If a Vet pulls teeth from a dog and doesnt give antibiotics and the dog gets a major infection: lawsuit??

For most types or oral surgery, antibiotics are given as a precautionary measure. Most of the time teeth are removed, it is because of disease or infection... unless it was something like a broken tooth, I think not giving antibiotics is reason for a malpractice claim. Keep the following things in mind though, did your vet give you post-op care advice and did you follow it? Did you have his infection treated at the very first sign and not wait a week to see if it went away? If you did everything correct and in a timely fashion, you should write a letter to your vet asking that he pay for all of the vet bills related to the incident. Make it look like a nice business letter and make sure you send it certified mail, it'll cost a few dollars but it gets the job done and lets him know you mean business. Under the law, there is no compensation for anything other than actual physical loss (bills for treatment or cost of replacement animal in the event of death.) It's a sick state of affairs but it is what it is. If the bills are more than the cost of your vets deductible, he is going to turn it over to his insurance company. The bad thing is that the insurance company is going to take a few months at least to repay the expenses. In my case it took about a year even though I had a solid case with 7 sources of supporting information; a few from veterinary texts. Long story though, leg fracture improperly treated with oversized pins on an ESF... short version, when the device was taken off his leg fractured through a pin site within 5 minutes.





If his insurance refused you still have a shot in small claims court (anything under $5k is small claims, no laywers permitted or needed.) But in court you are going to need to prove your case. That means doing research; finding reliable sources which show antibiotics should have been given. Vets are a lot like police and doctors, they don't like to testify or even give statements about eachother. You will be hard pressed to find another vet to state that in this case your dog absolutely should have be given antibiotics. If you do, and you can get him to write a letter, you will win without a doubt though. No matter what, when you write the certified letter to your vet or if you have to go to court, make sure you have SOMETHING other than "I think he shoulda got some antibiotics." You need to have evidence in your corner or you will never get anything. And please don't ask me, I'm not licensed and I'm just starting my 3rd year so I'm not qualified to write the letter. There is a ton of resources both at your local library and online. If the vet bills were more than $100 after the surgery it will be well worth your time to spend a few hours digging up resources. I don't know the exact details of your case, maybe your vet had a reason to not give antibiotics, maybe it was just a lapse in judgement (and therefore malpractice.) If your vet knows he was wrong he will probably help you in your case, he might offer to treat your dog for free or to pay your expenses out of pocket instead of going through his insurance.





It isn't an easy process... write the letter or talk with some other vets (the one who treated his infection?) and see what they think. Get their opinions without mentioning a lawsuit or malpractice or anything like that... try askthevet.com or a similar site too. Like I said, if you get a few sources or one vet to validate your claim you have no problems collecting on your claim. Good luck.

If a Vet pulls teeth from a dog and doesnt give antibiotics and the dog gets a major infection: lawsuit??
I would!
Reply:are you sue happy? worry about the dog
Reply:Well, you could sue for the vet. bill to get it fixed and to have that tooth pulled, but I don't think a dog can sue for pain and suffering, and I don't think you can for him.
Reply:Was this a veterinary dentist or a regular vet? We always took our dog to a vet dentist. I would first take my dog to a different vet for treatment and make sure he or she is going to be okay. Then you may want to see an attorney. I hope your pup will be well.
Reply:One or two teeth probably not. But if the dog already had some gum disease which was talked about, noticable, then pulled teeth...one would want to give anitbiotics...yeah. Do you know if the vet gave your pet any antibiotic injections afterwards? Get all the facts first.


Take into account the age of the dog, its overall health, etc. If youre dog is old and in ill health the vet would/should give anitbiotics to help the dog heal. If it was a young and seemingly healthy dog and only a couple teeth pulled ..probably not necessary for antibiotics.


Dont know all of your facts...so I hope this helps in some way.
Reply:if teeth were pulled, the vet probably gave an antibiotic injection before releasing the dog to you. It is pretty standard practice after any sort of surgery. Did the dog have teeth problems prior, infected gums..etc. If there were then the vet probably should have prescribed you something to take home...if it was only a couple teeth with no prior problems..the vet may have thought the injection would be enough.
Reply:would think so as they know what unsightly things dogs are likely to put in their mouths and they lick things and snif around poo,lawsuit i think,its not on to chance putting that animal at more risk he had less risk keeping the tooth ,and letting his own body disperse it.
Reply:Our vets usually give antibiotics and pain meds after teeth are extracted. Pets are also given an antibiotic injection the day of the dental. If the dental disease is really bad, they may start antibiotics five days before the dental and continue for five after the dental is performed.



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