![]() ![]() ![]() On the other hand, pet owners often present their cases to the board without any knowledge that an attorney will be advocating on behalf of the veterinarian in question and of the board itself. In addition, the board itself, with plenty of knowledge and experience in both veterinary care, state law and board procedure, has an Arizona State’s Assistant Attorney General present at each meeting representing them. Although most vets appear to use this particular attorney, some have elected to hire a private attorney. The attorney of record has been present at almost every monthly board meeting (when complaints are brought before the board) even if the veterinarian in question cannot make it. To begin, any veterinarian who has a complaint filed against them is represented by an attorney who specializes in this legal proceeding. Why did less than 1% of the over 400 complaints that were reported to the board in fiscal years 2018, 2019, 20 result in revocation or suspension?Ī leading factor may be that most pet owners are unaware of the protocol when filing a complaint on behalf of a beloved pet. However, out of the 400 veterinarian complaints since 2018, only one license was revoked and three were suspended. In most of the remaining 10% of these cases the vets receive fines (and, according to the public records these fines are usually between $100-$500), and a “Consent Agreement” is often required that includes minor re-training courses with a short probationary period. These records show that in another 10% of cases, the board issued a Letter of Concern, which involves no discipline but goes into the veterinarian’s record and describes the alleged violations. Reviewing the publicly available complaints, approximately 80% were dismissed and frequently, through a unanimous board vote. In the last four years, approximately 400 complaints have been reviewed by the Arizona State Veterinary Medical Examining Board, where pet owners have alleged everything from serious injury to death of their pet(s) while in the care of a veterinarian. Despite the monthly meetings, an average of two board members are absent each month. The board meets in Phoenix once a month in a public session. ![]() Nine members sit on Arizona’s board, including five veterinarians, one vet technician, one livestock representative and two members of the public. In Arizona, the Arizona State Veterinary Medical Examining Board is authorized by the state to regulate, license and investigate complaints on all veterinarians and technicians. Unlike the extensive national records kept on doctors and nurses, there is no comparable data repository to track problematic veterinarians, and state review boards rarely put sanctioned practitioners out of business.” ![]() “While courts award multimillion-dollar judgments for negligence in hospitals, states treat companion animals as a form of property, and owners have little opportunity to sue for damages beyond the cost of a replacement. Many pet owners in Arizona do not have appropriate protection for their pets with regard to filing complaints against negligent veterinarians.Īnd, according to the legal definition of a “pet”-most states do not recognize a pet as much more than property-as a troubling article in the New York Times reported last year. Every state has its own version of a veterinary medical examining board whose primary function is to ensure that an often-unsuspecting public is kept safe from negligent or incompetent veterinarians. ![]()
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