An evaluation of the information given on veterinary prescriptions in Norway. Compliance with the legal regulations

Compliance with Norwegian legal regulations for veterinary prescriptions was investigated and evaluated. The study was designed as a cross‐sectional prescription survey, and the prescriptions were recorded in Dbase III. Of the 6505 written and telephone prescriptions collected only about one in five fulfilled the legal requirements, namely, giving information about the animal species the drug was intended for, indication for the prescribed drug and directions for use. On average 86% contained information about the animal species, while 26% and 80%, respectively, contained information about the indication for the prescribed drug and directions for use. The number of prescriptions on which indication and directions for use were given, was significantly higher for written prescriptions than for telephone prescriptions, and for prescriptions of human preparations compared with prescriptions of veterinary preparations. For pets, the number of prescriptions containing directions for use was significantly higher than for production animals. The proportion of prescriptions for pets giving a statement of the indication was not significantly different from prescriptions for production animals.