| Complaint: | Complaint 22-54 |
|---|---|
| Respondent: | Elena Ault |
| Premises: | Scottsdale Veterinary Clinic |
| Related: | 22-53 |
After the events in complaint 22-54, the critically-ill was taken to Scottsdale Veterinary Clinic on emergency. The complainant states that she was told the dog had free blood in the abdomen, given a detailed plan for care, and sent home with the dog in hospital. She was told she would be called with updates while blood work was performed and a blood transfusion initiated. Two hours later she received a call stating that the dog had no clotting factor and that they were coming up with a plan to give vitamin K and fresh plasma; the complainant inquired why they were just coming up with a plan rather than doing it. They later received a call that the dog had coded and went to see the dog; the dog was hooked up to a variety of hoses and gadgets and was being given plasmalyte, but no actual blood products. The dog coded again and CPR was unsuccessful. She wants to know why the dog was only given fluids and oxygen rather than any blood products or other care as claimed for the dog.
Ault's response states that the dog had surgery earlier in the day and came in as an emergency. Medical records for the dog are interspersed with the narrative. The dog was hypotensive and plasmalyte was given to the dog; they also put a compression bandage around the dog. She states she advised the complainant that the long duration since surgery was working against the dog and that the dog wasn't currently a candidate for surgery. She states that a plan was hatched that included inital lab work, possible exploratory surgery, and a potential blood transfusion. Lab results indicated that the dog apparently had no clotting factor whatsoever, so she recommended a plasma transfusion, vitamin K injection, and a Chinese herb called Yunnan Baiyao. They started defrosting the blood. The dog was still barely hanging on so surgery wasn't an option; the dog arrested faster than the frozen blood could thaw, but they were still able to give the vitamin shot (which could take up to six hours to work) and the herb (see below). The dog arrested again and CPR was unsuccessful. Ault says she and her clinic were up to standards.
The Investigative Committee said that it takes a while to defrost plasma. According to them, there was no way to know on admission that the dog would need plasma, and once they found out the dog did, they had to defrost it. They also say it's difficult to know if it would have made any difference anyway.
Yunnan Baiyao comes up in a few of these stories; it's an herb from Traditional Chinese Medicine that supposedly has amazing effects on blood and clotting problems. There's also some good reasons to be skeptical that it's worth anything at all, as SkeptVet notes on their site (link). Also notable is that as an unregulated all-natural herbal remedy, there's no standardization as to formulation, so even if it did work, you'd better hope your vet has a good herb supplier.
The Findings of Fact state that this critically ill dog was given Vetastarch, the veterinary version of hetastarch. Use of hetastarch in humans has been questioned in recent years, with both the FDA and EMA telling people not to use it in critical cases. It's still used a lot in veterinary medicine; just ask the alpaca in 19-32.
Scottsdale Veterinary Clinic appears to have had a bad fiscal year for complaints. In 22-36 and 22-37 a dog nearly dies from an anesthesia-machine accident before dying in an unrelated anesthesia-machine accident months later at the same shop.
| Source: | April 4, 2022 AM Investigative Committee Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| Elena Ault | Respondent |
| David Stoll | Respondent Attorney |
| Roll Call: | |
| Robert Kritsberg | Aye |
| Christina Tran | Aye |
| Carolyn Ratajack | Aye |
| Jarrod Butler | Aye |
| Steven Seiler | Aye |
| Result: | Passed |
| Source: | May 5, 2022 Board Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| David Stoll | Respondent Attorney |
| Proposed By: | Melissa Thompson |
| Result: | Failed (no second) |
| Source: | May 5, 2022 Board Meeting |
|---|---|
| People: | |
| David Stoll | Respondent Attorney |
| Proposed By: | Robyn Jaynes |
| Seconded By: | Jessica Creager |
| Roll Call: | |
| Craig Nausley | Aye |
| Darren Wright | Absent |
| J Greg Byrne | Aye |
| Jane Soloman | Aye |
| Jessica Creager | Aye |
| Jim Loughead | Aye |
| Melissa Thompson | Aye |
| Nikki Frost | Aye |
| 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.