| Complaint: | Complaint 18-87 |
|---|---|
| Respondent: | Ann Adams |
| Premises: | University Pet Clinic |
| Related: | 18-88 |
The complainant states she took her cat to the clinic for liquid bloody stool, not defecating, and the cat's "breath smelled like poop." Adams did an examination and ordred tests. The complainant says she asked about an obstruction or cancer but Adams said she didn't detect anything and suggested changing the cat's food. Allegedly Adams left the room and delegated the remainder of the conversation to veterinary technicians. Further testing yielded a diagnosis of pancreatitis. The cat got sick with the same symptoms again so the complainant made an appointment with Adams but was only allowed to drop off the cat rather than go to the appointment; she received no answers from Adams or from technicians. The complainant eventually noticed her cat had a swollen anus with feces sticking out of it so she made another appointment and saw Adams' colleague, White, who is said to have diagnosed the cat as "being full of poop" and performed enemas. The complainant thought the cat was so sick she would die, so she took her cat to another veterinarian who cleaned out the colon and extracted her anal sacs. She says the cat quickly went back to normal in a couple of days. She began reviewing the veterinary records and found that her concerns appear to have never been entered into the record. She also asks for a refund.
Adams' response has broad similarities to the complainant's in terms of the overall events but does not make significant mention of constipation or inability to defecate as the complainant does. She also states that the complainant requested oral medications to save money even though they can make a vomiting cat sicker and that the complainant declined subsequent tests on the second visit. She also repeatedly mentions her confusion as to why the complainant didn't contact her again or bring the cat back if the cat was declining all this time. She said she never heard from the complainant to know that the cat wasn't doing well and that as a veterinarian she bears the heavy burden of watching her patients decline because her clients won't pay money to run more tests.
The Investigative Committee said that they were concerned that patient care may have suffered and that communication was lacking. However, they also said they couldn't cite any particular violation that captured their concerns, so they let it ride. Instead the Committee suggests that the board could send a letter of concern. They did, however, find a medical records violation that was also wiped out by the board.
| Source: | July 7, 2018 PM Investigative Committee Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| Ann Adams | Respondent |
| Roll Call: | |
| Adam Almaraz | Aye |
| Amrit Rai | Aye |
| Christine Butkiewicz | Aye |
| Donald Noah | Aye |
| Tamara Murphy | Aye |
| Violations: | |
| ARS 32-2232 (21) as it relates to AAC R3-11-502 (L) (7) for failure to document the injection of convenia administered to the cat on 12/13/17. | |
| Result: | Passed |
| Source: | August 8, 2018 Board Meeting |
|---|---|
| Proposed By: | Darren Wright |
| Seconded By: | Jessica Creager |
| Roll Call: | |
| Christina Bertch-Mumaw | Aye |
| Darren Wright | Aye |
| J Greg Byrne | Absent |
| Jessica Creager | Aye |
| Jim Loughead | Aye |
| Julie Young | Aye |
| Nikki Frost | Aye |
| 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.