Vet screwed up big time-what should I do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It would be like a doctor telling a single mom she has cancer and only 3 months to live. The mom tells her kids-they feel the devastation, make preparations etc...then second opinion says no cancer. Yes, of course they would be grateful they were wrong, grateful they will live, but still pisssed at the error made and the trouble it caused.

No. It would be like an 80 year old grandma getting that news. Not a single mom

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It would be like a doctor telling a single mom she has cancer and only 3 months to live. The mom tells her kids-they feel the devastation, make preparations etc...then second opinion says no cancer. Yes, of course they would be grateful they were wrong, grateful they will live, but still pisssed at the error made and the trouble it caused.

Uh, no, no it's not at all like that. You're out of your mind comparing the situation with your DOG to a situation where children believe they are losing their one and only parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hee hee I am a different person than the one who wrote about their cat. Only thing I write was the 1 in 500. I came back and I see you're trying to lump multiple ppl together. I assure you I'm not the same person.

(And the 1 in 500 is a complete guess--it's beside the point. I'm just trying to tell you mistakes happen.)

Oh yes I also wrote I am in Florida. I am from DC. Moved here recently. Have no clue what vet. Not defending anyone except the profession itself that they do make mistakes. Now, if this is a terrible vet, sure, that's possible. Leave a review. They haven't made anything from you nor will they again. But I'm guessing along with the other person they won't be paying $600.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hee hee I am a different person than the one who wrote about their cat. Only thing I write was the 1 in 500. I came back and I see you're trying to lump multiple ppl together. I assure you I'm not the same person.

(And the 1 in 500 is a complete guess--it's beside the point. I'm just trying to tell you mistakes happen.)

Yep, I'm the psychic cat poster. I don't live in FL. I'm probably not really psychic, either.

[Anonymous]

All humans make mistakes-we have a relative who went to hospital for chemo and it was administered wrong and killed him instantly. They fucked up big time-wife is now a multi millionaire but lost her 49 year old husband. Medical malpractice is rampant, and I assume that would apply to vet care too. I think if I threatened to write awful reviews about them, they know they would loose far more than $600 in customers/potential customers. That amount is negligible considering what vet care costs these days. I know I would pay it and move on rather than face bad reviews.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It would be like a doctor telling a single mom she has cancer and only 3 months to live. The mom tells her kids-they feel the devastation, make preparations etc...then second opinion says no cancer. Yes, of course they would be grateful they were wrong, grateful they will live, but still pisssed at the error made and the trouble it caused.

Are you fucking kidding? Re-read what you just posted. This is a DOG!

OP, I understand why you are upset. I would be completely traumatized. I adore my dogs. (However, unlike the pp, I do understand the difference between dogs and people). We had a vet misdiagnosis one of our German Shepherds under much less stressful circumstances and I was really angry. However, it's time to move on. Staying angry isn't helping. Find a new vet. When people ask for recommendations, advise them to avoid your old vet and share the story. A lawsuit is ridiculous. You'll spend more money on the lawsuit that you would likely recoup. And your time and energy are best used on positive things,.

I'm really sorry you had to go through that. It sounds awful.

[Anonymous]

Maryland does not allow a cause of action for negligent infliction of emotional distress.

[Anonymous]

I would not file a lawsuit-even though we were emotionally "harmed" for only a day. Inconvenient-yes. upsetting-yes. Traumatic-yes.

I may simply request that they pay the ER vet bill too as if the dx were correct, we never would have even went there.

Seems reasonable to me.

[Anonymous]

Op - you mentioned this during a routine shot appt. When you mentioned this constipation, lethargy and the possible injury to your dog suddenly this routine appt became an emergency appt.

After talking to you the vet probably thought that there was sufficient reason to believe that an injury could have happened when you cut the poop in half and removed it from your dog. Remember - the vet was not there when you did this.

After you left the office you realized that you had doubts and decided to get a second opinion. That's what you are supposed to do when you have doubts. Thankfully your dog is going to be o.k. I'm sorry you had a scare but thankfully it was JUST a scare.

[Anonymous]

I am not looking for a trial and a million dollars-that would be silly. If I were that vet-I would be mortified, embarrassed, and would offer to pay the ER vet bill or compensate them something. I would try to make it right and would certainly apologize instead of being defensive.

[Anonymous]

You sound really American. Why can't you just be grateful you have another year with your dog and move on?

[Anonymous]

Go ahead and write your version in the reviews. If the vet's office manager or practice manager is on the ball, they will write up their version after you do. Nobody, is going to switch practices based on your one review, drama queen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go ahead and write your version in the reviews. If the vet's office manager or practice manager is on the ball, they will write up their version after you do. Nobody, is going to switch practices based on your one review, drama queen.

Nobody may switch practices, but new customers would likely avoid them. How the hell does that make me un American? This country is one of the most litigious ever-people sue if you look at them wrong. I just read that you can now be sued if you call someone by the wrong gender pronoun-fucking ridiculous. I hate how litigious this country is-I could have sued for plenty of things that I let slide-legitimate things. I am not one to make waves or trouble-and not a drama queen. I just want this made right.

