2022 Legislative Impact
We saved veterinarians from paying non-economic damages by ensuring your voice was heard
Once again we successfully opposed a non-economic damages bill that would burden NY veterinarians with additional insurance cost and the spectre of unwarranted lawsuits motivated by greed
Highlights
Some of the key updates from our recent legislative activity
2022 Legislative Update - End of Session
In 2022 we successfully opposed several bills that would have been highly damaging to the vitality of the NY veterinary industry, included non-economic damages.
Vet-Friendly Buoy's Law
The bill known as “Buoy’s Law” could have added a huge burden on you each time you write a prescription. We negotiated it down, so that the bill that passed into law in 2022 looks like what you do already.
Stopping the Puppy Mill pipeline
During the 2022 session the NY Legislature approved a bill to shut down the puppy mill pipeline and end the retail sale of dogs, cats and rabbits in pet stores across the State. (S1130/A4283). The legislation will go to the Governor for signature.
How does NYSVMS advocacy affect you?
Fortunately you don’t see the impact of most of our advocacy work. That’s because so much of it is to defend veterinarians against proposed legislation that would be damaging to the profession. We provide some insights into how veterinary medicine might be different if you didn’t fund us to make this work possible/
Lawsuits with damages for emotional loss
Over many years NYSVMS has been fighting against a bill that would enable higher damages for emotional loss to be claimed in lawsuits. We believe this would lead to an increase in the number of frivolous lawsuits, increased insurance costs, and higher pricing to clients. Although the bill has strong advocates we have been successful at persuading Senate leadership to not move the bill forward.
Large animal vets overburdened with paperwork
An anti-microbial control bill would have damaged vets ability to prevent disease and created such a burden of reporting that many large vets said it would drive them out of New York. NYSVMS has continued to educate legislators on the far-reaching consequences of this bill and have worked with many State and National partners who have supported our efforts.
Onerous requirements for lengthy euthanasia consultations
Euthanasia consultations are harrowing by nature, but imagine having a legal requirement to explain all the applicable methods including the benefits and risk of each method. We have been successful at persuading legislators that euthanasia counseling is a serious branch of medical practice, and should not be dictated by law.
No more written or oral prescriptions
During 2021 the NY State budget bill included a provision that would have mandated electronic prescriptions and outlawed paper and oral prescriptions. NYSVMS successfully lobbied the Senate Leadership to oppose the bill and had it removed from the final budget bill before it was passed.