Legislative Analysis
Phone: (517) 373-8080
VETERINARIAN-CLIENT-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP
http://www.house.mi.gov/hfa
House Bill 4980 as reported from committee Analysis available at
Sponsor: Rep. Laurie Pohutsky http://www.legislature.mi.gov
Committee: Agriculture
Complete to 12-8-24
SUMMARY:
House Bill 4980 would amend the Public Health Code to provide that engaging in the practice
of veterinary medicine can take place only in the context of a veterinarian-client-patient
relationship. The bill would prescribe the elements that must be met for that relationship to be
established and would allow for the use of telehealth visits under certain conditions. The bill
would require rules addressing telehealth that are developed and issued by the Department of
Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) in consultation with the Michigan Board of
Veterinary Medicine to be subject to the provisions of the bill.
The practice of veterinary medicine 1 means:
• Prescribing or administering a drug, medicine, treatment, or method of
procedure; performing an operation or manipulation; applying an apparatus or
appliance; or giving an instruction or demonstration designed to alter an animal
from its normal condition.
• Curing, ameliorating, correcting, reducing, or modifying a disease, deformity,
defect, wound, or injury in or to an animal.
• Diagnosing or prognosing, or both, a disease, deformity, or defect in an animal
by a test, procedure, manipulation, technique, autopsy, biopsy, or other
examination.
Subject to federal law, the bill would provide that all the following requirements must be met
for a veterinarian-client-patient relationship to be established:
• The veterinarian must assume responsibility for making clinical judgments regarding
the health of the animal and the need for medical treatment.
• The animal’s owner must have agreed to follow the veterinarian’s instructions.
• The veterinarian must have current knowledge of the animal to initiate, at a minimum,
a general or preliminary diagnosis of its medical condition. This knowledge could be
obtained by any of the following means:
o Conducting an in-person examination of the animal.
o Conducting an examination of the animal through telehealth using real-time
interactive audio and visual electronic technology.
o Making a medically appropriate and timely visit to the premises where the
animal is kept or where a group of the owner’s animals are kept.
Telehealth would mean the use of electronic information and telecommunication
technologies to support or promote long-distance clinical health care, patient and
1
Section 18814 includes exemptions. https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-333-18814
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 professional health-related education, public health, or health administration. It could
include, but would not be limited to, telemedicine as defined in the Insurance Code. 2
A veterinarian could not conduct a telehealth examination if either of the following apply:
• The animal is not a companion animal (that is, it is not a service animal 3 or an animal
commonly considered to be, or considered by its owner to be, a pet).
• The veterinarian is performing the examination to issue an interstate certificate of
veterinary inspection or a pet health certificate.
Pet health certificate would mean a certificate in a form prescribed by the director of
the Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDARD) in which a veterinarian attests to
the species, age, sex, breed, and description of an animal; any medical conditions of
the animal; any medical treatment and vaccinations that the animal received while
under the control of a pet shop or large-scale dog breeding kennel; and the fact that at
the time of the preparation of the certificate the veterinarian examined the animal and
found the animal free from visual evidence of communicable disease.
All the following would apply to a telehealth examination of an animal:
• When conducting an electronic examination through telehealth, the veterinarian must
use instrumentation and diagnostic equipment through which an image and a medical
record can be transmitted electronically.
• The veterinarian must be readily available, or arrange for emergency coverage, if the
animal experiences an adverse reaction or the treatment regimen for the animals fails.
• The owner of the animal may request an in-person follow-up evaluation with the
veterinarian conducting the telehealth examination. If the veterinarian cannot perform
the in-person follow-up examination, they must provide the animal’s owner with a list
of other veterinarians who are geographically accessible to that owner.
A veterinarian that establishes a veterinarian-client-patient relationship through telehealth
could prescribe the examined animal a drug under all of the following conditions:
• If the only examination of the animal is the telehealth examination, the animal cannot
be prescribed more than a 14-day supply of the drug with no refills. If an additional
telehealth examination is conducted, the animal can be prescribed another 14-day
supply, but no additional renewals can be prescribed unless an in-person examination
is conducted.
• The veterinarian must notify the animal’s owner that some prescription drugs may be
available at a pharmacy and, upon the owner’s request, send the prescription to the
pharmacy of the owner’s choice.
2
Section 3476 of the Insurance Code defines telemedicine as the use of an electronic media to link patients with health
care professionals in different locations. The health care professional must be able to examine the patient via a HIPAA-
compliant, secure interactive audio, video, or audio/video telecommunications system or through the use of store and
forward online messaging. (“HIPAA” means the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996,
Public Law 104-191.)
3
Service animal means a dog or miniature horse that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit
of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability.
