QLD Vet Malpractice?

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KMac83

Well-Known Member
25 June 2020
25
0
121
Can a vet be held accountable for not picking up or checking for pyometra? My dog was dismissed at a vet 2 days before she was admitted for emergency desex to remove an open pyometra infection. She was hours off losing her life. She had the highest white cell count the second vet had ever seen.
Secondary to being a family puppy, she was bought to have puppies to share the experience with our children. Now this is not possible due to the negligence of the first vet. What course of action is available? Is this considered malpractice? Can the first vet be held responsible and compensation paid?
 

Grymreaper

Active Member
30 January 2022
6
0
31
No they cant be held accountable. The pet industry is not regulated first of all and secondly you would have to prove that the vet was negligent. Not picking up a certain disease doesn't fall within those boundaries. Now if you asked the vet to check for said disease and they failed to do that but charged you money for it, then that would be a different story
 

Tim W

Lawyer
LawConnect (LawTap) Verified
28 April 2014
4,913
820
2,894
Sydney
No they cant be held accountable.
Sure they can.
That's why vets have PI insurance, and why you signed that waiver on admission without properly reading it first.
That said, no you cannot sue for the loss of future revenue from puppies she now won't have.
Much depends on evidence, but an action in negligence is not off the table.