veterinary medical negligence

cocobubbles

Hi all,

Just looking for some advice. My puppy caught her paw in our sitting room door last week and broke her paw. We panicked and took her to the closest vet (which wasn't the one we usually go to as it's in a different town) We thought it would be a straightforward procedure - x-ray, bandage and send her home. He told us he had to keep her in overnight as it was late in the evening and he couldn't anesthetise her straight away in case she was in shock. He looked for 130 euro upfront which was ok. He told us he would have to put her under anaesthetic to x-ray her but we never signed a consent form and he never informed us of any risks.
The next day he rang me to say that he had x-rayed her but put a cast on her paw but she swallowed some of the anaesthetic and had inhaled it into her lungs. He said he got most of it out and that she was ok but he wanted to keep her in for observation and all going well we would have her back at lunch time the next day.
We heard nothing the next day so I rang him in the afternoon to see if we could collect her and he tells me she's dying from aspiration pneumonia! He said he knew at 8am that morning that she was dying and he never rang us! I asked could we go and see her only to find out that he had moved her to his second clinic (which he did without our permission) which was a half hour drive away (we later found out that it was during that journey that she vomited and inhaled stuff into her lungs) We arrived and there was no sign of him and the clinic was closed. I rang him and he said that he was on lunch for the last two hours. He turned up about 20 mins later and when we went in our little puppy was dead. So basically to sum it all up, we never signed a consent form, we were never informed of any risks involved, we didn't give permission for her to be moved, we weren't told she was dying and she was left in an empty clinic by herself to dye for 2 hours or more. We then looked into the aspiration pneumonia and found that a dog should not be left lying on its side for more than 2 hours (which she was) and it looked like she had choked to death on her own vomit. Does anyone know if I could take legal action for medical negligence? Thanks

Cody Pomeray

Veterinary law is an interesting new career opportunity for legal practitioners in Ireland. I studied Veterinary Medicine for a number of years before switching courses, and I can see it as an area of growing interest. There are only two people in the country that I know of who vaguely work in this area, outside of the public sector

We can't give legal advice here, which is such a shame sometimes!

But going on what you've told us, I'd suggest you seek legal advice as soon as you can...

drkpower

Even if what occurred was negligence, you might consider whether legal proceedings is your best bet. The process is almost always long and stressful and you need to balance that as against what you might get at the end of the process (for instance, even if you win, you are unlikely to obtain any award of damages of any note in respect of the stress and upset). There might be other avenues you can explore (a complaint to veterinary authorities, perhaps?) which might achieve the result you are looking for without the negatives (not least of which is the legal costs you would be responsible for should you lose).

johndoe99

first off, sorry for your loss, can't imagine what it be like to lose a pup, hope i never do.

have a look here:

http://www.vci.ie/Disciplinary/

there's a link at the end of the last paragraph to make a complaint against a Vet.

http://www.vci.ie/Documents/FTPI%20Application%20Form.pdf

LowKeyReturn

Cody Pomeray wrote: »

Veterinary law is an interesting new career opportunity for legal practitioners in Ireland. I studied Veterinary Medicine for a number of years before switching courses, and I can see it as an area of growing interest. There are only two people in the country that I know of who vaguely work in this area, outside of the public sector

We can't give legal advice here, which is such a shame sometimes!

But going on what you've told us, I'd suggest you seek legal advice as soon as you can...

Is one of them the Barrister who is reputed to take on nothing but 'barking dog' cases, who by some accounts is making a very nice living?