| Complaint: | Complaint 21-29 |
|---|---|
| Respondent: | Stephanie Foote |
| Premises: | VetMed |
| Related: | 21-26, 21-27, 21-28 |
This complaint follows from 21-26 and pertains to Foote's involvement. Foote was the responsible veterinarian for the premises and said she can't just go around giving 50% refunds whenever a VetMed patient dies.
Foote writes one paragraph and it's mostly about money. She says that the complainant wanted a refund because VetMed killed his dog. She points out that the dog was attended to by a skilled cardiology team and that even though the dog died he's still responsible for the bill. She notes that they already discounted CPR fees from when the dog went into arrest ($234.62), hospital charges ($185.97), and even paid for the necropsy to find out what happened ($416.21). (The complainants said that Boutet offered the necropsy at no charge to find out why their dog died because in his opinion things like this just never happen, so it's strange to count that as being done out of kindness as Foote does.) She also said that she discounted $998 toward the cost of the actual procedure but that wasn't enough to satisfy the complainant (the complainants say as much but also don't want the veterinarians doing this without more informed consent and training), so he went to the Board regarding "all three cardiologists" (there were actually four if you could Matthews also being in the room running the echocardiogram, but for some reason the complainants don't seem to even know he was there).
The Investigative Committee discussion is pasted from 21-26. Foote is the one who gets socked with a violation for nobody signing an authorization form; there was apparently some discussion about whether verbal approval would have sufficed in the days of the coronavirus but there was no note in the medical record about it. They point out the dog would still have died but at least it would have been obvious the complainants signed the consent form and knew what they were getting their little dog into.
| Source: | March 3, 2021 PM Investigative Committee Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| Stephanie Foote | Respondent |
| Roll Call: | |
| Adam Almaraz | Aye |
| Amrit Rai | Aye |
| Brian Sidaway | Aye |
| Cameron Dow | Recused |
| Violations: | |
| ARS ยง 32-2232 (21) as it relates to AAC R3-11-502 (H) (1) failure to obtain signed authorization from the pet owner prior to general anesthesia or surgery being performed on the dog. | |
| Result: | Passed |
| Source: | April 4, 2021 Board Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| David Stoll | Respondent Attorney |
| Proposed By: | Robyn Jaynes |
| Seconded By: | Jessica Creager |
| Roll Call: | |
| Darren Wright | Absent |
| 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.