Rockville, Md. — Curious or confused about the laws and regulations that guide the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM)?

In what CVM Director Dr. Bernadette Dunham hopes will "serve as a catalyst for creating communication" between the agency and DVMs, regulatory officials have prepared an electronic booklet to address activities that might matter to veterinarians. Fifteen chapters explore everything from how the agency determines the marketing status of pharmaceuticals (prescription versus over-the-counter) to its range of regulatory actions, including fines for criminal infractions. Dunham, director of FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM), writes in an introductory letter that "Our success at CVM depends on the knowledge, abilities and ethics of veterinarians to use FDA-regulated products responsibly within their practices."  

CVM assists in providing for the health care needs of animals through the approval and post-approval monitoring of safe and effective animal drugs, medical devices and oversight of animal feeds, agency officials say.