| Complaint: | Complaint 18-01 |
|---|---|
| Respondent: | Billy Hendrix |
| Premises: | Alta Vista Veterinary Hospital |
The complainant, a naturopathic physician, brought her cat to Hendrix to remove an aggressive right-sided breast tumor with a poor prognosis. She told him that she wanted a radical mastectomy because of reports from the US and Europe that suggested this would be the best course of treatment and avoid a second surgery. Hendrix identified no metastasis and said that a lumpectomy would be better. The complainant says that she found a new right-sided mass that Hendrix said he would also remove, but the mass was still there after the surgery. The complainant said that if she had known that she would have gone to a better surgeon. She then resorted to integrative therapies and the cat later died.
Hendrix says that the mass was on the left side. He also says that the complainant was aware further surgeries would be required and that the new mass was not going to be removed that day. He says that this was all reiterated during a follow-up visit.
The Investigative Committee said that it would be hard to determine if the mass was on the left or the right side of the cat because cats are squishy. The Investigative Committee did find a failure to provide professionally acceptable procedures, but the veterinary board overruled them and dismissed with no violation.
| Source: | September 9, 2017 PM Investigative Committee Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| Billy Hendrix | Respondent |
| David Stoll | Respondent Attorney |
| Roll Call: | |
| Adam Almaraz | Aye |
| Amrit Rai | Aye |
| Donald Noah | Absent |
| Robert Kritsberg | Aye |
| Tamara Murphy | Aye |
| Violations: | |
| ARS 32-2232 (12) as it relates to AAC R3-11-501 (1) failure to provide professionally acceptable procedures with respect to no substantiation that a radical mastectomy was performed. | |
| Result: | Passed |
| Source: | October 10, 2017 Board Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| David Stoll | Respondent Attorney |
| Proposed By: | Christina Bertch-Mumaw |
| Seconded By: | Nikki Frost |
| Roll Call: | |
| Christina Bertch-Mumaw | Aye |
| Darren Wright | Aye |
| J Greg Byrne | Absent |
| Jessica Creager | Aye |
| Jim Loughead | Aye |
| Julie Young | Absent |
| Les Hatfield | Aye |
| Nikki Frost | Aye |
| Sarah Heinrich | Aye |
| Result: | Passed |
| Source: | November 11, 2017 Board Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| Billy Hendrix | Respondent |
| David Stoll | Respondent Attorney |
| Proposed By: | Sarah Heinrich |
| Seconded By: | Darren Wright |
| Roll Call: | |
| Christina Bertch-Mumaw | Aye |
| Darren Wright | Aye |
| J Greg Byrne | Aye |
| Jessica Creager | Aye |
| Jim Loughead | Aye |
| Julie Young | Aye |
| Nikki Frost | Absent |
| Robyn Jaynes | Aye |
| Sarah Heinrich | Aye |
| Result: | Passed |
The primary source for the above summary was obtained as a public record from the Arizona State Veterinary Medical Examining Board. You are welcome to review the original records and board meeting minutes by clicking the relevant links. While we endeavor to provide an accurate summary of the complaint, response, investigative reports and board actions, we encourage you to review the primary sources and come to your own conclusions. In some cases we have also been able to reach out to individuals with knowledge of specific complaints, and where possible that information will be included here.