ComplaintsforValdosta Veterinary Associates

• Initial Complaint

  06/07/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Date of Transaction: 05/27/2023 The a***** of money paid to business: $495.75 Summary: Our 11 year old lab, *****, had an incident involving his tail which needed immediate treatment to be amputated. Upon calling the clinic, the staff urged us to rush there and he would be seen immediately. However, upon arriving we waited 45 minutes in a room without hearing a word from a veterinarian or staff. Once he was finally seen, we were informed to just come back on Tuesday (72+ hours after the incident) because they didn’t have time to work his procedure in. Therefore, allowing infection to spread and our baby to suffer. The only thing this clinic did in a hurry was swipe our card and take payment. $495.75 for medicine, a cone, and bandage to help his tail “not stink” as it dies and rots until they could "squeeze" him in. We never even spoke with the veterinarian! False promises were made by the veterinary clinic - leading us to believe they would actually help and perform the necessary emergency procedure, but that was simply a scam to get us through the door so they could charge us while providing no/minimal care. Has the business tried to resolve the issue: No, the business has done nothing to resolve the problem. They have only responded to a review posted on Facebook - admitting fault and apologizing, but doing nothing to resolve the issue Invoice ******* (invoice attached)

  Business response

  06/23/2023

  On Saturday, 5/24/2023 at 2:19pm during the Memorial Day holiday weekend, our receptionists received a call from the client stating their 10 year old Labrador Retriever, *****, was riding on the lawn mower with the owner while cutting grass, and the patient's tail got caught up in the mower. Reported that about 4-5 inches of the patient's tail had been caught up in the mower and there was active bleeding. Their regular veterinarian, ******* Animal Hospital an hour away in Waycross, Georgia, referred them to our facility because they were not taking emergencies at the time of their call. Our receptionists advised them to arrive as soon as possible due to the report of active bleeding. The clients arrived at 3:29pm and were escorted to an exam room. The receptionists informed the clinical staff that the patient was not actively bleeding upon arrival. As the only emergency veterinary facility within a 2-hour radius in the South Georgia, North Florida region, we had many critical patients. At 4:16pm, a veterinary assistant entered the exam room. Her documentation states, "Upon entering the room after Pt's exam, I apologized for the wait and thanked them for their patience. The female owner did make a comment that her pet was more important in her eyes than the other patients we were seeing. I explained to them that we have critical patients in our hospital that we must tend to first as they are in critical condition. I let them know that their pet is not in critical condition and is stable. I explained that per Dr. ***** we have two options. First option is to hospitalize Pt. We would help manage his pain and start him on antibiotics. Pt's amputation is not an emergency, however, Dr. ***** has said that if we have a break in our schedule that we will fit him in. Option 2 is to wrap Pt's tail, start on oral antibiotics and pain management, and send him home to await surgery. O asked if we would be able to call when we have an opening this weekend. I explained that due to the unpredictable nature of being an emergency clinic, we would be unable to call them and get in for the amputation before Tuesday. If Pt were to go home and we were to call them, by the time they even got close to the building we may have critical emergencies in the building. I explained that if Pt were to stay here, Pt would already have an IV catheter placed and would be ready for surgery at any time. I explained that even if Pt were to stay here and stay ready, it is a holiday weekend, so we cannot guarantee that we would get to the amputation before Tuesday. O understood the options. O elects to take Pt home on oral medications and with Pt's tail wrapped. O understands to keep Pt's e-collar on and to keep the tail wrapped and dry. I made an estimate for Pt's tail amputation. O requested a copy of Pt's bloodwork, so I printed out a copy for O. They scheduled the amputation for Tuesday." Examination notes state, "Laceration at distal 1/3 tail nearly full thickness, not currently hemorrhaging." The veterinarian, Dr. ***** documented after exam, "As doctor on staff at the time pt arrived, I was seeing two critical emergencies at the time. I worked pt exam and treatment in between the other two critical cases that I was dealing with and instructed my VA on the case to discuss hospitalization until tail amputation can be performed at a later time vs discharge to be performed at their regular vet- owner elects to take pt home with tail wrapped and protected to wait until next week at regular vet." However, at checkout the client scheduled the surgery to be performed the following Tuesday. The next morning on 5/28/2023, the client called at 11:22am to cancel the surgery appointment stating he'd had the tail amputation performed at their regular vet's office after leaving our facility on 5/27/2023. When I returned to work on 5/29/2023, I responded to the client's Facebook review and left her a voicemail to apologize for her frustration and negative perception of the service that she received. I encouraged her to call me back to discuss further but she never called back. However, a refund is not indicated. They presented with the patient requesting an emergency exam on a Saturday afternoon on a holiday weekend. An emergency exam and bloodwork were performed. The patient was triaged and the patient's condition was stable and not critical. We clearly explained why we could not perform surgery on a stable, non-critical patient as the only emergency facility in our region. If our vet performs surgery during emergency hours, then she cannot evaluate and treat incoming, critical patients and truly critical patients will not survive the 2 hour drive to the next closest emergency facility. We provided the patient with oral medications to control pain and inflammation and to prevent infection. These services were rendered in good faith for payment to be received and payment was collected in full at the time of service. 

