Should you be able to sue your vet?

[Fox-Gal]

I don't like it but I had to vote yes.

There was a woman here in town that took her dog in to get his ears cliped. Well the vet cliped them alright......cliped them off. He said he was sorry and didn't charge her....and that was it. Now is this dog going to have problems down the road from this and if so who's paying the vet bills?

I don't like law suits much, My lawyer told me about a woman he had that wanted to sue because the people next door, wind chimes where to loud. WHAT.....that just carring a law suits to far.

But then theres me, I got run over by a semi-truck years ago. They wanted to give me $3000 for my car and pay my medical bills. OK the car was worth more then that and I now have back problems for the rest of my life. I didn't want a lot just a car back, the same kind, no better no worse and any bills that come up with my back paid. No pain and suffering $$$, just make sure I don't have to pay for my Dr. bills when my back gives me problems and get me a car. Thats all .....it was aaccident, they happen in life. People care things way to far sometime, we need to be able to find a happy middle ground.

But if a vet/dr or anyone knows that he/she can't be sued that just gives them an opening to take advange. What a mess that could turn out to be. It be nice if we could trust people to do the right thing but it's not always going to happen.

Its almost like a world without laws would be, we need some sort of control and saftey factors involved.

[KYS]

Donna, that is horrible and tramatic experience that
happened to you and your family.
Hugs to your daughter and you. (VERY SCARY, and I
also tend to trust doctors to much.)

I watched a Judge Wapner case, where
a vet was sueing for his
fees.
The defendents had refused to pay
because their dog had died after it bloated for
the second time.
They stated the vet should have tacked the dogs stomach after he had bloated the first time.
The plantiffs brought proof from another vet,
that a tacking should have been done at time of surgery.
Judge Wapner contacted a Vet from
some University and that Vet stated
also stated that CA. proceedure you now
tack a dog tummy.
The vet lost his case.

[Cataholic]

Well, as some of you might have been expecting....I NEED to chime in.

Perhaps the first thing I would like to address is "frivilous lawsuits". Does anyone stop and think that maybe, just maybe, to the person involved, the thing isn't quite so "frivilous"? Someone gave the example of someone suing over windchimes...well, have YOU ever tried to sleep, and found you couldn't, because of your neighbors noise? Did you realize that possibly, bringing a 'suit' under the town's noise ordinance was the ONLY way to stop the noise, and give you, the property owner, a good night's sleep? At 2 am, without sleep in sight, over a two week course, maybe YOU, too, would be ready to do something. The houses where I live are maybe 12 -15 feet apart. The neighbor's boy plays with his band, accoustics and all, for up to 4 hours at a time. Wanna know how that feels, after working 10-12 hours a day, trying to eat dinner, in your own house, and hardly being able to hear yourself think? It ain't pretty. I have called the police, I have complained directly (I like these people)...and prolly my last resort is to persue a civil action...I am not doing it...not because I think it is "frivilous", but, because I don't want to make things unliveable with my next door neighbor. So, until you have walked in their shoes (and know the entire set of facts behind it) maybe, just maybe, it isn't quite so "frivilous". And, no, it wasn't me that sued over the windchimes.

As to the comment about McDonalds suit. Did you know that McDonalds had received HUNDREDS of complaints about thier coffee being too hot? It causes 2 degree burns, people. That is HOT. Did you know that McDonalds made a conscious business decision to keep the temp of their coffee at that level because they would rather deal with 'some' complaints about the tempature than 'many' complaints about cold coffee? Did you know that the verdict (which was reduced by the Judge) had a symbolic relationship to the proceeds? Did you know that it represented ONE day of PROFITS for McDonalds? Look behind the front headlines....look behind the 'scandal'....

How would you have felt if you and your infant child were sitting down to eat breakfast at McDonalds...while your toddler played on the equipment. Your toddler ACCIDENTLY knocks your coffee over, it spills on your infant...and your infant now has 2 and 3 degree burns...BUT, that is OK with McDonalds...cause hot coffee, and hot food, is what makes McDonalds money? A business decision. Not a people decision. A business decision.

That is the McDonalds lawsuit.

The rest of my rant is coming next....

[Cataholic]

Tatsxxx1 hit it right on the head. Malpractice actions, be it against doctors, nurses, hospitals, etc., are the most expensive cases to try, and the hardest cases to win. I do malpractice. Know what I tell people that call? Unless you are dead, brain dead, or have lost a major limb, your case is not worth exploring. WHY? Because the insurance company that represents the doctor, hospital, nurse, etc., will fight, EVEN in the clear case of negligence, to the bitter end. Most plaintiffs, or their attorneys, simply DO NOT have the resources to fight these big entities. It is NOT about people, it is all about business. 10 % are in favor of the plaintiff. 10 %. So, it is not huge verdicts that are affecting the medical community. It is INSURANCE COMPANYS.

