I paid a vet over £10,000, do I have rights?

[Deleted User]

This is a long post, but it's important that others know what goes on. My usual vet gave the drug Metacam to my dog by mistake, his notes warned not to use it as it was know to cause gastric bleeding and ulceration. He referred us to another vet who was clearly 'on his side' and argued that the drug wasn't responsible. I paid this vet £10k, my dog was in intensive care for around 5 weeks. They bullied me almost to death. I paid them to carry out a liver biopsy, a risky procedure that was crucial to my dog's treatment and obviously, crucial evidence in my legal case.  They left the drug out of the equation, they didn't mention it. They also ignored the lab's instruction to list and attach copies of previous pathology reports in our case, they should have attached copies of the ulcer report that would have explained the drug's ill effects. Underlying liver disease was identified in my dog.
In the absence of the drug and required history the liver disease was cited as the only identifiable cause of the gastric trauma.
They took delight in telling me that I couldn't argue with the pathologist, Metacam wasn't to blame. They suggested euthanasia on the strength of that report. I didn't trust a word they said, I tube fed my dog at home where he fully recovered.
It was then I investigated and discovered what these vets had done behind my back.
The report was used against us in our legal case against the referring vet and caused us immense distress.  I suffer with depression and I nearly didn't make it through all this.
I wrote to the vets who'd betrayed me, what gave them the right to do this with my evidence, and, what they did was detrimental for my dog and test results.
I wanted a verbal apology as I knew there wasn't a reasonable explanation, but they refused to speak to me. They wrote back telling me that this biopsy was to aid my dog's treatment, not to construct my legal case, or any such request from me. They say it's not standard veterinary practice to attach extensive notes, well that's a lie, the lab requested those notes.
I reported them to their regulatory body, RCVS.  They say the vets' conduct 'does not fall short of that expected of a reasonable veterinary surgeon.' they say that's the test they must apply in every case.
Regarding the ulcer report that the vets cleverly withheld, RCVS say if the vet fails to include previous pathology reports, the lab will search their records for it. Not true, I rang the lab and that doesn't happen. 
The vets also deleted Notes from our clinical record, comments that to me suggested collusion.
The college says the vets hadn't intended to mislead me when deleting those notes. To protect the future client, the college formally advised the vets that it's preferable not to use the clinical record for comments that do not form part of the animal's clinical history.
So I paid over 10k to be bullied, abused and betrayed by these vets, my legal case corrupted and my trust and peace of mind destroyed. Not to mention I almost lost my home (and sanity.) 10k was a lot to pay out on credit cards. They broke me, financially and emotionally.
Did I have rights? What can I do to protect others from the abuse I suffered at the hands of these vets and their regulatory body?  {Text removed by Forum Team}

Alter_ego

Delete your personal details. All sorts of people read these posts.

JJ_Egan

You need proper legal advice ,not unqualified forum users opinions  .Or is your post just a Vent or Warning ??

dinglebert

As you have reported the matter to the regulatory body and they have investigated and found no issue then I don't really see where you can go next.  You would need an expert who was willing to say what they did is wrong.  That person if they existed would cost you far more money.

[Deleted User]

It's a warning really, to others. I already felt battered and abused, and to have RCVS protect the vets at the expense of public interest, when they are surely legally obliged to remain honest, reasonable and impartial, was the final blow.
And to actually lie in black and white when carrying out their legal obligation? Doesn't this constitute the offence misconduct in public office?

[Deleted User]

Well, I can't afford the 70k I've been told it may cost to take RCVS to court, so I'll have to suck it up I suppose.
Just be careful where you place your trust.
Bye bye.

Jojocat

Do you have legal cover through your home insurance? I was in a similar situation a few years back - bullied by the vet hospital +++ but my bill was only £800. That was for one night's worth of trying to 'stabilise' a cat that had been shot. The cat did not survive. My home insurance said they'd go after the vet but there had ben a (human) death in the family so I couldn't be bothered. The other option would be free legal clinics run by law uni students.

[Deleted User]

Hi, so sorry about your cat and family member.  I took legal action against the referring vet, the one who gave the drug when he shouldn't have.   The problem was with the vets I was referred to. I paid them the £10,000.
 They didn't like the fact I was taking legal action against their mate. They abused their professional position, lied, removed the drug from the equation and corrupted our evidence in favour of their mate .  When I wanted to discuss it with them, the cowards wouldn't speak to me. Wrote me a letter with more lies and abuse.
The 70k was quoted to take legal action against RCVS as they'd abused my trust when they are legally obliged to investigate our complaints fairly and reasonably, any regulatory body who says what those vets did was reasonable is inarguably biased and not doing what they are legally obliged to do, which is act in the public's interest.
The one letter the vets sent to me oozed abuse and dishonesty, never mind the actual corruption to a client's legal case.  It's upsetting enough to have to complain, it destroys you when you're abused all over again. The house insurance would cover goods and services, but not going up against a public authority who clearly has the power to tell us black is white and the earth is flat.  Something needs to be done though, because if RCVS has done this in my case, there will be others.

DoaM

Some home insurance policies include legal protection cover ... such cover is often not only in relation to home/contents, rather it is legal support up to a certain value for any claim not already covered by other insurance.

dinglebert

DoaM said:

Some home insurance policies include legal protection cover ... such cover is often not only in relation to home/contents, rather it is legal support up to a certain value for any claim not already covered by other insurance.

The issue with such cover is that to take on the case there must be a high percentage chance it would suceed.  Given what has happened according to the OP in this case I cannot see them being willing take on such a case.  No harm in asking of course.

kayleighali

bimboz2 said:

Hi, so sorry about your cat and family member.  I took legal action against the referring vet, the one who gave the drug when he shouldn't have.   The problem was with the vets I was referred to. I paid them the £10,000.
 They didn't like the fact I was taking legal action against their mate. They abused their professional position, lied, removed the drug from the equation and corrupted our evidence in favour of their mate .  When I wanted to discuss it with them, the cowards wouldn't speak to me. Wrote me a letter with more lies and abuse.
The 70k was quoted to take legal action against RCVS as they'd abused my trust when they are legally obliged to investigate our complaints fairly and reasonably, any regulatory body who says what those vets did was reasonable is inarguably biased and not doing what they are legally obliged to do, which is act in the public's interest.
The one letter the vets sent to me oozed abuse and dishonesty, never mind the actual corruption to a client's legal case.  It's upsetting enough to have to complain, it destroys you when you're abused all over again. The house insurance would cover goods and services, but not going up against a public authority who clearly has the power to tell us black is white and the earth is flat.  Something needs to be done though, because if RCVS has done this in my case, there will be others.

I know this will sound heartless, but you need to remove emotion from the equation here. I understand how hard that must be, however, any legal action will deal with facts only, they will be unable to do this effectively otherwise.

Do you have hard proof that the first vet prescribed and administered the drug? If so, then your initial case would be against the first vet for administering a drug that was clearly unsuitable. You would then need to pursue the second vet for doctoring medical records. 

In regards to the RCVS, you will need to see from their side that they will have contacted the vets in question who gave an answer they were satisfied with - they may have shown proof that the drug was not administered - in which case, there is no case to answer as far as they are concerned.

When you say the letters are full of abuse, what do you mean? The term abuse can be subjective, especially in an emotive situation like this. Sometimes assertiveness can be seen as abuse. Have they called you names? Swore at you? How did they abuse you?