the country's veterinary organisations are still considering their stance. The veterinary supply companies, the farm organisations and the pharmacists believe that the Department of Agriculture is in favour of any sensible moves which will reduce the level of pain and suffering in farm animals
without any risk to human health. 

Since the heat  synchronising products, such as Prid/CIDR etc. were made POM, their use has collapsed in AI stations.  Vets also are handling less of them now than before the POM ruling.  A useful cattle breeding tool has effectively been made unavailable to farmers. 

The collapse in the value of sheep has raised a major animal welfare issue.  In the early days after the Animal Medicines Regulations became law, some vets showed flexibility in selling antibiotics.  More recently, the Department of Agriculture has clamped down on this activity, and insists that the full letter of the law be observed.  Indeed, some vets are re-considering the value of having shops which retail antibiotics.

Nobody questions the desirability of prudent and responsible antibiotic use on farms to minimise the threat of resistance to antibiotics in humans  At the recent EU "microbial threat" conference, enormous blame was being put on  farmers for abuse of antibiotics.  But this was
mainly in pig and poultry units.  Last week the Irish Green Party also launched a broadside against antibiotic use on farms.  But APHA director Declan O'Brien, speaking at last weeks; veterinary congress, defended the farm situation and accused the Green Party of scare mongering. 

Also at the conference Mr. O'Brien welcomed the Irish Medicines Board decision to allow injectable calcium and magnesium products to remain on sale through licensed merchants.  The most recent survey of Irish meat products showed a nil level of antibiotic residue in beef or
lamb, and one per cent in pork; this is one per cent more than it should be, Pat McCarthy, Managing Director of Co-op Animal Health, told a recent AHD* veterinary meeting in Tullow, Co. Carlow. 
*AHD - Animal Health Distributions - is a new company, established in 1998 by United Drug PLC and Co-op Animal Health.  It is involved in distributing animal health products from the manufacturer to the
wholesaler.

The Cats Protection League has expressed concern that the passportsfor pets scheme (to include all dogs and cats) will increase the numbersof abandoned pets.  Pet owners will be reluctant to pay to have theirpets microchipped, and for this reason a voluntary system would be more successful .

Article published in Farming Independent

NORBROOK WINS US APPROVAL FOR ANIMAL DRUGS

Norbrook Laboratories, the Newry, Co. Down veterinary pharmaceuticalscompany, has won approval from the US regulatory authority, the Foodand Drug Administration (FDA) for its penicillin G procaine injectablesuspension USP product.  Up to now Norbrook had to buy the raw material from a licensed producer,but now it has approval to produce the raw material itself. 
The company has orders for more than $15 million (£10 million) with target sales of $35 million to $40 million. A spokesman noted that £6.5 million had been spent on research and
development over the past  three years.  The product, Norbrook said, put it in a "unique position in the world" as it is now a primary producer of penicillin G procaine as well as
being a manufacturer of the finished product.  Norbrook has also obtained clinical approval from the FDA for its formulation of the long acting oxytetracycline injection.  This product
has been registered in Europe and is said to have achieved "considerable market success".
Following the two approvals, Norbrook said it now had access to a "multi-million dollar segment of the market" where it expected to be "highly competitive".  This should result in the company growing to become one of the 10 top veterinary pharmaceutical companies in
world, according to the group. 
Norbrook employs 660 people.  Formed 30 years ago, it is one of the largest producers in the world of sterile antibiotic injections for animals.  It has just completed a £38million investment programme which has taken three years to complete. 
Norbrook's main manufacturing site is in Newry but is also has manufacturing facilities in Co.Monaghan and in Nairobi, Kenya.  It generates around £40 million in annual sales.  This is projected to grow substantially. 
The company has no immediate plans to go public but its founder and chairman, Dr. Edward Haughey, has said "We haven't ruled out going public after the millennium".
The Company intends to expand its product line next year to include products for humans.

Over 99% feed samples were within the maximum pesticide residue limits (MRL's).  Of the samples tested 70% had no residues; 29% had residues below the legal MRL; and less than 1% had residues above the MRL, though none high enough to cause concern for consumer safety

Irish Residue Levels 
                                           Cattle             Pigs        Sheep           Vension
                                           No.     %       No   %    No    %         No     %
CattleGrowth Promoters      26     .12% 
Banned Hormones               26    3.9%
Antibiotics                           45   2.8%      227   1%    4  0.8%     20    35%

Article from Irish Times, 27th Nov 1998

Editors Note 
Should anyone meet Mary Smith please advise her that Ivomec does not cure cancer

ANTIBIOTICS FOR HUMAN USE ONLY
The topic of saving certain antibiotics for human use only was debated at a symposium of the German Animal health academy.  To permit only second choice antibiotics for livestock use was deemed "utopian".  Professor Hoffman stressed that all actions prompted by resistance
should have a basis in science.  Piece meal and over hasty moves to ban products were inappropriate, given both the complex nature of resistance and therapeutic needs.