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Article Abstract: Veterinary Malpractice cases are becoming very common to the legal arena in today’s society. New Jersey, Tennessee, California and Florida have or are considering legislation due to the increased incidence of these cases. Veterinarians often need an expert to protect them form frivolous lawsuits that may affect their license and there livelihood. Pet owners should also have the ability to contract an expert when a veterinarian has indeed performed below the acceptable standard of care. About the Author: The author of this article is a practicing companion animal veterinarian. For twenty one years this expert has seen pretty much any type of companion animal. While this expert's practice is 70% dogs and cats, the expert also has a specialty certification in birds, and sees all exotic and small mammals that people keep as pets. This author is also extensively involved in raptor rehabilitation (birds of prey). This expert is also a member of his/her state's Board of Veterinary Examiners, as well as former Investigator for the Board, and currently sits on the Public Relations Committee for a national association of attorneys, veterinarians, and others with an interest in veterinary medical law. Therefore, this author is uniquely positioned to perform both plaintiff and defense work in veterinary malpractice cases. This “straight-shooting” expert passionately defends his/her colleagues when they are the target of a malicious lawsuit, and has helped defend veterinarians not only in the United States, but internationally as well. The Human-Companion Animal Bond is one of the strongest emotional bonds known to man. People are no longer willing to accept the customary state laws on the books today. Most states consider animals property, thus the only thing they can recover is the dollar value of their animal at the time of death. If you are a pet owner you know that your love for that pet, is worth much more than the fifty-dollars a court would give you. Some states have already passed legislation allowing for emotional pain and suffering loss to the owner’s when a pet has been lost as a result of veterinary malpractice or some other intentional or malicious act. An owner recently contacted me who had taken her animal to a Specialty/Referral center. That name, Specialty Referral automatically places a higher expectation of the level of care than would be expected of a general practitioner. The medical records, once reviewed with a fine magnifying glass, revealed many glaring breaches of the acceptable standard of care for our profession. The failure to perform certain tests in a timely manner led to this patient’s demise. The client was also told her dog would be monitored 24 hours around the clock. The patient medical record revealed that blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate, were performed only every 4 hours. This was immediately after a life-threatening surgery called an abdominal exploratory. This case is still in progress, but it is obvious that this owner has a valid claim, and that her best friend, her pet, has now been taken from her as a direct result of this breach of the standard of care. Veterinary license defense cases are thus on the rise as well. As a sitting member of a Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners I can tell you first hand that veterinarians are being targeted more frequently, as we have more cases to review at every meeting. Veterinarians have huge stakes in these cases, for should they lose a civil suit, that result may be a strong piece of evidence for the Board to consider in their decision to allow that person to maintain a license to practice veterinary medicine. Thus the veterinarian can potentially no longer be allowed to practice their profession which they have spent untold thousands of dollars in education to acquire. We have also spent our entire lives working to attain our veterinary degree and specialty certifications, if in fact we have a specialty. Recently I assisted in the defense of three veterinary licenses in another country, all three cases were frivolous, and my written opinion and verbal testimony was very advantageous for the attorney who hired me. Our national television screens are full of dog bite cases today, and veterinarians can be superb expert witnesses in these cases. I myself have been observing dog behavior for 21 years! Most of these animas have seen veterinarians, and their veterinarian can be the best witness to describe that animas behavior. Our society is changing, the public is spending more on their pets than ever before. They treat their pets like family members because they are family members. The pressure on the legislators by the public to change these laws is ever increasing. We have several groups in our state actively seeking legislative change in this area. One small example is a case, here close to home, where an owner received $125,000 for pain and suffering over the loss of her five pet horses. She had boarded her horses with a man who sold them, never to be recovered. The value of the horses never cam to light, the owner's emotional distress was what the award was for. The appellate court held this decision up. This case did not involve a veterinarian, but it shows clearly our society is changing and that there are currently significant awards being retained in animal law case. This is not just a trend and this field will continue to grow.
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