| Complaint: | Complaint 19-42 |
|---|---|
| Respondent: | Suzanne Higgins |
| Premises: | Deer Creek Animal Hospital |
This is an anonymous complaint about practices at Higgins' clinic. The complaint states that kennel duties are handled by young, inexperienced workers with no background on how to deal with potential interactions between dogs. The complaint also says that when an employee is bitten, she dispenses her own medication and does sutures to avoid compensation claims. There are also concerns regarding dispensing expired medication, along with storage of a variety of controlled substances in what is apparently called the "zombie stock." According to the complaint Higgins is a prepper who likes to keep certain medications on hand and rotates her stock so that she would have access to the newest drugs in the event of a war. Apparently in one case someone was getting tramadol from work to help with her back problems. There are also concerns about vague medical documentation, a high rate of death with cats and kittens under anesthesia (one was apparently neurologically harmed and adopted by a staff member), and euthanasias and dentals being performed without a veterinarian present.
Higgins states that her clinic has dog daycare services and that dogs are allowed to run free in certain designated areas but are kenneled overnight. She also says that all dogs are tested for behavior and that staff are trained to deal with problems. She also denies that staff members have been treated for any reason. She also states that all medications are handled correctly and that they've never had any loss of controlled substances. She also says that only veterinarians perform surgeries at the clinic and that all veterinarians enjoy surgery so much that they have a friendly competition regarding who's going to get to do surgery. She does admit that one cat did go home after a declaw and was blind and "neurologic" the next morning, but that the owner understood that was a risk and wanted to euthanize the cat; she says that a staff member adopted the cat to spare him from dying. She also concedes that an ex-office manager was allegedly refilling prescriptions for a particular owner and was subsequently terminated for doing so. She also contests the statements about medical record-keeping problems or staff performing dental or euthanasia procedures.
There's no Investigative Committee report as this was handled by the Investigative Division. Higgins' response to the Board is dated December 20, 2018. Riendeau's Investigative Division report states that along with the DEA a premise inspection was performed on February 28, 2019 (at least two months after Higgins knew she was under investigation). There appear to be prescription management program records indicating that tramadol was dispensed for both Higgins and the other individual, Krogman, but Higgins says this was just a clerical error. Regarding the cat, there's no records as it happened past the records retention window and the staff member no longer works there. (We don't know about any other cats or kittens, and it doesn't appear that they went through the records to see if there was an increased incidence of morbidity and mortality for cats undergoing surgical procedures.) With respect to medical records concerns, we're told that they observed them following correct procedures when they inspected the premise. Regarding euthanasia drugs, it was found that five people, only three of which (Higgins, Grant, Hay-Roe) are veterinarians had access, with the other two being staff members. The Board voted to dismiss with no violations.
You'll be reading about this place again in 19-55.
| Source: | March 3, 2019 Board Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| Suzanne Higgins | Respondent |
| Proposed By: | Nikki Frost |
| 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.