Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Florida

Veternarian liability

Veternarian liability,

I have lost two english mastiffs in the past five months while both were under the direct care and or treatment of our vet.The first one had an auto-immune problem that was treated with steroids by the vets. Even though they told us of the danger involved,they maintained the same high dosage for over two weeks even after our dog showed improvement after the first week.Consequently,our dog began to retain fluids to the point it died from what appeared to be heart complications.Our second dog had ingested a small bean bag that had created a blockage.the vets performed what they said was a routine surgery to remove the blockage and assured us that there was little danger as this was a common procedure.After the surgery,our dog was never the same and we took him back three timmes within four days of the surgery and was assured that everything was okay.Our dog then passed away the fourth night.I believe these vets knew very little about treating such a large breed of dog as the mastiff and on both occasions were playing it by ear in their treatments subsequently and unecassarily killing both of our dogs.Aside from the emotional aspect, these were top quality bred we purchased for $3500.00Please respond.


Asked on 12/25/06, 6:34 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Alan Wagner Wagner, McLaughlin & Whittemore P.A.

Re: Veternarian liability

The laws in Florida protect health care providers that injure others, including pets. The Florida legislature and the republican party in general have passed a series of laws that make it difficult and expensive to sue. In your case, the cost of complying with the laws designed to lessen law suits against doctors mean that -- as a practical matter -- you can't sue because the expense of the suit outweighs what you would realistically be able or expected to receive from a jury. Does that mean that some doctors and health care providers "get away" with negligent conduct that hurts their patients? Yes.

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Answered on 12/30/06, 10:07 am


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