Sheepdog dies, owner sues vet
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| Also it is a main story on USA Today site:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/2005-03-1 ... tice_x.htm More about the legal aspect of vets and pet malpractice. But "Lucky" the sheepdog is a main story focal point. |
| Does that story say what kind of sheepdog? Just curious. |
| As if vet bills don't cost enough, now we'll probably have to have the cost of medical malpractice insurance added in, too!
AAAHHHH! |
| I know one the people in the story got $36,000.00 for a misdiagnosis. I'm kind of divided about all this although so far I've never really had any vet problems. |
| I can understand if it is a case of gross negligence, but things happen
sometimes. Sometimes really horrible things happen and nothing can be done to save the animal. Sometimes when people lose pets they want to blame someone and often the Vet is an easy target. I am not saying there aren't bad vets out there, or that none of the cases are legit, but we really need to do a better job of weeding out the frivolous lawsuits. I don't think any pet owners want what has happened in our human medical care over the last 15 years to happen with our vets as well! That would be awful for many of us. Shellie |
| I am in a situation now with Beau. We took him to a well known surgeon for a biopsy and confirmation of synovi sarcoma. The vet did some surgical removal without my permission or knowledge. I found out when I paid the (large) bill. As it turned out the surgery was the exact thing that should not have been done as Beau later recieved radiation. Was I upset? YES!, however I truly don't think the vet was being negligent, I think he thought that was the right thing to do. Would I ever consider suing him?NO! I was more upset that he told me without amputation Beau would be in such severe pain that within 3 weeks he would have to be put down. It is 1 year later and Beau is still with us, not doing great but still full of kisses. I fail to see how suing someone would change anything and would rather spend the money on Beau and not some lawyer. I do realize that Beau wasn't lost to us and if he had been my opinion might be different. |
| bestdogsx4: are you saying that the vet amputated without your permission? |
| I'm sorry I wasn't very clear. He removed part of the cancer, the oncologist was very upset because it would have been better to leave the whole thing intact for the radiation. The surgeon was asked by my vet to do a biopsy and confirm the intial diagnosis. I never got an explanation as to why he did more than he was supposed to. We will never know how different the outcome would have been if he hadn't removed anything. We will have to decide very soon about the amputation. |
| Whew! I would think that an amputation done without permission would be one of the good reasons for suing! I know either way it doesn't make things better for Beau. I'm sorry to hear that he and you have to go through all the suffering of his disease. |
| Thanks! I think I got a little rambling on my post. I did hear from a vet tech about one of their clients. These people brought in their dog, he had been hit by a car. The vet couldn't save the dog and naturally the people were very upset, even more so when they got the bill. They didn't want to pay because the dog was dead and they felt it was the vet's fault. They threatened to sue for whatever but they were just trying to get out of paying. After consulting a lawyer they paid because they were walking the dog without a leash on a busy street. What kind of person would do that? |
| S/he was probably allergic to something that they were cleaning her teeth with. My vets hate to put animals under anymore than they have to because there is always a chance that they won't wake up. |
| Could have been the anesthetic too. It kills many animals every year. I bought a great dane puppy several years ago, and she had to be taken in at 6 weeks to get her ears cropped. The surgery went fine, not a lot of bleeding, no complications etc, but the puppy never woke up.
The vet didn't charge me anything, but I didn't get any money back for the puppy either. I didn't ask though.... I was too upset. |
| I can't believe how many people I see with their dogs off leash. It makes me so angry. I don't understand how they can't see that this is dangerous for their dog, other dogs and them. I know I'm rambling a bit too but it all comes down to personal responsibility-- owning up to your own bad decisions-- and the following story is a great example of that:
A few years ago I was walking Lucy, on a leash, at a walking trail in my subdivision. Many people took their dogs there so there was little chance that you would be the only person with a dog in the evening. There was a family with a black lab that I had seen walking off leash there before but did not see them on the trail that day when I first came up or I would have left as I had before. Since he was off leash, he was behind some weeds that were around the trail. Halfway around the trail (which was about 1/2 mile long), the dog saw Lucy and I and came bounding full force at us from about 100 feet away. At first the owners didn't even realize until I called out. When the dog came towards me,barking and jumping, Lucy reared up to stop the dog and jumped on his neck to knock him down. She did this a few more times to keep him away, never biting, just mouthing. She's just protective and she was keeping him away from me. Now I've got 2 upset dogs-- one on a leash and one off-- and one of those upset dogs isn't mine so I'm not sure how he'll react when I try to stop it. I felt like Lucy was a sitting duck because she couldn't move as well as the other dog and it was upsetting to me because we were doing the right thing by being on leash but there I was wondering if she was going to get hurt. I should also note the owners did not make any effort to hurry. One of the kids ran and the parents walked. Anyway, to sum all this up, the owners finally come over and after a minute or 2, get their dog under control. I backed Lucy away and tried to calm her down and then the female owner approached me. I assumed she was going to apologize but, instead, she started screaming at me for bringing my "vicious" dog out in public and how her kids could have been hurt by my dog-- what was wrong with me? I was so shocked I just stared at her for a second. Then I just said , look, you should never have your dog off leash in a public place like this. I explained how Lucy was defending me when her dog ran up because she viewed it as a threatening situation. This agitated the woman more and she started yelling about calling the cops. Now I'm really mad, so I took out my phone and said, don't worry, I'll do it. I pulled out my phone and dialed my own voice mail number and then the woman swore at me and walked away, dragging her dog by the collar. Moral of the story? These are the people that would sue a vet when their dog died on the operating table in a hit by car situation. Nothing was their fault. Wow, just retelling that story got me all fired up about it again! |
