Green Valley Veterinarian in Trouble Again (Nevada)
http://www.kvbc.com/Global/story.asp...8&nav=15MVWA9E
Green Valley Veterinarian in Trouble Again
A local veterinarian recently back to work after his license was suspended, is in trouble again, due to more dogs dying in his care. News 3 Investigator Darcy Spears has been following a trail that keeps leading back to one man, who keeps getting by with a slap on the wrist.
We've met four families lamenting the loss of beloved pets; among them, five dogs, all of whom have died during the brief time they were at Dr. Bradley Gilman's Green Valley Animal Hospital . The state has taken repeated action against Gilman's license, but still allows him to practice.
Claire Brown lives every day with the memory of her beloved miniature pinschers. "This is the girl’s remains. I had them put both of their ashes together, because they were always together."
Always together in life, but in death?
"Things just didn't add up." Especially because she'd just boarded her dogs. "We were gone for a day. We were down there one day." The next day, Claire got a devastating phone call from her vet, Dr. Bradley Gilman, who owns the Green Valley Animal Hospital on Mountain Vista. "Missy had just died, and I couldn't believe it, and I said, "what happened?" He said, well, she just dropped over dead."
And if that wasn't bad enough, "the other one was so bad that they didn't think that she would last the night." Based on Gilman's advice, Claire made the difficult decision to have Gigi put down. But, she remained very skeptical about both dogs' deaths. "Something went very, very wrong there."
When they returned from vacation, she paid Gilman a visit to find out exactly what happened. What she got, was even more confused. "They gave her a bath, and when she came back, she just dropped dead. Then he said they'd taken them out to walk, and when they came in, she dropped dead. And all these things just didn't make sense. He just kept giving me different answers, different stories all the time.
When she asked for her dog's medical records... "They told me that they didn't have it because Dr. Gilman had taken the entire records home." Frustrated, Claire joined the Bauers-whose dog, Bunny died while being boarded, and the Slensky's--who’s Beagle, Gardner died after just a few hours in Gilman's care. Like them, Claire filed a complaint with the Nevada State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners.... It was only then that she learned the truth.
"It was just unbelievable that something that horrible could happen. And then to think what those poor little animals went through."
The board found that shortly after Claire dropped her dogs at Green Valley Animal Hospital in August, the facility's air conditioning went out. It was a weekend, and the problem didn't get fixed until dehydration and heat had overcome Gigi, Missy, and another family's dog also there for boarding. "If he would have come clean and told me what had happened, it would have been a different story, because things happen. Accidents happen. Why he had to lie is beyond me."
He also charged Claire over 500 dollars for the time her dogs were there. Now she'll get that back as part of this consent decree Dr. Gilman signed with the state board. In it, he acknowledges his failure to provide medical records to the board and to Claire Brown within the legally required time frame, and his failure to give brown complete and/or accurate information regarding conditions at his facility that may have contributed to the harm of her animals.
Board president Dr. John Pennell is quite familiar with Gilman. "Dr. Gilman had a discipline in 1995, and was disciplined by the state board at that time. It was for incompetence." Gilman was also found guilty of two more counts of incompetence, one count of negligence and one ethics violation stemming from Gardner's death. "The board was very concerned and that's why we found him guilty of those violations." However Dr. Gilman still holds a license.
For Gardner's death, he served a two-month suspension at the end of last year, and now, he faces two years probation and another 60-day suspension for Gigi and Missy. Gilman wouldn't go on camera but did give me his side of things over the phone. He says the Browns' dogs were unhealthy and stressed, and that--combined with the air conditioning going out--is what killed them. He says the board strong-armed him into signing the consent decree and it's easier and cheaper to agree with them than to fight.
The state board is allowing Gilman to choose when he wants to serve his suspension. He can do it anytime over the next two years, while he's on probation.
