AB 1999: Veterinary medicine.

Official summary

Legislative Counsel’s Digest (official, as of the latest version). Written by nonpartisan legislative staff; reproduced verbatim.

Existing law, the Veterinary Medicine Practice Act, establishes the Veterinary Medical Board for the licensure and regulation of the practice of veterinary medicine and makes a violation of those provisions a crime. Existing law creates various exemptions from the act. Among those exemptions, existing law exempts practicing veterinary medicine as a bona fide owner of one’s own animal, as specified.

This bill would exclude a surgical or dental operation, as defined, from this exemption. The bill would also, except as specified, exempt from the act an organization accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums or a university, college, or governmental research agency practicing veterinary medicine on an animal owned by that entity. The bill would also exempt from the act an unlicensed person who provides teleconsultation to a California-licensed veterinarian, as specified.

Existing law generally prohibits a veterinarian from treating an animal unless a veterinarian-client-patient relationship exists, except when the animal patient is a wild animal or the owner of the animal patient is unknown.

This bill would create an additional exception for when a rabies vaccination is prophylactically administered to the animal patient to prevent disease or loss of life.

Under existing law, a veterinarian-client-patient relationship exists if certain conditions are met, including that the veterinarian possesses sufficient knowledge of the animal patient and has communicated with the client a medical, treatment, diagnostic, or therapeutic plan, as specified. Existing law places limits on the duration of a veterinarian’s prescription of a drug that varies depending on how the veterinarian-client-patient relationship was established. If the veterinarian established the relationship by examining the animal patient in person or by making medically appropriate and timely visits to the premises on which the animal patient is kept, existing law prohibits the veterinarian from prescribing a drug for a duration that is longer than one year from the date that the veterinarian examined the animal patient in person or visited the premises and prescribed the drug. If the veterinarian established the relationship using synchronous audio-video communication, existing law limits the duration of the prescription to 6 months from the date that the veterinarian examined the animal patient or prescribed the drug.

This bill would revise and recast provisions regulating the veterinarian-client-patient relationship. In this regard, the bill, among other revisions, would remove the requirement that the veterinarian has communicated with the client a medical, treatment, diagnostic, or therapeutic plan to establish the veterinarian-client-patient relationship. Instead, the bill would make that communication a requirement for each medical condition for which the veterinarian may prescribe, dispense, or administer treatment. Additionally, the bill would delete the above-described time limitation on the duration of a veterinarian prescription of a drug, and would instead impose similar time limitations on the veterinarian-client-patient relationship. Specifically, the bill would make the veterinarian-client-patient relationship expire one year after examining the animal patient in person, one year after making medically appropriate and timely visits to the premises on which the animal patient is kept, or 6 months after examining the animal patient by use of synchronous audio-video communication. Additionally, the bill would authorize a veterinarian-client-patient relationship to continue in the absence of the veterinarian if, among other things, the subsequent veterinarian has assumed responsibility for making medical judgments regarding the health of the animal patient. The bill would also authorize a subsequent veterinarian, in the absence of the originally prescribing veterinarian, to prescribe, dispense, or furnish a refill of drugs for use on the animal patient on an emergency basis for a traveling animal patient or if the subsequent veterinarian serves at the same location as the originally prescribing veterinarian, as specified.

Sponsors

Sponsors by party (alphabetical): Democratic 2

“Support” is shown only as formal sponsorship recorded by the legislature. Roll-call votes are available on the official bill page.

Recent official actions

1. September 14, 2026Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 205, Statutes of 2026.
2. September 14, 2026Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 205, Statutes of 2026.
3. September 14, 2026Approved by the Governor.
4. September 14, 2026Approved by the Governor.
5. August 27, 2026Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
6. August 27, 2026Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
7. August 20, 2026Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 6322.).
8. August 20, 2026Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 6322.).
9. August 19, 2026In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.
10. August 19, 2026In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.
11. August 19, 2026Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 5550.).
12. August 19, 2026Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 38. Noes 0.).