The complainant says that it's been difficult to write this complaint as she has been
dealing with the heartbreak of losing her dog combined with her own health problems.
She says that she brought her dog to Pollock for a dental and requested preoperative
blood work and IV fluids as her dog was an older dog. It appears that neither of those
happened during the procedure and that the dog suffered from lack of oxygen during the
procedure; the dog is said to have been brought out of the procedure and then died.
She tells us that if she had been informed the dog was too agitated to run the blood
work or insert the IV catheter, she would have just delayed the dental. She also says
that she wasn't even notified about her dog's condition in the hour and a half it
took for the dog to die after being brought out of anesthesia; she notes she could
have tried to transport the dog elsewhere or at least have been able to say goodbye.
She also notes another concern after reviewing her dog's medical records. It appears
the dog suffered from an MRSA skin infection that was difficult to treat. She claims
the wrong antibiotic had been prescribed to treat it and notes a portion of the
medical record (not released to us) indicates that Pollock knew. Specifically, she
states that he wrote "I screwed up" in the record next to the medication and then
confirmed to her that it was a mistake. She says her dog didn't do well on the
medications either.
Pollock's response begins by stating he first met the dog shortly after he had done a
"lifesaving Pyometra surgery" on another of her dogs. He gives us a bunch of medical
details and does note that he prescribed the wrong medication at one point for the
MRSA infection; however, he states that he corrected it and prescribed the correct
one. He also details the ill-fated dental. According to him they already had recent
blood work from IDEXX so he wasn't too concerned about not being able to repeat it.
He also said that they thought they had the catheter in place but didn't realize it
wasn't working correctly until after the procedure had started. He says they did
draw blood but didn't realize the blood had already clotted (and thus unable to run
the tests) until after he had started the dental. He says that the dog started to
have problems and was left on oxygen; it appears the dog panted for an hour and then
died. Pollock concludes by standing behind the medical decisions he made in this
case.
The Investigative Committee found a variety of problems with Pollock, including
his handling of the incorrect antibiotic, the run-up to the dental, and the handling
and recording of the post-dental actions leading up to the dog's eventual death. They
also found it unacceptable that Pollock did not contact the family during this time.
The Committee found violations for malpractice, failure to use current scientific
knowledge, altering the dog's medical records, and an omission in the medical records.
The full Board, on the other hand, appears to have done a rather weird dance of finding
and then rescinding violations before finally issuing a Board Order. They rounded down
the malpractice violation and sentenced Pollock to just four hours of continuing education.
ARS 32-2232 (11) malpractice; treatment in a manner contrary to accepted practices and with injurious results with respect to Not documenting in the medical record that CPR was performed on the dog; Not contacting the pet owner when an IV catheter could not be placed and adequate blood collected - which were authorized by the pet owner - giving them the option to proceed or not with the dental procedure; Not contacting the pet owner after the dental procedure when there were concerns with the dog's condition; and Relying on blood results that were reported eight (8) months earlier, that had abnormalities present, in a geriatric patient.
ARS 32-2232 (12) as it relates to AAC R3-11-501 (1) for failure to use current professional and scientific knowledge by continuing the resistant drug, Trimephoprin Sulfa, along with Rifampin to treat the dog's skin issues.
ARS 32-2232 (12) as it relates to AAC R3-11-501 (9) for altering the dog's medicalrecords with respect to the dog's cause of death (natural vs. accidental), no notations on the culture report submitted to the Board by Respondent vs medical records submitted by Complainant, and the report dates are different on the culture report and blood work submitted to the Board by Respondent vs medical records submitted by Complainant.
ARS 32-2232 (21) as it relates to AAC R3-11-502 (L) (7) for failure to document in the medical record the SQ fluids and epinephrine administered to the dog.
A.R.S. § 32-2232 (12) as it relates to A.A.C. R3-11-501 (1) for failure to use current professional and scientific knowledge by continuing the resistant drug, Trimephoprin Sulfa, along with Rifampin to treat the dog's skin issues.
A.R.S. § 32-2232 (21) as it relates to A.A.C. R3-11-502 (L)(6) for failure to document in the medical record the treatment of performing CPR on the dog.
A.R.S. § 32-2232 (12) as it relates to A.A.C. R3-11-501 (1) for failure to use current professional and scientific knowledge for not contacting the pet owner when an IV catheter could not be placed and adequate blood collected — which were authorized by the pet owner - giving them the option to proceed or not with the dental procedure.
A.R.S. § 32-2232 (12) as it relates to A.A.C. R3-11-501 (1) for failure to use current professional and scientific knowledge for not contacting the pet owner after the dental procedure when there were concerns with the dog's condition.
A.R.S. § 32-2232 (12) as it relates to A.A.C. R3-11-501 (1) for failure fo use current professional and scientific knowledge for relying on blood results that were reported eight (8) months earlier, that had abnormalities present, in a geriatric patient.
A.R.S. § 32-2232 (21) as it relates to A.A.C. R3-11-502 (L) (7) for failure to document in the medical record the SQ fluids and epinephrine administered to the dog.
Penalties:
Probation (1 year)
Continuing education (2 hours in medical record keeping)
Continuing education (2 hours in anesthesia)
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.