I don’t think the mucky residue left in a sublimate cuts the mustard
Had another poke around the
.gov cascade pages and I agree that sublimation residue and inefficiency of use would be the main points of argument.
However, if OA can be prescribed under cascade as an extemporaneous preparation - e
xtemporaneous preparations (also known as “veterinary specials”) are products that do not hold a Marketing Authorisation (MA) - and the risks are demonstrated to be negligible, then an optimistic case could be made.
Are the risks negligible?
Yes:
Oxalic acid is a key substance for varroosis winter treatment, but in all EU countries government approval for its use was held up by the requirement that the maximum residue limit (MRL) first be officially determined by the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA). Establishing the MRL as a common European project was financed by scientific institutes and beekeeper associations in most EU countries. Our activities and the procedure of getting the MRL established by the EMEA, which was successfully achieved in December 2004, is described.
You note that most EU countries contributed to the research to prove that MRL of OA was insignificant and that cheap, plain OA was safe to use. Where was the BBKA when the request went out for support? Asleep to the benefits such approval would confer on its members?
If the EU were satisfied that the MRL was not an issue, what of current VMD requirements? They seem to relate more to sophisticated chemical treatments, and perhaps OA might pass these easily:
When using a product under the cascade, you should balance the expected benefits to the animal with the risks of using a medicine under the cascade.
Risks could include those to: the animal, the owner, the person administering the medicine, consumers of produce from treated animals which may contain residues of the veterinary medicine, the environment, wider public health, for example increased selection for antimicrobial resistance.
The pharmacologically active substances contained in the medicine must have a Maximum Residue Limit (MRL).
As this last was established in 2004 and AB was authorised for use in 2015 it looks as if other motivations were at work to override OA in favour of AB.
Perhaps the BBKA will provide a timeline of their involvement in this story, the final chapter of which deprived their members of an effective, cheap and safe tool and obliged them to use one that is less efficient, more expensive and as safe as the one it replaced.
