Pharmacy practice in a veterinary hospital: development and application of a tool for inspection of medication labeling and packaging

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to develop and apply a tool to guide the inspection of technical parameters of medications used in veterinary health services, supporting practices that contribute to animal patient safety in accordance with current regulations. Methods: The Inspection Guide for Technical Aspects of Labeling of Medicines for Veterinary Use (RIATREvet) was designed from Brazilian regulations issued by Anvisa and MAPA, the agencies responsible for human and veterinary drug control, respectively. The tool was implemented at the veterinary hospital of the Federal University of Goiás, central-west region of Brazil, to assess compliance with medications used in animal care. Results: The RIATREvet covered three domains and 16 items. It was applied to 67 medications (58.2% human, 41.8% veterinary). Human drugs achieved near-total regulatory compliance (≥98%). Conversely, veterinary drugs exhibited significantly lower compliance, notably in primary packaging (Domain 1: 71.4%) and secondary packaging (Domains 1 and 2: ≤84%). The most frequent non-conformity was Item 3.3 (“Customer Service Phone Number”), with veterinary drugs showing a significantly higher failure rate (64.3%, p<0.001). High-risk APINCH medications (52.2% of the sample) showed high non-compliance, particularly for primary packaging (65.7%), increasing the risk of medication errors. Conclusion: The RIATREvet tool effectively guides veterinarians and pharmacists in evaluating medication labeling and packaging, thereby contributing to safer medication use in veterinary healthcare services.