  Customer response

  06/26/2023

  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

   Complaint: ********

  I am rejecting this response because:

  The information provided by the facility is inaccurate. As previously stated, the receptionist and staff at Valdosta Veterinarian Associates urged and lured us to the facility under false pretenses and promises that adequate treatment would be provided. There are other emergency clinics much closer to home than ******** ********** **********; however, this clinic was contacted being it is listed as the emergency facility recommended by ******* Animal Hospital (patient’s primary care veterinarian) located at 511 S. City Blvd. Waycross, GA 31501. Upon arriving, waiting longer than expected/promised wait times, the clinic practiced knowing and willful patient negligence. The decision was reported to a local emergency clinic named ******** Veterinary Clinic located at **** ** ** **********, ** ***** (only 8.1 miles from our primary care veterinarian). This veterinarian did acted immediately and urged us to make our way to the facility for amputation before further infection or subjecting the patient to unnecessary harm and pain. The patient was rushed in for an emergency surgery due to the nature of the accident. The accident was in fact deemed an emergency and treated as such. ***** received the amputation procedure on the afternoon of 5/27/23 at approximately 8:40pm. The argument that there are no local emergency practices within 2 hours of Valdosta Veterinarian Associates is false and the emergency clinic and operation performed proves such. Facilities that practice patient negligence and operate under false pretenses to lure clients in is unacceptable and this is precisely what Valdosta Veterinarian Associates does. Also, no voicemail or contact was received from Valdosta Veterinarian Associates regarding the complaint.

  Regards,

  ******* ******

  Business response

  06/28/2023

   

  The correction of the first sentence of our response is as follows, "On Saturday, 5/27/2023 at 2:19pm during the Memorial Day holiday weekend, our receptionists received a call from the client stating their 10 year old Labrador Retriever, *****, was riding on the lawn mower with the owner while cutting grass, and the patient's tail got caught up in the mower. "

   

  I'd accidentally typed 5/24/2023 which was the incorrect date.

   

  Thank you!

  ******* *******

  Practice Administrator

  ******** ********** **********

  ************

• Initial Complaint

  09/26/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  This is the only after hours vet in my area. This incident has caused me to have hair pulling anxiety. I took in my 6 month old puppy, *****, after hours one evening due to him throwing up, not eating like normal, etc. *** ******* and ** ***** are the 2 female doctors in this practice. I only spoke with *** *******. She took x rays of ***** and stated they looked bad and he needed to be kept overnight. However, before I got there, they would not even let us enter the building without a parvo test (which is important because he had been vaccinated for parvo & they swabbed him before we entered). The test was negative for parvo on day one. This was around 7pm Tuesday Oct 26th. They claimed he was hooked up to IV’s the whole night of the 26th & they would call me around 9am after they ran second x rays to see if they looked any better. I called throughout the night to ask how he was they never once called me (many google reviews also say this). Always said he was good. 1pm Oct 27th I still have not heard back about 2 x rays. ******* calls and says he needs surgery. I say to check with my original vet, she acted like it was a bowel obstruction and could not wait so she offered to do the surgery claiming she had done this surgery on her own dog before. I verified w her she would be the one doing surgery, she said yes, the anthesia sheet shows the doctor as her partner, *****. She called one out of two times the whole time ***** was there. One was to tell me surgery went good, next was to tell me to put him to sleep. He never had a foreign object stuck in his stomach & his intestines died after surgery which leads to think something went wrong in surgery. They tested him multiple times for parvo, STD testing (6 months old) & other tests that proved they did not know what was wrong with him. Doc attached. I was never informed of his sick- said it was pancreatitis docu says pancreas was normal- I would love to explain more detail over the phone.

