Treating a horse for gastric ulcers is costly. You’ll pay up to $34 a tube for GastroGard (Merial), the approved medication, and that tube might last two days depending on your horse’s size. Can you find cheaper alternatives online? Sure. But the Internet is a pharmaceutical Wild West, and you might not get what you pay for.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has been cracking down on online sellers of what the agency says are unlicensed and adulterated horse drugs, including ulcer treatments containing omeprazole, the active ingredient in GastroGard. Last fall the FDA sent warning letters to nine such marketers:
▪ Cox Veterinary Laboratory, Chester, South Carolina (seller of Gastroade Xtra)
▪ Horse Gold, Wellington, Florida (GastroMax3)
▪ Horse PreRace, Orlando, Florida (Omeprazole Oral Paste,Omeprazole/Ranitidine Oral Paste, Gastrotec,…
