Q: Can i file a suit against an emergency vet hospital if so how?
I would like to get information or advice as to what steps i should take to request my pets medical records. I feel the attending vets didnt inform me of the risks of procedures done they also missed a diagnosis that i had to bring to their attention. The vets were very short and npt informative. They didnt treat her until i paid upfromt that was 2 hours after arriving. Once i picked up my baby puppy her condition worsened. I asked them if i should take her to another ER since i couldn't get an appt with her primary vet until 11 and that ER was closing at 8. He told me no she will be fine. Unfortunately that wasnt so. I rushed her to her vet qho informed me that she needed emergency medical attention asap so i rushed her to another ER in long beach. They diagnosed her with something different and tried their best to save her. I did some research and they broke principal. I dont want money i just want the vet to be held accountable. Can anyone help me?
A:
You can file a lawsuit for veterinary malpractice. You would need to obtain all of the treatment records and have them reviewed by an independent vet who would testify how your vet committed malpractice. Malpractice is not just attempting a treatment that was unsuccessful. Medical professionals are entitled to make judgments and, sometimes, those judgments turn out to be wrong. That is not malpractice. Malpractice is making a mistake that no reasonable veterinarian in the community would make. It's a high standard. Another veterinarian is going to be willing to do this work for free. I suspect you will have to pay, up front, several thousand dollars, and there is no guarantee that the veterinarian will have an opinion that is favorable to your case.
If the opinion is favorable, and you file a lawsuit, and you win (the defendant veterinarian will have his/her own expert whose testimony will contradict your expert), you recovery will be limited to the market value of your dog, and/or the cost of treatment caused by malpractice. Unless you have a show dog, the market value will be (at best) a few hundred dollars. As such, you should pursue a case in Small Claims court, where you can recover up to $10k.
An attorney can help you gather evidence, work with an expert veterinarian, prepare the Small Claims paperwork, get it filed and served, and prepare you for the hearing, but attorneys are not allowed to represent you at the hearing. The cost for such attorney services would also be several thousand dollars. There is also a filing fee, and a fee for a process server, which might total another couple of hundred.
You definitely won't be making money on this type of case.
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