Plaintiff's attorneys, in the field of personal injury, malpractice, work on a contingent fee basis- they only recover if you recover. So, there ain't a whole lot of "frivilous" lawsuits going on...any more than any of you are counting on the lottery as your livlihood. It is not realistic. I can't take a case that won't more likely than not pay out for my client. Sad? Absolutely. But, that is the American justice system.

As for vets being held accountable...absolutely. Why not? Are they not professionals? Are they not licensed by the state? Do we not turn to them for a certain standard of care? It most certainly helps to weed out those that are substandard. Is it fool proof? No. Nothing is. It will not raise the price of office visits, unless you buy into that.

People that won't stand up and fight for those that don't have a voice stand the risk of being run over themselves. That goes for our children, our aged, our minorities, AND our pets.

Wanna hate the civil justice system in America? Then, go back to your 14 hour work days, segregated school system, inability to cast a vote, one religion under God, NO medical care system, guess what? Someone probably thought that was "frivilous" at one time, too.

Wow...I guess I got a little off track, didn't I?

Put me down as a YES vote for should you be able to sue your vet.

[moosmom]

WooHoo Johanna!!!!!

You've made very valid points in BOTH your posts.

There ARE frivilous lawsuits though, and yes, there are people who are looking to make a quick buck. One of the major news stations did an undercover investigation on loss prevention and you wouldn't believe what people would pull in order to sue. A woman nonchalantly dropping a cherry tomato on the floor at a supermarket and then making herself slip on it and cause injury. Or the woman who let her child run all around a department store till the kid got hurt and sued the store because they didn't properly supervise her own child!!! These are only a few.

I worked in personal injury law as a paralegal for 12 years. I have worked for a couple of sleazeballs who had chiropractors as friends, if you know what I mean. I actually had one who asked me to carry his business cards in my paramedic jumpsuit to hand them out!!!! Talk about hudzpa!!! Another one had the whole family of an accident victim come in and say that they were also injured (even though they weren't). After 12 years, I had had enough. The salary was great but my sanity was far more important.

You're right, the insurance companies will fight to the end for their medical malpractice clients. That's one of the reasons why I never pursued my daughter's misdiagnosis. Although I did want to secure her future since she's not able to work full-time, I decided it just wasn't worth the hassle or aggravation. Besides, she's doing great!!!

The American Justice System has finally begun to crack down and throw out bogus lawsuits and, it's about time.

I still stand by my vote of "YES!!!" veterinarians can and should be sued and held responsible for their negligence. It may be "just and animal" to them, but to their client's, those "animals" are their client's dearest treasures. And I speak for myself as well.

Johanna, are you SURE you don't need a legal secretary????? Just kidding. See you Sunday!!

[Snuggles]

when you take your animal to a vet, you are leaving your pet in your vets hands. They do everything possible to help your animal. My vet, luckily, belives in health and quality of animals. He has to pay his bills for meds and stuff, but he doesn't burden us with a high price either.
yeah, if I lost an animal I would feel real bad, but I can leave the fact that my vet tried the best.

[ramanth]

I was torn too...

When Kia became ill, many people told me that I should sue my vet for giving her that shot. I don't blame the vet for Kia getting sick. On the contrary, she and her staff were very helpful with getting Kia treated promptly and it ultimately saved her life.

Vets and Groomers for that matter should be held accountable if something is done that was not requested and an animal is injured.

Just last month, a couple dropped off their St. Bernard to be groomed. When they went back, their dog was dead.

They had muzzled the dog, and put him in a cage much too small for a dog his size. He began to stress and since he could not pant due to the muzzle, he died of heat exaustion.

You would think people that work with animals would know better. I was disgusted when I saw the news report.

Last I knew, they were sueing, and I say good for them.

[Sudilar]

I have decided. Yes, I think we should be able to sue (as long as it is not frivolous). Lives could be saved if some of these quack vets were removed from ever making these stupid mistakes. There should also be a website where there is a list of vets who were sued over negligence or malpractice and the result of the case.

Here I must interject that I love Killian's vet. This vet goes out of her way to find out all that she can to help him. She also works WITH you. Any suggestion I throw at her (usually something someone suggested from the liver-d message board), will be researched. However, she is in a practice office that is NOT cheap, who do not give 2 dog discounts or discounts for sick dogs who are seeing the vet constantly. My medical bills for Killian are higher than our whole family's medical bills!!