| This was many years ago. We were walking Flash on the sidewalk when a dog ran across the street, not threatening just friendly. A teenage boy came over to get the dog and we started chatting. When the boy said let's go the dog started across the street and went right under the front tires of an SUV. IT WAS HORRIBLE! The dogs back was broken(we heard it) and the driver kept going. The boy grabbed the dog and he died in his arms. Flash was so upset he started crying and ran home. Someone had opened the people's front door and the dog got out. we found out later THIS WAS THE 3RD TIME IN 1 YEAR THEY LOST A DOG THIS WAY. These people blamed the driver who wasn't at fault but should have stopped. This is a good example of someone who should never have a dog. I never open my front door because I'm terrified this could happen to my guys. I use the garage door so if one of them gets out they are only in the garage. |
| Hey Willowsprite,
I'm very sorry you lost a puppy under surgery, you think they are going in and everything will be fine, but problems do happen. It's sad. Why would any vet put a six week old puppy thru any surgery, cosmetic or not, that's just to young!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Any vet I've ever worked for would never do any surgery until at least 12 weeks. We always check their blood count also, just to make sure they are not anemic. The sad part about ear cropping is that puppies do have problems when they are put under for long periods of time like that. They should always have an IV and a tech should always sit with them until they are standing on their own again. At least thats what we do. But things do happen. I wonder if the owner of the sheepdog had bloodwork and an IV for the dog???? |
| I just don't agree with this. I mean, my ob/gyn delivered my son prematurely by 5 weeks. I had to have a c-section (can only have c-secs) and he ALWAYS measured big and his due date was off. I had 7 u/s and they all had him at the first of January. My husband went overseas before I found out I was pregnant, so I was pretty certain of the time he should have been due, but hey...accidents happen. I figured the doc was right.
Well, to make a VERYYY long story short, Brandon arrived at 34-35 weeks (pedi calculated his gestational age). He come out, and he was not breathing at all. His lungs weren't developed, and he was covered in hair that preemie babies have. Brandon spent one week on a ventilator unable to breathe on his own, he got a staph infection, he got sepsis (a blood infection), he went into kidney failure Christmas morning 2002 (he was born Dec. 20th), and he spent quite a while in NICU. We come sooo close to losing our baby - which would have been our second loss (our first baby passed away from SIDS). He also had apnea and bradycardia (he'd stop breathing and his heartrate would drop) and he had this for several months after he was home. Amazingly, he was 7 lbs 9 oz and 21" even that early. He easily would have been a 10 lb baby, but my hubby and BIL were also. Jake was born at 37 weeks and weighed 8 lbs 5 oz 21". He was a good size too. Anyways, we were out thousands of dollars even with private insurance! We knew that because of torque reform, there was no since in even trying to contact a lawyer. Doctors pay out of the roof for insurance, because of malpractice suits, so our state created a torque reform to keep doctors here. Now, unless they have a permenant condition or death, you can not file a malpractice suit. We did however file a complaint against him with the state medical board. Actually, my MIL went against our wishes and called a lawyer, and they told her they couldn't help. Now, I realize the dog died. That is very sad, and I just can't imagine losing my "baby" from something that seems routine (dental work). Accidents happen though. I only say this because what happens if so many malpratice suits are filed, that vet costs get extremely high or they leave certain areas because they just can't afford to practice there. Most people do not have insurance on their pets, so that would mean less animals would be cared for (shots, general exams even) - and more would probably end up in shelters/resuces when they get sick because owners can't afford to care for them. When I say we were out a lot of money, I'm talking thousands of dollars - more than my husband's yearly income. 20% doesn't seem like much to pay, but it adds up fast...quicker than we realized it would. I would hate to see animals be the same way some people are. I know I have friends with young kids, and they just can't afford for their children to get sick. They don't have insurance (they can't afford it, but IMO how can you not afford to have it???), and they are out of pocket so much when their children get sick. They only take them in when it's absolutely necessary, because of medical and prescription costs. I just couldn't imagine not being able to take my kids to the doctor when they're not feeling well - then only having to pay a co-pay on prescriptions instead of the full price (which I've seen as high as $1800 knocked down to $35 in Brandon's case for his synagis shots to prevent RSV). It's just crazy! So...that's why I say accidents happen, no one is perfect, it's very sad and tragic...but I'm sure it was just that - an accident. If something happened to Jasper like that, I would be very upset and hurt, but I would know it was just his time to go and my faith would lead me to believe that he would have passed away then no matter the situation. Just to end on a good note, Brandon went to the doctor the other day for a checkup. He's 37 pounds and 37" tall at 2! He's nearly the size of our almost 4 year old...hard to believe he was a preemie.  |
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