Veterinarians who make farm calls to treat equines currently risk prosecution under the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA), but new legislation pending in the U.S. House of Representatives would amend that law to protect operators of mobile veterinary practices.

Passed by Congress in 1970 and enforced by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the CSA is intended to prevent the unauthorized manufacture, sale, and transport of drugs that are likely to be abused. Under current law, veterinarians who carry certain drugs, including those used for pain management and euthanasia, to farm calls or in mobile veterinary units could be in violation of the act.

Chris Huckleberry, deputy chief of staff for Congressman Kurt Schrader, said that in October Schrader began hearing rumors from state veterinarian associations that some of their members could be in violation of the CSA. In response, Schrader and 16 other members of Congress submitted a letter to the DEA asking the agency to clarify its policy relative to the rumors and to provide a list of drugs commonly carried by veterinarians that, under the CSA, qualify as controlled substances.

“We couldn’t get that clarification from them, so Rep. Schrader wrote the legislation,” Huckleberry said