Vote NO for CO Prop 129

This is an old post from before the election that never made it past social media. Unfortunately this bullshit measure passed and the industry will continue to decline because of it, but who cares what the actual professionals in the industry think?

Many people have asked for my professional opinion on Proposition 129 on the upcoming Colorado ballot. It would allow for the creation of a mid-level practitioner role (called a VPA - similar to a PA on the human side) in the veterinary field. In short, my opinion is NO, nay, absolutely not, this is a VERY BAD IDEA. There are so many problems in the veterinary industry and this isn’t an answer to any of them.

First, the proposed level of training is just absurd and drastically undermines the extensive training that veterinary professionals (doctors and technicians) go through to be able to practice medicine. Three semesters of online training is not enough to allow someone to safely and effectively diagnose and treat your animal, much less to do anesthesia or surgery of any kind!

If the proposal was to have a similar program specifically for credentialed veterinary technicians (CVT/LVT/RVT) with some clinical experience, I could get on board with that. But for just anyone to be able to practice medicine after 3 semesters of school is simply dangerous to both your pets and to public health.

Credentialed veterinary technicians already undergo more schooling than this and are consistently underutilized in the clinical setting. How does it make sense that someone with less training and experience will be an asset to the practice or to you, the pet owner?

Second, and probably most important for most pet owners, is the argument that this would reduce costs and increase access to veterinary care, especially in rural areas. I don’t see this happening for several reasons, mainly that any time you add a layer of personnel, costs will increase. It is proposed that the VPA would make about $80,000/year (which is not much less than many veterinarians and a lot more than most veterinary technicians). They will still need the help of veterinary technicians, all of the same equipment, space, medications, etc., so how exactly is this likely to reduce costs?

Best case scenario, the already high costs of veterinary care will stay the same (they won’t), but pet owners will now be paying for subpar services, knowledge, and skills, potentially delaying getting to an appropriate diagnosis and treatment plan for your pet. We already struggle with being allowed by pet owners to do necessary diagnostic tests due to costs - having a different person see your pets first will not reduce the costs of these tests or treatment.

As for better access to vet care: since this VPA will not be legally allowed to prescribe medications (this is a federal law - according to the FDA, only licensed veterinarians can prescribe animal medications), and they will have to work under the supervision of a veterinarian, it simply will not increase access in areas where there are no veterinarians.

The only scenario in which this would be useful is for the large corporate-owned practices that emphasize seeing as many patients as possible per day. These practices focus on numbers, not on quality of care. They are also largely responsible for the huge rise in costs of veterinary care in recent years. They would love to have one veterinarian overseeing several of these VPAs, thereby increasing the number of pets seen per doctor per day from 20+ pets to 60+ pets/doctor/day. This is how things get missed and misdiagnosed. This is how our patients suffer unnecessarily. This is how you drive more talented doctors and technicians away from the field. I could go on and on, but that’s another rant for another day.

In short, this proposal is vague and not well thought out. It is opposed by every veterinary professional I know, as well as all the major organizations and governing bodies in the veterinary world. Please support your veterinary team and vote no for this absurd proposal!

Feel free to reach out with questions or to have a constructive discussion!