The World Health Organization (WHO) has opposed a Chinese United Nations (U.N.) delegation request of the U.N. Commission on Narcotic Drugs to place a commonly used anesthetic and analgesic, ketamine, under international control. The Chinese delegation made its request—which would restrict veterinarians’ ability to access it—in March 2015 on grounds that ketamine poses a public health risk when abused by people in recreational and other situations. Veterinarians worldwide, however, rely on ketamine to treat animals in their care.

“Since the majority of equine anesthesia is conducted in the field, ketamine is the ideal drug for intravenous anesthesia because of its high reliability and unique pharmacokinetic properties,” Carlson said.

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