See https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-28/chapter-I/part-36/subpart-A/section-36.104
House Fiscal Agency HB 4980 as reported Page 2 of 4
 • The veterinarian cannot prescribe a controlled substance without first performing an
in-person examination of the animal or making a medically appropriate and timely visit
to the premises where the animal is kept.
• The veterinarian must comply with federal law and any other Michigan laws relating
to the prescribing of the drug, including section 16285 of the Public Health Code. 4
MCL 333.16287 and 333.18811 and proposed MCL 333.18818
BACKGROUND AND BRIEF DISCUSSION:
Veterinarians are currently allowed to perform telemedicine examinations of an animal in
accordance with R 338.4901a of the Michigan Administrative Code, 5 which allows the
examination as long as the veterinarian has recently examined the animal in person. In the
event of an emergency, this requirement is waived. According to testimony offered by
veterinarians during the House Agriculture committee hearing on November 13, 2024, this is
interpreted to mean that the in-person exam must have taken place in the preceding 12 months.
A veterinarian also may prescribe a drug for an animal via a telehealth visit in accordance with
section 16285 of the Public Health Code.
Supporters of the bill say that telehealth has been a successful part of health care for humans
for years, and that expanding the flexibility to pet care visits can be done without sacrificing
quality of care. For individuals whose veterinarian is located too far for convenient visits, or
for individuals with pets that are especially anxious when taken into an office setting, the ability
to virtually conduct a visit with a veterinarian on short notice, or on an annual basis with no
interim in-person visits, would add convenience to being able to ensure the continued well-
being of their pets. The bill would also allow for the prescribing of drugs for an animal, but
with limits on the supply of the drug that could be prescribed, and an in-person visit would be
needed if a drug were to be prescribed longer than a total of 28 days. Supporters argue that
these prescription guidelines will increase access to needed drugs while minimizing
opportunities for abuse
Opponents of the bill say that the current guidelines are adequate and necessary for ensuring
that veterinarians can stay current with an animal’s condition and well-being. In-person visits,
some argue, are needed to ensure accurate assessments of an animal’s physical condition
because, unlike humans, animals cannot answer a doctor’s questions about their ailments.
FISCAL IMPACT:
House Bill 4980 would have an indeterminate fiscal impact on the Department of Licensing
and Regulatory Affairs (LARA). The bill would establish new requirements and restrictions
for veterinary practice, which would create potential violations that LARA may investigate and
issue disciplinary actions for. To the extent that violations of the new provisions occur,
additional fine revenue may be realized and enforcement costs incurred.
4
https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-333-16285
5
https://ars.apps.lara.state.mi.us/AdminCode/DownloadAdminCodeFile?FileName=R%20338.4901%20to%20R%2
0338.4933.pdf&ReturnHTML=True
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 The bill would also have an indeterminate fiscal impact on the Department of Corrections and
on local units of government. Violations could lead to convictions, but the number of
convictions that would result under provisions of the bill is not known. Violations could be
either misdemeanors or felonies, depending on the circumstances. New misdemeanor
convictions would increase costs related to county jails and/or local misdemeanor probation
supervision. Costs of local incarceration in county jails and local misdemeanor probation
supervision, and how those costs are financed, vary by jurisdiction. New felony convictions
would result in increased costs related to state prisons and state probation supervision. In fiscal
year 2023, the average cost of prison incarceration in a state facility was roughly $48,700 per
prisoner, a figure that includes various fixed administrative and operational costs. State costs
for parole and felony probation supervision averaged about $5,400 per supervised offender in
the same year. Those costs are financed with state general fund/general purpose revenue. The
fiscal impact on local court systems would depend on how provisions of the bill affected court
caseloads and related administrative costs. It is difficult to project the actual fiscal impact to
courts due to variables such as law enforcement practices, prosecutorial practices, judicial
discretion, case types, and complexity of cases. Any increase in penal fine revenue would
increase funding for public and county law libraries, which are the constitutionally designated
recipients of those revenues.
POSITIONS:
Representatives of the following entities testified in support of the bill (11-13-24):
• American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
• Dearborn Family Pet Care
• Humane Society of Huron Valley
The following entities indicated support for the bill (11-13-24):
• Mackinac Center for Public Policy
• Michigan Humane Society
The following testified in opposition to the bill (11-13-24):
• American Veterinarian Medical Association
• Michigan Veterinarian Medical Association
Lakeville Animal Clinic indicated opposition to the bill. (11-13-24)
Legislative Analyst: Josh Roesner
Fiscal Analysts: Una Jakupovic
Robin Risko
■ This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan House Fiscal Agency staff for use by House members in their
deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.
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Statutes affected:
House Introduced Bill: 333.16287, 333.18811