| Complaint: | Complaint 19-47 |
|---|---|
| Respondent: | Theresa Horsley |
| Premises: | Scottsdale Veterinary Clinic |
The complainant was watching his friend's dog and took her to her usual clinic for a nail trim on the basis of a groomer's recommendation. The clinic pulled up the dog's records and did an exam. The clinic told him that the dog had an ear infection, a heart murmur, a punctured pad from a nail, and needed shots. The dog was given a bordetella shot. The dog began not feeling well at home and the dog was taken back to the clinic. They treated the dog and put the dog on oxygen, also hitting up the complainant for an x-ray. He was eventually told to go home as the dog was doing better. The dog's owner also rushed to the clinic and the dog had died. It turns out the dog had an allergic reaction to a previous bordetella vaccine and the information was actually on the dog's file at the clinic. The complainant was very upset they didn't notice this since it was her regular clinic and wants a refund of the $234.12, including the "$20.00 for the shot that killed her."
Horsley's response gives a rundown on the events from her side, noting the complainant bringing the dog in, being advised of heart disease, and also lining up the dog for three vaccinations that were due. She says that the dog came back in at the end of her shift so the dog was handed off to another veterinarian, Roberts. She also says that the radiographs that came in were found to be consistent with heart failure and not a vaccine reaction. She also says that their medical records system did in fact contain a mention regarding the bordetella vaccine but didn't show up the right way, and they're going to make sure they do better going forward. She says that she spoke with Boehringer Ingelheim and was told they don't have good data on allergic reactions to the vaccine because they're too rare. She argues that it was likely congestive heart failure that killed the dog (she apparently warned the complainant about heart disease) and it's just a weird coincidence she dropped dead with allergy-like symptoms like that.
The Investigative Committee found a lot of blame for various people but no violations. The Investigative Committee says the complainant was at fault as he didn't infer that this was the vaccine the owner had allegedly warned him about (remember that he was taking the dog to its regular veterinarian!). They also said that there were problems at the clinic with how the medical records were entered because the alert should have been in red but came up in yellow. The Committee also believed that maybe it wasn't because of the vaccine at all and was just some weird coincidence with the dog's heart disease! The Investigative Committee took a vote to find a violation but the vote failed 2 ayes, 3 nays; no roll call is recorded as I assume nobody wanted their names on this one. Honestly, this one is another classic.
| Source: | March 3, 2019 PM Investigative Committee Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| Theresa Horsley | Respondent |
| Roll Call: | |
| Adam Almaraz | Unknown |
| Amrit Rai | Unknown |
| Christine Butkiewicz | Unknown |
| Donald Noah | Unknown |
| William Hamilton | Unknown |
| Violations: | |
| ARS ยง 32-2232 (12) as it relates to AAC R3-11-501 (1) for failure to provide professionally acceptable procedures by overlooking the yellow alert in the Avimark system indicating the dog possibly had an allergic reaction to the bordetella vaccine in the past. | |
| Result: | Failed |
| Source: | March 3, 2019 PM Investigative Committee Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| Theresa Horsley | Respondent |
| Roll Call: | |
| Adam Almaraz | Aye |
| Amrit Rai | Aye |
| Christine Butkiewicz | Aye |
| Donald Noah | Aye |
| William Hamilton | Aye |
| Result: | Passed |
| Source: | April 4, 2019 Board Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| David Stoll | Respondent Attorney |
| Proposed By: | Christina Bertch-Mumaw |
| Seconded By: | Jessica Creager |
| 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 | Absent |
| Sarah Heinrich | Absent |
| 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.