My lil guy is a 9mo old Boston Terrier. He went in for a neuter on Friday morning. The vet called at 12:30 to say he was all set, everything went great and I could pick him up at the end of the day. She then called an hour later to say there had been an incident and complications. He went to walk into his cage and just collapsed, heart stopped, went ghostly pale, etc, etc. They treated him for cardiac shock, got his lil heart going again and had him on an IV and monitoring him. He was looking ok and they would keep me updated. They called back a few more times each time saying he was looking better and I could most likely take him home at the end of the day as normal, but that the animal hospital had been alerted in case anything were to happen.
When I went into pick him up they said he was fine, but they were still wrapping a few things up. After a bit too long of waiting the vet came out to say that his red blood cell count dropped dramatically and he was looking very pale again so she wanted to do an xray for internal bleeding. She went to do that and came back out and start apologizing profusely saying she shouldn't say this but its her fault, she thought she tied the ligature off tight enough, but i guess not, etc, etc. Had a look of horror in her face and said we should take him to the hospital immediately for emergency surgery. Which we did and the hospital has been great. They first monitored him all through the night since he was doing relatively well and seemed happy and "wiggly" which is definitely normal for him. But then his heart rate had been elevated too much and something else so they began him on a blood transfusion this morning. At first they thought it was possibly a genetic condition that was not allowing his blood to clot, but now they are back to thinking its an unclosed artery/vein from the neuter. He had another "episode" around 5pm today and the Dr strongly recommended they open him up for surgery to look whats going on since he doesn't seem to be healing on his own. She thought the wound is trying to clot, but then it opens causing an "episode". Finally the best news is that surgery could not have gone better, it was a ligature that had fallen off an artery during the neuter. He is currently recovering and I should be able to pick him up tomorrow.
I think I am covered w/ what is going on. I am not too concerned on that part. I trust the dr at the animal hospital. My biggest concern is the $ 4,000+ estimate they gave me. If this is the vets fault, they should be paying this, correct? Basically my question is how can we prove malpractice/fault so I'm not stuck w/ the $ 4,000 bill when its something the vet did wrong....
Thanks!
machis_64
Wow, a similair event happended to my dog! She's a bishon and we got her neutered and they called us saying we could pick her up the next day and then they called us a few hours later telling us she had internal bleeding and was on her way to the ER. We picked her up a few days later and her scar is bigger than it should have been and so on. We only had to pay for the neuter as the internal bleeding was due to veterinarian mistake. im sure you can get your suit if you explain that the vet told you it was her fault. Also if you tell them it was from a faulty ligature tie that caused all the problems to begin with. good luck and hope he feels better.
Daxy
First I'd ask the original vet to sign a statement saying it was her fault and that her clinic would take care of the charges. If she fails to do that then get a statement from the hospital saying what caused the issue and contact a lawyer.
joanplus4dogs
Only a few states allow malpractice suits for vets. I would get a statement from the surgeon verifying the cause of the bleeding & the need for surgery. Then approach original vet asking for payment of the surgeon's & hospital bill due to her error. You can file thru a small claims court for bill but check what the limits are. Some are $ 5000, others allow $ 7500 etc. Make sure you get a full & complete bill before giving vet the bill for all costs so they don't try to say you keep giving additional bills & costs that aren't part of the original problem.
Leigh
I would think that your vet of her insurance company would be picking up the tab on this. Discuss it with your veterinarian (I wouldn't bother speaking to office staff on this, ask to speak directly with the vet). If the vet refuses, you could speak to a lawyer about suing for the cost of the hospital.
Orignal From: My dog had neuter complications that resulted in a weekend at the hospital. How do I hold the vet responsible?
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