Comment by the dogfather — December 20, 2009 @ 10:22 am

There must be a just punishment for stuff like this, but I don’t know what it is. Maybe just sic the Pun Police on you?

elaine

They look like this: http://www.johnsumner.com/images/picassosdog.jpg

No unreliable DNA test required.

What if the vet trusted Dr. Becker’s judgment, and assumed that he would never have endorsed the DNA test (and failed to mention the MDR1 test) if it weren’t accurate? Yes, the vet should have done his own research and is responsible as well. But companies pay vets to endorse products because they expect the endorsements to influence other vets to use their products. Many vets are extremely busy and don’t have time to research every new product—so they trust the endorsements.

This is why physicians are not allowed to explicitly act as paid endorsers of medical products (they often get around this with the pretense that they are “consultants”). I see no reason why veterinarians should be held to a lower standard.

So she gives her dog ivermectin and her beloved dog—who was a Collie mix after all—dies.

What about the veterinarian who examined the collie mix and still prescribed ivermectin? Shouldn’t that vet be held more accountable than an internet article?

PBurns
http://www.terrierman.com

Comment by PBurns — December 18, 2009 @ 9:45 am”

It is quite a joke for someone who has blogged that any dog anyone thinks is a pit bull IS a pit bull (and should be subject to restrictive laws) to have the nerve to comment on the crappiness of someone else’s notions of breed. Especially one who also denies that a purebred breed called the American Pit Bull Terrier even exists and routinely denigrates the very notion of purebred dogs.. except his own of course.

I agree with the conflict of interest problems in medicine, all kinds. That’s why Dr. Becker was explicit in his statement that he has represented one of these products as a spokesperson. Such disclosure allows people to make up their own minds in weighing their opinion of any given product or service.

As for ethics … well, Dr. Becker stood by the bloggers here during the pet-food recall, despite a lot of pressure to do otherwise — and the potential for loss of income. As long as our reporting was well-documented, he was good with it.

Again, we have asked the companies to come in, and I hope they do.