I think the vet office reaction pissed me off more-an apology rather than being defensive would have been nice. They should send an apology letter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They screwed up, absolutely, but they aren't going to pay the ER bill and it isn't worth your time to pursue it. Just be grateful they were wrong.

I don't say that casually. I had a pretty awful time when I hired a well-regarded professional to care for my elderly cat when we needed to go out of town. She ignored obvious symptoms and went completely against my care instructions and lied about it. I was at the emergency vet 10 minutes after arriving home and finding my pet unresponsive. It was awful and I really, really wanted to punish this person for negligence and costing me my cat plus thousands of dollars on top of her exorbitant fees that were pre-paid, but nothing was going to change what had happened.

It sounds like you know you still have a rough year ahead with a sick dog. Save your energy and enjoy the time you have.

How do you know?

Because I'm psychic.

Apologies. They almost assuredly are not going to pay the ER bill.

But definitely sue them. Obviously the money is the most important thing here or you would have taken the dog to the vet for severe constipation/impaction and not tried to DIY.

I'm convinced you work there now-Goshen right? I was not in the mood to drag a 30 pound dog to the ER vet 30 miles away at 11pm for a ball of hard shit hanging from her ass, and spend $1,000 plus for that (which it likely would have cost)-I was going to, but then thought it would not be that hard to remove it myself (not like I was doing open heart surgery), sadly, we need to prioritize as we are just merely middle class (likely poor by DCUM standards). $600 is not going to make or break us, or your clinic-it is a matter of principle at this point. And you are pissing me off even more!

Holy shit, you're completely crazy. No, I don't work there. I don't even know where "there" is.

I'm sorry the vet screwed up. I'd be pissed, too. That's why I told my cat story -- I WAS pissed when something shitty happened to me. But I thought still having your dog alive was a real upside to this unfortunate mistake. You disagree. Cool. You want compensation. Good luck.

Saying you are psychic and responding like you know exactly what the vet will do with regards to the bill (they certainly won't pay bill), and your defensive tone makes you sound like the crazy one-esp. if you are posting from FLA. WTF? Your post make you sound like you have a vested interest in defending the vet practice. I feel really bad about this-this is a practice we loved and trusted for years-the practice was recently sold, so the main vet who we loved is not there. We like the vet who saw our dog too-the one who made the error. This is not easy. No need get all sarcastic and hostile about it. We are unsure how to proceed, pissed off and still reeling from the whole ordeal. I am thrilled we have more time with our much loved dog, thrilled I did not cause her harm and that I do not have to live with the guilt that I killed her, thrilled my kids are smiling instead of crying inconsolably that the dog they have loved their entire lives will be with them a bit longer. You claiming that no way the vet will pay ER bill, or that you are psychic make you look foolish at best. Name calling not nice either. I am sure that if I wrote a bad review on every site I could, this practice would likely suffer far more than a $600 setback. Why would they NOT want to avoid that.

OP you need to settle down - you are coming off crazy. Yes, you deserve to be very upset. You can ask for whatever you want, but as pps have noted, it's highly unlikely (hence her positive tone) the vet will refund you $600. If you do ask, I suggest you do it in a more calm manner than you're portraying here. Have your notes lined up and ask to speak with the vet, not the receptionist. I'd actually be interested in speaking with the vet to figure out how the mistake could be made to begin with. What prompted him to make that diagnosis, and is there anything specific you should look for to make sure he's not correct and it shows up in the near future? Instead of being accusing, ask questions that will make you understand his diagnosis. If he can't provide that, or he admits it was a mistake, then explain (calmly) your position that the extra $600 bill was a result of that mistake and you'd appreciate him paying that too, or at least splitting some of it with you.

I also would for sure enter a yelp and google review. Right now, the clinic has reviews from people that have been going there for 20 years. There needs to be a new review that indicates this is NOT the vet people have been seeing for 20 years, but a new vet. How detailed you want to get in to his mistake depends on how he handles the above phone call.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go ahead and write your version in the reviews. If the vet's office manager or practice manager is on the ball, they will write up their version after you do. Nobody, is going to switch practices based on your one review, drama queen.

Nobody may switch practices, but new customers would likely avoid them. How the hell does that make me un American? This country is one of the most litigious ever-people sue if you look at them wrong. I just read that you can now be sued if you call someone by the wrong gender pronoun-fucking ridiculous. I hate how litigious this country is-I could have sued for plenty of things that I let slide-legitimate things. I am not one to make waves or trouble-and not a drama queen. I just want this made right.

I think the vet office reaction pissed me off more-an apology rather than being defensive would have been nice. They should send an apology letter.

You're wondering why I called you a drama queen? Are you reading what you're writing? What the hell are you even babbling about?

What do you want made right? Your ancient dog is still alive for now, be happy. Good grief.