QUESTION
Unnecessary operation on my dog
Asked on Nov 04th, 2013 on Medical Malpractice - Pennsylvania
More details to this question:
I had taken my 4 year old dog to the vet (Stoney Creek, Morton, Pa) because of a lump (swelling) on his back paw. The vet sent me to a specialist (Mid-Atlantic Vets, Malvern, Pa) who told me it was cancer and they would have to remove two toes on his paw, his lymph node on the same leg, and all this was going to cost $2500. Since this was the second opinion, my 11 year old son's dog, and he was a specialist, I went ahead with the surgery. He also informed me when the biopsy comes back on the lymph node, only then can we be assured all the cancer is gone. My dog went through the surgery, lost both toes, and when we went to the follow-up appointment, the Dr. informed us that it was just an infection and there was no sign of cancer! Now my dog has two toes gone and I am out $2500 when a couple of shots or medication would have cured the problem, not to mention the two weeks of worry they put us through!
1 ANSWER
You may have a case, but here is the problem: You would be limited to suing for the amount of the operation. Your anxiety and concern (and, as a dog owner, I understand that), is not compensable. In order to bring a claim against the vet, a veterinary malpractice case, you would need to hire a vet to write a report and ultimately testify that the vet was negligent. That will cost you a fair amount. Ultimately, you may not recover much more than you spend.
Answered on Nov 06th, 2013 at 9:56 AM