  Business response

  10/31/2022

  Dear BBB, 
  Please see our attached response, client's unpaid invoice, and completed form. 
  Thank you,
  ******* *******
  Practice Administrator

  10/10/2022
  Dear BBB, 
  We are responding to a complaint submitted on 9/23/2022 with an ID of ******** from ****** ****** regarding services provided 10/26/2021-10/28/2021. Our documentation of services provided and communications with client are as follows:
  Client presented with patient on 10/26/2021 at approximately 7:00pm due to vomiting the night before and 9 additional times that day. Pt also had diarrhea, lethargy, and inappetence. If patient did try to eat, he would vomit. Client also presented a “pom pom/ball of fabric” that the patient vomited earlier that morning. They stated they were unsure of where he got it from. He was a 5 month old, male unaltered English Cocker Spaniel who was reportedly up-to-date on vaccinations with their regular veterinarian, ******* ****** ********. 
  Despite reported full-vaccination status (we could not obtain records and client did not provide them), due to the extremely contagious and durable nature of Parvovirus and its prevalence among puppies, current best medicine recommendations are to test any patient 1 year old or younger for parvovirus if they exhibit any vomiting, diarrhea, inappetence, or lethargy as full vaccination is unable to 100% prevent the virus. Parvovirus cases among fully-vaccinated puppies are seen frequently and even fully-vaccinated puppies die from this deadly virus. Therefore, we explained to the client that a parvovirus test would be needed before we could bring the patient into the hospital to prevent exposure to our other patients. If a patient is parvo-positive, they are brought in through a separate entrance into an isolation ward to prevent spread as parvo is extremely difficult to eradicate from the environment. 
  The patient’s parvo test was negative so he was brought inside for examination and continued diagnostics. Radiographs and bloodwork was taken. CBC indicated low HCT and HGB and elevated MPV. Chem 17 indicated an elevated GGT. Electrolytes were normal. Examination indicated normal findings of eyes, ears, nose and throat, mouth, teeth, and gums, cardiovascular system, integument, lymph nodes, musculoskeletal system, nervous system, urinary and genitals, and behavior. Exam indicated abnormal findings of the GI tract and abdomen with distension and gas seen on radiographs. Differential Diagnosis/Rule Outs during at intake were: parvo, HGE, FB, delayed GI motility. Due to the severity of patient’s symptoms and his inability to hold down any medications, hospitalization for IV fluids, IV medications, and repeat radiographs was recommended. Client agreed. The patient was left in our care with 24/7 monitoring and care with scheduled TPRs by our veterinary assistants supervised by licensed veterinarians. An IV catheter was placed, IV fluids with Vitamin B Complex started, and injectable medications started to control vomiting (Cerenia) and overproduction of stomach acid (Famotidine).  
  We planned to contact the client with an update after the repeat radiographs were performed in the morning but the client had been calling throughout the night and morning for updates. On 10/27/2022, *** ******* spoke with client to discuss that radiographs showed worse gas distention and dilation. Recommended performing an exploratory laparotomy with owner due to concern of foreign body. Encouraged client to discuss with her regular veterinarian to see if they would prefer to perform the procedure there. Client replied that she would like to see if *** ******* would perform the surgery but if not, would like for us to proceed with surgery here. *** ******* reached out to us directly stating he was unable to perform the surgery that day. Client elected to proceed with surgery at our facility. 
  The Ex lap revealed the gas-filled small intestines & colon and very enlarged mesenteric lymphadenopathy. Pancreas enlarged but no infarcts noticed. No foreign body felt within the stomach, colon, or intestinal loops. Colon milked out and much diarrhea with string-like material contained within occurred while on the surgery table. Small intestines blanched in several smaller areas. No necrosis or perforations seen. Removing one mesenteric lymph node for pathology. Owner declined submission for pathology. Triple layer closure with 3-0 PDS. 3-0 Nylon cruciate skin sutures. Patient tolerated surgery well and recovered without event. Lidocaine splash block administered along with SQ administration around incision. Carprofen given SQ. Repeat fecal from those contents NOS. Photographs were taken of intestines. Two antibiotics (Metronidazole and Unasyn) and an NSAID for post-operative pain and inflammation (Carprofen tablets) was added to patient’s medication regimen.
  On 10/28/21, patient’s PCV was 38%. Patient was lethargic and beginning to become febrile. Temp got up to 104.5F. Tried to call owner but no answer. Snap cPl performed due to possibility of pancreatitis secondary to ExLap: normal result. Repeat Parvo snap test negative. Decision was made to perform another ex lap. Ex lap revealed fluid in the abdomen. Severe peritonitis observed. Suction performed to remove contents. 95% jejunum were compromised/purple/necrotic. No infarctions were seen in the mesentery. Some hemorrhage present due to inflammatory response. No infarcts seen in mesentery. Intestinal health was severely compromised. No perforations were seen after inspection of all of the jejunum. No further obstructions seen on examination. As examination continued, further darkening of the jejunum occurred. Photographs taken. *** ******* was able to get in touch with the owner and informed her of the situation. She advised that unfortunately, full resection and anastomosis would not be a viable option. Recommended euthanizing the patient but the client requested that we recover him from anesthesia so she can see him. Flushed abdomen twice with sterile saline and suctioned. Linea and SQ closed with 3-0 PDS and skin staples placed. 
