A veterinary surgeon has received two suspended sentences and fines amounting to €40,000 for offences relating to the sale of prescription-only medicines for animals not under his care.
Gary Adams, who runs a practice on Main Street, Carnew, Co Wicklow, pleaded guilty to more than 30 sample charges at Gorey District Court. Judge Gerard Haughton heard from Sinead Gleeson BL, for the Minister for Agriculture, that the offences were at the upper end of the scale.
Veterinary inspector Louis Reardon, of the Department of Agriculture’s special investigations unit, said he visited Mr Adams’s premises in April 2013 and examined documents which indicated that Mr Adams was supplying prescription-only medicines to people in locations as far away as Limerick, West Cork, Dundalk, Meath, Tipperary and Longford.
He visited a number of farmers supplied by Mr Adams and examined medicines and animal remedy records. Mr Reardon said it was clear that the vet had not visited the farms. It appeared that farmers would ring Mr Adams and he would dispense the products either for collection by the customer, by post, or by courier, depending on the size of the consignment.
The court heard that Mr Adams’s biggest customer in this enterprise, a buyers’ group known as Balfarm Ltd, had paid Mr Adams €125,000 for animal remedies between February 2011 and July 2013.
Mr Adams pleaded guilty to a range of charges including providing prescription-only medicines to animals not under his care; selling the medicines without labels; forging entries in animal remedy records; and selling medicines to another veterinary surgeon without a wholesale licence.
Mr Reardon said the veterinary surgeon had supplied a range of animal medicines, but he was most concerned about the supply of antibiotics. “We have a burgeoning public health issue of antimicrobial resistance,” he said. This is where humans, and animals, build up a resistance to antibiotics.
He said that the improper sale of veterinary products could have serious implications in the event of a product recall and could do damage to Ireland’s reputation abroad, particularly in developing markets, such as China.
Mr Reardon said that Mr Adams had “mended his ways dramatically” since his first visit and agreed with the vet’s solicitor, Michael Lanigan, that he had co-operated with the investigation.
Judge Haughton said the offences were “very serious”. “He did it for one reason and one reason only, and that was to make money, and a very substantial amount of money was involved even in the one figure I was given,” he said.
He imposed two six-month sentences, both suspended, and costs, for the offences relating to supplying medicines to animals not under his care, and forging entries in records. He fined Mr Adams €2,000 for each of the remaining 20 charges.
