Dog malpractice?

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? California

I have a dog who means pretty much everything to me.

And unfortunately she's dying of cancer, so her health is a bit shaky.

She got a really bad infection and needed surgery on her knee, so I took her to the "best" specialists in town. After charging me around $3k (over their initial estimate of $1500-$1800), I paid them the $2k I could come up with and took my dog home with a balance of just over $1000.

After a couple days of healing from the surgery, she started to eat again, which was very comforting. She hadn't gone to the bathroom except to urinate, which I presumed was because she had trouble squatting (because of the repaired knee). Right after eating she finally tried to defecate, and was unable - I guessed this was because it had been so long and perhaps she was constipated, so I waited. She stopped eating. The next day she tried to go to the bathroom again and still could not, and she still wouldn't eat.

Finally in the evening I was getting worried so I went to the vet and recommended a "pet enema" - which is a syringe device filled with gel. When I took it home to give it to my dog I discovered, much to my shock, why she hadn't been able to go to the bathroom - it turns out they had sewn her anus shut.

I was flabbergasted. They had operated on her *knee* - not on her anus - and when I immediately called my regular vet (not the specialist) they were as shocked as I. When I took her in later they seemed to be trying to calm me for the sake of their peers and told me that the vets sometimes use sutures to close a dog's anus so they don't evacuate under anaesthetic, so it likely wasn't malicious. Even so, my dog was released from their care in this condition and was left with her anus sewn shut for close to a week.

My question is, what now?

I'm not even sure how to deal with this - I'm still having trouble coming to terms with the fact that somebody harmed my dog, much less the people who were supposed to care for her.

I understand that generally dogs are considered "property" under the law, and that since my dog is still alive, there is likely no "property damage" - but I can't help but wonder what would happen if I had brought my child to the hospital and they had sewn her anus shut.

I'm tempted to tell them I'm not going to pay the remainder of the balance (or even ask for my money back), though I realize I might not have much of a legal grounds. I haven't talked to them about it yet, but I'd like to know where I stand ethically and legally on this issue first.

Any thoughts from anyone who has veterinary legal experience? (or even an opinion on the ethics of the whole situation - it's a bit much for me to even put in my head at once).

billybobjenkins
Vets can be sued for malpractice the same as people doctors. If the vet caused your dog to suffer significant damages that the dog would not otherwise have suffered and such damages are due to an act that the vet knew or should have known would result in significant damages, file a malpractice suit. I have no experience in such cases but the area in which I live has had a couple of such suits reported in the newspaper and one of the suits resulted in the closure of a vet's practice.

I suggest you talk to your vet and ask that any treatment for the effects of the dog's not being able to defecate be provided without charge.

You should pay for the knee operation, in full. Don't mix the two issues.

EC

Poor dog!

I agree with Ellen: this is a matter that should be pursued if only to ferret ( no pun intended) out a slipshod practice - if that is, in fact, the case.

In many ways, veterinary malpractice cases are much less complicated than those brought against other types of healthcare providers - but they do present their own unique challenges: vet records, for instance, are no where near as extensive or detailed as peoples' are.

Monetarily speaking, the highest damages in vet malpractice cases are awarded when, say, a young, highly pedigreed, proven performance or breeding animal belonging to a professional engaged solely in a business dependent upon the animal's ability to perform or breed, is rendered permanently unfit or unable due to veterinary negligence.

Factors that could further decrease damages are the unrelated terminal illness of the animal and the absence of permanent damage.

Which doesn't mean you should drop the matter. But you may have trouble finding an attorney to handle it - this is one of those times an attorney in the family is a plus. But you might also run across a bright, animal-loving attorney who would immediately know how to approach this - and just as important - how not to approach it.

I wish you and your dog the best time you have left together.

P.s.

Please check your private messages.

do NOT pay the bill!

I am neither a lawyer nor a veterinarian. My advice is that you NOT pay the (remainder of the) bill. If those who injured your dog have the audacity to bill you for the botched operation, contact a reporter at your local newspaper, TV station, etc. and post on internet message boards. Be sure to include the fact that the bill exceeded their estimates by a long shot!

Credit report companies are required to provide you an opportunity to CHALLENGE/DISPUTE any negative reports. You also have the option of TELLING YOUR SIDE OF THE STORY on credit reports, although lazy companies checking your credit report will probably not look at that.

Please post on this thread if your local media covers the story, if you decide to publicize the malpractice your pet suffered.

www.pcrm.org is the website of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. The group's president, an M.D., Dr. Barnard, had an experience with incompetent veterinarians that he wrote about in PCRM's magazine, concerning his pet rat, Ratski. You may also recieve advice from other animal rights groups like www.ddal.org which is the Doris Day Animal League.

The Bill

Ellen is right: pay the bill.

Pamela- Righteous indignation is not a valuable commodity when you are about to sue someone: it makes you irrational and over-emotional. Not paying the bill is like awarding yourself damages - making yourself judge and jury: A Plaintiff wants to go into court with clean hands. Not paying also gives them grounds to sue him. Why would he want to do that? It's the stuff Judge Judy is made of