F....Animal Vets

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

I think you're right about CYA and lawsuits. They want to make sure they don't leave themselves exposed to a big suit. Sign of the times I guess.

I do not think we can blame those greedy lawyers (actually their greedy clients) for this one. Generally speaking, vets are not exposed to big lawsuits. I cannot, for example, get $1M if a vet commits malpractice and kills my dog. Typically, if a vet seriously harms or kills your pet, you are only entitled to compensatory damages (i.e., the cost to buy the dog). I guess if you own a prize-winning racehorse and a vet kills your horse, you might have a claim, but otherwise you generally do not.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha

I do not think we can blame those greedy lawyers (actually their greedy clients) for this one. Generally speaking, vets are not exposed to big lawsuits. I cannot, for example, get $1M if a vet commits malpractice and kills my dog. Typically, if a vet seriously harms or kills your pet, you are only entitled to compensatory damages (i.e., the cost to buy the dog). I guess if you own a prize-winning racehorse and a vet kills your horse, you might have a claim, but otherwise you generally do not.

True that, you don't win much from dog lawsuits. Takes away the incentive to cover ass, doesn't it. Maybe they are just gouging?

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha

I do not think we can blame those greedy lawyers (actually their greedy clients) for this one. Generally speaking, vets are not exposed to big lawsuits. I cannot, for example, get $1M if a vet commits malpractice and kills my dog. Typically, if a vet seriously harms or kills your pet, you are only entitled to compensatory damages (i.e., the cost to buy the dog). I guess if you own a prize-winning racehorse and a vet kills your horse, you might have a claim, but otherwise you generally do not.

If I'm correct some states maybe most or all look at pets as personal property. I'm not sure if it was a case in Virginia or in another state which received national attention but it involved a pet owner suing for a large sum of money due to the death of their pet. Not sure how far it went up in the court system but the final ruling was they are personal property.

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Originally Posted by firstdown

If I'm correct some states maybe most or all look at pets as personal property. I'm not sure if it was a case in Virginia or in another state which received national attention but it involved a pet owner suing for a large sum of money due to the death of their pet. Not sure how far it went up in the court system but the final ruling was they are personal property.

As far as I know, all states treat pets as personal property. I'm glad you know the end result of the case. Most people think that if person A sues person B for $1 billion upon some ridiculous claim, then person A gets $1 billion. It's no wonder why people think our legal system is far more out of whack than it really is.

[RobH4413]

I'm with everyone here...

There was an article in the Washington Post recently about exactly what everyone is talking about...


Pets, Vets and Debts - washingtonpost.com

I recently tried to get my little black pug spayed and a simple 65$ fee turned into close to 500$ in about 3 min. The lady was throwing all of these extra options... IV fluids, antibiotics, extra pain medicine...


They tack on fee's like crazy... I would be more inclined to pay some flat rate then be berated with all of these unnecessary options like I was buying a used car or something.

Making me very frustrated...