Vet clinic speaks up on malpractice accusations

MANILA, Philippines - Petcentric, a  well known veterinary clinic in BGC, Taguig has recently been accused of malpractice for the death of  a pet dog.

A Facebook post by a netizen named Mariam Al-alawi went viral after posting her frustrations on social media, saying that vet overdosed her pet with anaesthesia.

According to the post which was shared more than 19,000 times as of this writing, her 11-month-old Pomeranian Bella died after she brought her dog in the clinic for dental prophylaxis.

"I brought her in at 12pm She was very healthy.Her dental prophylaxis is P3500. She said i can pick my dog up when shes fully awake around 7-8pm," she said on her post.

"9 pm she(vet) called me and said that there was bad news. My dog died," she continued.

In response, Petcentric made a statement to clarify the allegations.

According to their statement, this is the first time that the Clinic experienced such incident and though the staff are deeply saddened, they said Al-Alawi was made aware of the risks of the procedure and they performed prophylaxis upon the patient accordingly.

Contrary to the claims of Ms. Al-Alawi, that it took all the necessary precautions, we informed Ms. Al-Alawi of the risks attendant to the requested procedure prior to conducting the same, and performed the prophylaxis upon the patient accordingly.  Unfortunately, despite observance of all necessary protocols, the patient’s vital signs started to fall around thirty (30) minutes after the procedure was completed.  Efforts at resuscitation were only effective temporarily, and ultimately were unsuccessful.

Moreover, they also claimed that contrary to what Al-Alawi said, they immediately informed her of the passing of her dog, and even encouraged her to submit Bella to a post-mortem examination to fully determine the cause of death.

The clinic said they deeply regret that such unfortunate incident happened to Bella and extended its condolences to Al-Alawi and her family. However, the clinic said that such grief does not and cannot justify the continuing efforts to besmirch the good reputation of Petcentric and its veterinarians.

Below is their full statement:

Petcentric Veterinary Clinic seeks to address and clarify the issues raised by Ms. Mariam Al-Alawi in her Facebook post of January 4, 2016, and succeeding comments and posts related to the same, regarding the death of her Pomeranian, Bella.

In Ms. Al-Alawi's post, she stated that she brought Bella to the Clinic for Dental Prophylaxis, and claims that she was not informed that this will entail the extraction of the milk teeth of Bella. She likewise alleged that she was not informed of the risks attendant to the requested procedure.

Petcentric Veterinary Clinic has been in business since 2012, and its veterinarians have performed numerous surgeries and procedures upon various patients, including the procedure performed for Bella. This is the first time, however, that the Clinic experienced the death of a patient following a veterinary procedure.  The Clinic and its staff are deeply saddened by this unfortunate turn of events, and extend their sincerest condolences to Ms. Al-Alawi and her family.

The Clinic, however, would like to clarify that contrary to the claims of Ms. Al-Alawi, that it took all the necessary precautions, informed Ms. Al-Alawi of the risks attendant to the requested procedure prior to conducting the same, and performed the prophylaxis upon the patient accordingly.  Unfortunately, despite observance of all necessary protocols, the patient’s vital signs started to fall around thirty (30) minutes after the procedure was completed.  Efforts at resuscitation were only effective temporarily, and ultimately were unsuccessful.

Furthermore, likewise contrary to Ms. Al-Alawi’s insinuations, the Clinic, through its attending veterinarian , immediately informed her of the passing of her beloved Bella, explained to her what had transpired in great detail, and extended their sympathies to Ms. Al-Alawi and her family for their loss. This they did so first by phone, immediately after all efforts were exhausted, and in person, when Ms. Al-Alawi arrived

Likewise, the attending veterinarians repeatedly encouraged Ms. Al-Alawi and her family to submit Bella to a post-mortem examination to fully determine her cause of death, and even offered to have Bella temporarily placed in an appropriate facility so as to preserve the integrity of the remains.  Ms. Al-Alawi and her family, however, ignored this recommendation, and left the premises, taking the remains of Bella with them.

In the days following the passing of Bella and in light of Ms. Al-Alawi’s publication of her comments, the Clinic and its staff had decided to remain silent on the matter, so as not to further complicate the issues.  Ms. Al-Alawi has not made any attempt to communicate with the Clinic or any personnel, and has instead chosen to resort to social media to vent her ire.

The Clinic understands that pets are like family members to their owners. It regrets that such unfortunate incident happened to Bella and extends once again its condolences to Ms. Al-Alawi and her family.

While the Clinic and its personnel understand that Ms. Al-Alawi is suffering from the loss of her beloved pet, the Clinic nonetheless believes that such grief does not and cannot justify the continuing efforts to besmirch the good reputation of Petcentric and its veterinarians.  The foregoing unfortunate event notwithstanding, loyal clients and patrons have sent their messages of support to the Clinic, but Petcentric nevertheless takes this opportunity to reassure its clients, and the general public, that it will continue to serve its patients in accordance with the highest standards of care and in accordance with modern veterinary practices and procedure, as it had consistently done so for the past three years.