| Complaint: | Complaint 19-40 |
|---|---|
| Respondent: | Michael Soltero |
| Premises: | Saguaro Veterinary Clinic |
The complainant relates that she's been taking her dog to Saguaro for some time. She details a large number of symptoms the dog had. She also states that she started with a different vet who she believes hurt her dog during an "anal gland visit." After that she asked for Soltero but it sounds as though it was very difficult to contact him. She went to another veterinarian to save money on testing. The dog had what she believes was a stroke and was taken to Soltero who did an ultrasound and found tumors in lymph nodes, diagnosed Cushing's, and heart failure. She was on trilostane for a year until the dog apparently had a bad reaction to it. The dog was also seeing Church, a heart specialist, who suggested blood work for kidneys with Soltero. According to the complainant, Soltero decided based on that work that the dog didn't have Cushing's after all. She was upset and said she was taking her dog to a specialist, and she says the clinic dumped her as a client. She has concerns as to why different clinics couldn't agree on blood work values being significant. She also has concerns about why her dog was apparently misdiagnosed with Cushing's for a year.
Soltero tells us that the complainant was terminated after being belligerent to the staff. He tells us that the dog presented for seizures, a heart murmur was found, etc., and that based on initial bloodwork he was suspicious for hyperadrenocorticism. He had Paige (a cardiologist) come by for a workup. An ACTH stim test also yielded results consistent with hyperadrenocorticism, so he put the dog on trilostane and a recommendation for something called Dr. Dodds Liver Diet. A subsequent ACTH stim test indicated the trilostane dose may have been too high. He relates that the dog eventually developed other symptoms such as coughing and passing out and the complainant "took it upon herself" to get a second cardiology opinion from Church. He says that Church's office would also not talk to the complainant because she was difficult. Soltero concludes by stating that he terminated her as a client for several reasons, including her abusive nature, pricing issues, and "the repeated shopping of veterinarians."
The Investigative Committee discussion summary is one sentence: "The Committee discussed that the care and treatment Respondent provided to the dog was appropriate."
| Source: | February 2, 2019 PM Investigative Committee Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| Michael Soltero | Respondent |
| Roll Call: | |
| Adam Almaraz | Aye |
| Amrit Rai | Aye |
| Christine Butkiewicz | Aye |
| Donald Noah | Absent |
| William Hamilton | Aye |
| Result: | Passed |
| Source: | March 3, 2019 Board Meeting |
|---|---|
| Proposed By: | Robyn Jaynes |
| Seconded By: | Christina Bertch-Mumaw |
| Roll Call: | |
| Christina Bertch-Mumaw | Aye |
| Darren Wright | Aye |
| J Greg Byrne | Aye |
| Jane Soloman | Aye |
| Jessica Creager | Aye |
| Jim Loughead | 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.