As per the College of Veterinarians Ontario’s decision in response to my complaint filed against a veterinarian at Bloor Animal Hospital (BAH): “The dental surgery performed by the veterinarian…was pe... Read More
As per the College of Veterinarians Ontario’s decision in response to my complaint filed against a veterinarian at Bloor Animal Hospital (BAH): “The dental surgery performed by the veterinarian…was performed in an incompetent and negligent manner which caused suffering and pain to the dog. In particular,
a) The veterinarian left root remnants in the dog’s mouth.
b) The veterinarian failed to inform the owner about the root remnants left in the dog’s mouth.
c) The veterinarian failed to record in the medical records that root remnants were left inside the dog’s mouth.
The dog had a tooth root for tooth 303 that was penetrating the gingiva, along with a number of tooth roots still present in the bone.”
Tooth root 303 was discovered and extracted by our current veterinarian at a nearby clinic, but the other three embedded in her jaws were left as is because an excavation attempt at this point would have posed a separate surgical risk on its own. The retained roots pose an ongoing risk of discomfort, pain, and other pathology which may compromise my dog’s health and longevity. The College defended the veterinarian insisting that the veterinarian apologized. What I had hoped for were transparency and accountability, i.e., an explanation of investigative efforts made, full disclosure of all testimonies, and a voluntary refund – none of which were offered.
I sent a letter to BAH asking for a refund of $2,916.44 which is what I spent on the surgeries that were not conducted in accordance with veterinary standards as outlined in the College’s decision and reasons and the procedure to extract tooth root 303. In response, BAH sent an insurance claim adjuster, who proposed a refund winnowed down to $181.75 and demanded a full and final release. He stated “you would be entitled to be put back into a financial position that you would have been in had the error not occurred, as best as is possible. With respect to the procedures, these were necessitated due to your dog's dental health rather than any error by our insureds, and as such the costs of these procedures are not a compensable damage. Case law is clear that a service provider is entitled to compensation for their work, even when a portion of that work may fall short of standard.” I wrote to both the College and BAH (via the claim adjuster) questioning the fairness of this, but they did not respond.
The refund is about principle. I will not sign a release for $181.75 or any amount below the actual cost, as that would implicate that my dog’s health and well-being do not matter. This is not even considering additional veterinary costs I may incur to address future complications.
To topvet: I have x-rays, medical records, expert opinion, and other documentation to back up the above—and much more. I can be reached via Gmail should you require verification. Read Less