Vet: Malpractice?
My maltese puppy had a broken leg. We took her in to the vet... and scheduled for surgery, she stayed over night there. The next day, I called to check on her. The nurse said that they were just starting the operation. My husband later received a call from the nurse saying that they had marked and shaved the wrong leg. My husband repeated that, and she said "yeah, so basically she has a matching leg"... The next day, I went to pick her up. They went over the xrays and how to take care of her (with the medicine and to keep her cast dry). BUT they did not even mention about how they shaved the wrong leg AND cut open/stitched up the wrong leg.
The vet had given me a verbal quote on the first day.. he said "about eleven to twelve hundred dollars"... but I was charged about $1636 (full price was $1736, but there's a $100 discount). The operation was to insert 2 pins at a joint.
Is cutting the wrong leg malpractice? And is it wrong not to tell us? What about reparations?
Answers:
I don 't understand -are you upset for the dog, or jumping for joy becuse now you might be able to sue comebody.?
I would contact a lawyer. Services that they screwed up should not be paid for, and dogs have the same rights as humans, if a dr. cut open your wrong leg, and said "well oops?" what would you do. Call a laywer.
Of course cutting the wrong leg is a big mistake, but where are you going to find a lawyer to take such a case. I would offer the Vet less and see what he says. He would certainly not like his reputation of making mistakes to get around.
In my experience with vets they will give you a written list of things to be done and the cost of those items. It doesn't usually change, unless they find more complications once they start the operation. Always get things in writing. I think there should be some compensation for their mess up, but as far as a lawyer goes, I wouldn't waste my time or money.
Unless you have one in the family.
Be sure to find another Vet. Animals are precious.
Good Luck.
A lawyer probably won't take this because his or her fee would be more than you paid for the surgery. It might be different if it were some other type of surgery and the doctor made a mistake that left the dog with a disability for life - say, he botched a bladder surgery and the dog couldn't control it anymore and you had to leave her outside because of it. But as it is, even though it could be construed as malpractice, my attorney boss would tell you "no harm, no foul" and would not take such a case. Again, it would cost more than the original surgery, with no guarantee of the outcome.
I'm not sure about malpractice, but I'm so glad you got your dog back! I was afraid that something dreadful had happened! I hope there is someone that can give you advice on malpractice. All the best, give your dog a kiss!
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