| Complaint: | Complaint 21-133 |
|---|---|
| Respondent: | Jessica Huess |
| Premises: | VCA Animal Referral and Emergency Center of Arizona |
| Related: | 21-134 |
The complainant says his healthy little dog went to VCA ARECA for a perineal hernia surgery. He claims he was told surgery was the only option and that surgery had an 85% to 90% success rate. He tells us that instead of coming out of the surgery the dog went cyanotic after they began anesthesia and died. He has many concerns about missing information in the records, saying that he had the records reviewed by a third party who told him the charting was the worst they'd ever seen. He also has concerns about the medications administered to the dog and the overall procedures in place at the hospital; he questions the quality of monitoring that led to the incident. He claims that Monarski told him the hospital would be making some changes in light of what happened and believes the patchy medical records are an attempt to hide something. He concludes by stating that it's taken him a long time to get his emotions together to write the complaint in order to save another pet, and he also wants a refund from the procedure that ended up killing his dog.
We have a copy of a letter that VCA ARECA medical director Monarski (sent a letter of concern in complaint 16-14 regarding an incorrect drug dosage administered to a dog) sent to the complainant. He tells us that boarded criticalist Jessica Heuss, boarded surgeon Roman Savicky (found by investigators to have botched a knee surgery in 19-39 but ignored by the Board), surgical associate Ortiz and vet tech Goulart provided top care. The dog was treated well, went under anesthesia, and then died; the dog wasn't able to be recovered. Monarski says he has no idea why the dog died but it could be anything from a vagal event to an adverse medication reaction to a stroke; there's just no telling. He also says that while everyone did well he's going to update internal documentation related to CPR, have everyone take a CPR refresher, and institute new procedures that happen when something bad happens to a pet. To Chris Monarski and the people of VCA ARECA, "all life is valuable."
Heuss' response basically summarizes what we assume was in the medical record. We're told the dog showed up; she examined the dog, gave the dog a rectal exam, and determined the still-intact dog had a hernia. She recommended surgery and castration. She also gives us a numbered list of how the dog died, starting at 1 ("Patient intubated") to 12 ("Continued efforts for 20 minutes"). Worthy of note is her mention of "pulseless electrical activity," a rather freaky situation where the heart's electrical circuitry is still firing but not actually producing a heartbeat. This apparently doesn't end well for humans in a hospital with what passes for doctors, so the likelihood of your average specialist veterinary center being able to fix it in your dog aren't exactly good.
The Investigative Committee said that CPR was performed as it should have been; indeed, they refer to Heuss as "an expert in the field" and "a specialist" (she's a boarded critical care veterinarian). Heuss was also featured in a paid placement for VCA ARECA in ABC 15's "Sonoran Living" (link).
| Source: | October 10, 2021 PM Investigative Committee Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| Jessica Huess | Respondent |
| Roll Call: | |
| Adam Almaraz | Aye |
| Amrit Rai | Aye |
| Brian Sidaway | Aye |
| Gregg Maura | Aye |
| Steven Dow | Aye |
| Result: | Passed |
| Source: | November 11, 2021 Board Meeting |
|---|---|
| Proposed By: | Darren Wright |
| Seconded By: | Jessica Creager |
| Roll Call: | |
| Craig Nausley | Aye |
| Darren Wright | Aye |
| J Greg Byrne | Aye |
| Jane Soloman | Absent |
| Jessica Creager | Aye |
| Jim Loughead | Aye |
| Nikki Frost | Absent |
| Robyn Jaynes | 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.