Vet Clinic Controlled-Substance Log Requirements

What federal records have to do

DEA record rules require complete and accurate records for controlled substances received, sold, delivered, dispensed, or otherwise disposed of. ^{1 2}

Records must be maintained separately for each registered location. ¹

Required records must generally be kept for at least two years and be available for inspection and copying. ³

Minimum log fields

For each drug movement, a practical log should identify the drug, strength, finished form, date, quantity, and transaction type. ^{1 2}

For dispensing or administration from office stock, the log should tie the disposition to the patient/client record so the inventory decrease can be explained. ²

For wastage, breakage, spillage, or other losses that are not theft/significant loss, the disposition still needs to be properly recorded. ¹

Why running balances help

Federal rules do not use the phrase running balance as a universal requirement for every practitioner log, but a running balance is the simplest way to prove that complete and accurate records reconcile. ¹

A running balance also makes discrepancies visible early, before a small documentation problem becomes an unexplained inventory gap. ^{1 4}