Dissertation Diaries – The Age of Veterinary Malpractice (Part 2)

Welcome back! My last blog post ended with main issues within veterinary malpractice, which my dissertation will focus on. To recap, these are clinical negligence, consent or lack of and administrative issues.

Clinical negligence covers everything from an incorrect dosage of a medication to inhumane euthanasia. Reading through some of the disciplinaries on the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons website was quite shocking. One case involved a vet performing surgery on a dog at her own home, single handily. Another, where a vet kicked and stamped on a dog. The most shocking case was a case about the euthanasia of a german shepherd. I’ve done plenty of work experience at different vet practices to know and understand the process of a ‘put to sleep’. It’s heartbreaking but often has to be done. The basic process involves shaving the front leg to insert a line that drugs can be given through. The dog is then given a sedative, so it won’t feel any pain at all. When the dog is asleep, the euthanasia drug will be given, and the dog will pass away peacefully. This is generally the usual method, but other ways are acceptable as long as the dog is sedated first. However, in this case, the german shepherd was injected with the euthanasia drug straight into the heart without any sedation. Needless to say, the dog suffered as a result. After reading this case, I knew that this was definitely what I wanted to write about.

Consent involves an owner giving consent to any treatment the animal will undergo. It’s similar to consent in medical law but with an element of contract law. As veterinary care is considered as a private practice, payment is involved. The cost and payment are an important part of veterinary care and so must be provided on the consent form or when the form is signed. Cases where this goes wrong in the veterinary world usually arise due to lack of informed consent where the vet has not fully explained all the treatment options to the owner or have failed to obtain consent for further treatment. For example, say your cat goes to the vets to be neutered. You sign a consent form stating that you consent to your cat being under anaesthetic and understand that sometimes the animal won’t survive the anaesthetic. So, your cat is in the operation room and they find a tumour very close to a vital organ. The vet should call you immediately and inform you of this and provide the treatment options and risks to see if you want it removed whilst the cat is sedated. However, if the vet goes ahead and removes the tumour without informing you first and in the process, damages the vital organ nearby killing your cat, not only is this negligent but the vet did not have your consent to do so. There is often more to the story, making it more complex but for the purpose of the blog and explanation, I’ve made it simpler.

Finally, administrative issues are formally known in my plan as ‘Administrative Dishonesty’. As this is such a wide area, I broke it down further into 3 sections:

1. ‘Falsifying records’ is where a vet may write incorrect notes about treatment on an animal’s clinical notes or fail to write notes altogether. Clinical notes are obviously very important as they track an animal’s treatment.

2. ‘Lacking professional requirements’ includes vets that have no professional insurance that is required by law or lack the relevant qualifications to practice veterinary medicine within the UK. Again, this is against the law.

3. ‘Improper inspections’ cover everything from biased pre-sale examinations and inspections of premises such as abattoirs and kennels. Vets may lie about the condition of an animal to help the owner sell it as the owner is a family relative.

More in-depth discussions of these will make up the bulk of my dissertation. However, before I dive into these, I must first discuss the legal position of an animal…

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By Sasha Brady (@lawbabyx)

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