| Complaint: | Complaint 21-134 |
|---|---|
| Respondent: | Roman Savicky |
| Premises: | VCA Animal Referral and Emergency Center of Arizona |
| Related: | 21-133 |
This complaint follows from 21-133 and pertains to Savicky's role. Savicky was the surgeon who was going to cut on the hernia until the dog arrested during anesthesia.
Savicky's response begins "Dear Dr Monarski," which is somewhat odd for a letter being sent to the veterinary board. He tells us the dog was originally seen by the ER Service and found to have a hernia; the case was transferred to the surgery service. He notes that there was a difference of opinion between himself and Ortiz, another veterinarian, regarding crackling lung sounds; the dog already had a history of airway disease. This led to using methadone rather than hydromorphone out of caution. Soon after anesthesia started the dog arrested, so Savicky stepped back to call the family while Heuss (the criticalist) took over CPR. According to Savicky, at the time Heuss seemed to think the problem occurred because of a respiratory event due to chronic airway disease; he also states that he believes she felt if the problem was due to the opioids or midazolam the dog would have recovered. He says they have no idea what caused the dog's death; he says he reviewed the case with another boarded surgeon (who?), the boarded criticalist (Heuss, named in 21-133 and having an obvious conflict of interest in reviewing the outcome dispassionately), and another vet with a specialty in lung disease (who?) but nobody had any conclusions. He says that it could have been an irreversable medication such as the propofol, a vagal event, or some sort of vascular event such as a stroke.
The Investigative Committee said that communication could have been better but that it didn't rise to the level of a violation. They also found that they reviewed the complainant's concerns regarding the care provided and that everything was according to standards, though the actual doses given are missing in the Findings of Fact despite being so significant to the case. (Also recall that anesthetic procedures done by your vet for your dog or cat are at least several times riskier than the same procedure when done by your doctor to you.) They said that a necropsy might have been helpful but the body was frozen so one couldn't be done. (There appears to be no discussion about this anywhere, it would be interesting to know if a necropsy was offered and declined, if VCA froze the body before asking even though such experts should know better, and so on. We just don't know.)
Savicky was previously found by investigators to have done a rather bad job on a dog's knee in 19-39; they were overruled by the Board. Monarski had a run-in with the Board in 16-14 regarding incorrect medication dosages but we don't have the details on that one.
| Source: | October 10, 2021 PM Investigative Committee Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| Roman Savicky | 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 |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| David Stoll | Respondent Attorney |
| 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.