[Survey of 50 years of veterinary remedy provision in the Netherlands].

This article gives an overview of a half century of veterinary product provision in the Netherlands, and describes the availability of veterinary products from 1945 and onwards. The development of antibiotics, sulfonamides, anthelmintics, endocrine products, vaccines, and other product groups is discussed briefly. The importance of the research carried out by leading pharmaceutical companies in collaboration with the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Utrecht and other governmental research institutes is stressed. This article also emphasizes the importance of good and responsible product information for veterinarians. The introduction of the veterinary drug law in 1986 has had great consequences for the industry, distributors, and wholesalers as well as for practising veterinarians.