  Client shortly after speaking to *** *******, arrived to the hospital, walked into the lobby asking to see the patient. She was advised that the surgery was concluding so it would be a few minutes. Client’s female relative came in directly after, demanding to see the dog now. The receptionist explained again that the final sutures and staples were being placed and was also told that it would be just a few minutes as clients cannot enter the operating room as it is a sterile space. Receptionists escorted the client to an exam room. The female relative opened the door to the lobby approximately every minute or two asking the receptionist, “Am I just waiting for a dead dog or what is going on?" The receptionist attempted to explain that the dog was still waking up from anesthesia at this point but the relative closed the door in her face before she could actually respond. 
  Due to the client’s relative’s hostile behavior, the following conversation with owner in the exam room was recorded. *** ******* again advised client of the severity of the situation and the guarded prognosis. The client and friend were upset and repeatedly interrupted, asking how his condition got to this point when they thought that he was "not that sick.” *** ******* reminded client that patient was unable to hold anything down when he was presented and failed to improve despite hospitalization and treatment. When surgery was recommended and their regular veterinarian agreed with the plan of care, the client agreed with those recommendations at that time because he was failing to improve. *** ******* attempted to explain that GI health issues can quickly worsen when intestinal health is compromised but client’s friend began to accuse the doctor of “making a mistake in surgery” and “causing the GI health to be compromised”. They repeatedly interrupted every time she attempted to explain the findings and how the patient’s condition continued to deteriorate despite all interventions. Client stated she’d discussed the case with *** ******* who agreed with *** *******’s recommendation to euthanize due to patient’s inability to survive post-op with the findings. She stated she wanted to take the patient to a third veterinarian, *** **** *******, for a third opinion. *** ******* warned client that patient would likely not survive the trip and recommended again that the client end the patient’s suffering. Client refused, walked out with the patient, and refused to pay her balance when leaving. Client yelled to the other clients in our lobby as she was leaving, "If you want your dog to die you should bring them here."
  10/28/21 10:33PM Female relative of client returned to the office, demanding all records for the patient.  The overnight veterinary assistant emailed all records and radiographs. She asked if there was a log to tell if anyone went back into the records and changed any documentation. She told her that it did not appear that anything had been changed. She asked about the bill. We let her know the balance and she asked if there was 30 days to pay. We let her know that all invoices are to be paid at the time of service. She asked if the client signed paperwork that stated she was to pay the bill then. We said no but its posted on our door and in our lobby. She responded that the bill will be paid within 30 days then.  The client still has not paid anything toward her balance and owes $962.83.  
  10/28/2021 10:35pm A Google Review of VVA was posted to internet by ****** ******, the female relative, stating,"...We have performed the necessary measures and will be taking legal action as well as filing with the board against this practice." Screenshots of full review uploaded into files. 
  10/29/2021 7:30AM Female called stating she was the friend/sister of owner, asking if we still had P's collar or "did *** ******* throw it away." Receptionist obtained description of collar and found it in the hospital. Advised associate that she may pick up. Later in the morning, a gentleman came in and requested the collar, and it was provided to him. 
  10/29/2021 1:14PM Email received from ****** ****** to ******************** stating, "Good Afternoon, The Anesthesia Chart for the second procedure was scanned incorrectly (backwards), can you please resend? Thank you." Response sent via email at 1:27PM stating, "As legal action has been threatened, we will no longer communicate with anyone regarding this patient or client other than via attorney. If anyone presents to the property regarding this patient or client, then they will be asked to leave the property. If they do not comply immediately, the authorities will be contacted. Valdosta Veterinary Associates." Copy of email thread uploaded to files. 
  VVA sent excised mesenteric lymph node for pathology. Suspected mesenteric torsion or infectious agent to be the cause of illness. Pathologist report received on 11/2/2021 indicated lymphadenitis, pyogranulomatous to granulomatous, multifocal to coalescing, mild. Comments stated: Histology is most consistent with a chronic active inflammatory reaction. The cause of which is not noted histologically.  These results were not communicated to the client directly as she’d threatened legal action. Records were forwarded to her regular veterinarian to discuss with the client.
  The client’s chart has been flagged to note that future services will be refused to this client due to unacceptable treatment of our veterinarian, staff, and clients, threatened litigation, and refusal to pay for services rendered in good faith at the time of need and request, following best medicine practices. We will not accommodate client’s desired settlement to close our business because she had a poor outcome. We provide emergency veterinary care so we tend to see the worst cases, and despite best medicine practices, medicine is not a perfect science. Outcomes cannot be wholly predicted or guaranteed. Even though we practice to very high standards, we still cannot save every patient. 
  Thank you for your assistance in this matter,
  ******* *******
  Practice Administrator
  Valdosta Veterinary Associates
  

  
  

  
  

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