If you’re like most people, you treat your dog or cat like a member of the family. As you would for other family members, you’ll do whatever you can to get the best medical treatment when your pet gets sick or injured. But what if it doesn’t get well—or even dies—after veterinary treatment?
If you think your pet was injured or killed because of something a vet did (or failed to do), your first impulse may be to sue for malpractice. But veterinary malpractice lawsuits can be difficult to prove and expensive to pursue. Even if you win, you aren’t likely to get what you believe is fair compensation for losing your beloved companion animal. Still, depending on the circumstances and where you live, filing or threatening a lawsuit might still be worthwhile.
What Is Veterinary Malpractice?
Veterinarians are doctors for pets. And like doctors, they owe their patients a duty of care. The minimum duty of care in veterinary medicine requires vets to treat animals with the same degree of skill and care that an average vet would exercise when practicing under similar circumstances. When a vet falls short of that standard and a pet is harmed, the vet may be liable for malpractice.
Can I Sue My Veterinarian for Malpractice?
You can sue a vet for malpractice if the vet's incompetence, negligence, or carelessness injured or killed your pet. Examples of potential veterinary malpractice include:
- misdiagnosing a pet's illness
- committing a surgical error
- failing to advise a pet owner of the risks of treatment, and
- giving unnecessary or improper treatment.
How Do I Prove Vet Malpractice?
When courts are deciding whether a veterinarian is liable for malpractice, they use the same basic rules that apply in medical malpractice cases. To win, you have to prove that:
- the vet took on the responsibility of treating your pet
- the treatment failed to meet professional standards—what would be expected of an average, competent vet under the same circumstances
- that failure caused the animal’s injury or death, and
- as a result, you experienced harm (called "damages").
How Much Is a Veterinary Malpractice Case Worth?
The law treats animals as property. If you prove that your pet was harmed because of veterinary malpractice, you can generally get compensated for the cost of additional treatment required to get the animal back to health. But if it died or was permanently disabled, most courts will measure that loss only by the animal’s fair market value—the amount it would cost to buy an identical animal of the same age, breed, condition, and training. Unless you lost a trained service animal or champion show dog, the replacement cost probably won’t amount to much.
Exceptions to the Fair Market Value Rule
There are a few exceptions to the general rule that animals are personal property and their value is measured in the same way as other property:
- Pets with no market value. When a pet has no market value (like a mutt adopted from the shelter), some states recognize that the damages for its loss should be the actual value to the owner, which can include sentimental value (for example, see Jankoski v. Preiser Animal Hosp., Ltd., 510 N.E.2d 1084 (Ill. App. Ct. 1987)). And a few courts have found that the loss of companionship could play a role when measuring a dog’s actual value to its owner (see Brousseau v. Rosenthal, 110 Misc.2d 1054 (N.Y. Civ. Ct. 1980)).
- Outrageous misconduct. In rare cases where a vet’s conduct was particularly outrageous or intentional, some courts may award punitive damages or compensation for the pet owner’s emotional distress. For instance, a Florida court said that a jury properly considered the owners’ mental pain and suffering after their dog was left on a heating pad for almost two days in the animal hospital, causing severe burns and disfigurement (Knowles Animal Hospital, Inc. v. Wills, 360 So.2d 37 (Fla. Ct. App. 1978)). But other courts follow a rule that bars emotional distress damages for owners in any vet malpractice cases (see Kennedy v. Byas, 867 So.2d 1195 (Fla. Ct. App. 2004)).
Malpractice Lawsuits are Costly
When calculating the value of a vet malpractice claim, you also have to factor in the expense of bringing the claim. In addition to having to pay court filing fees and other "costs," you'll also likely have to hire an expert witness to help prove that the vet’s care was substandard and was the cause of your pet's decline or death. That can be expensive.
A lawyer can help you get the best possible outcome in your case, but you may have a hard time hiring one. Attorneys generally work on malpractice cases for a contingency fee, meaning that they only take a percentage of any compensation you receive. In veterinary malpractice cases, the potential compensation is often not enough to cover the lawyer’s expenses. As a result, lawyers may turn you down or ask for an hourly fee—unless there are some special circumstances that could make your case worth more.
Alternatives to Vet Malpractice Lawsuits
Faced with the obstacles to filing a vet malpractice lawsuit, pet owners have other options:
- Insurance settlement. If the vet has malpractice insurance (and many do), you may be able to file a claim and negotiate a settlement without having to file a lawsuit—especially if you’re only looking to get compensation for additional vet bills.
- Small claims court. Because of the simple procedures in small claims court, this can be a good option if you aren’t seeking compensation above your state’s dollar limit on small claims.
- Simple negligence lawsuit. Some problems that happen at the vet’s office or pet hospital aren’t malpractice because they don’t involve the vet’s professional competence and judgment. But if your pet was injured because of careless handling or care by the vet or another employee at the pet clinic, you may be able to file a personal injury lawsuit for negligence.
- File a complaint. Even if you never receive compensation for your losses, you can at least try to hold a careless or incompetent vet accountable by filing a complaint with the veterinary state board. The board will investigate the matter and could suspend or revoke the veterinarian's license if that’s warranted.
Do You Need Legal Help?
If you decide to take the route of small claims court, you don't need a lawyer. In fact, you can't have a lawyer represent you in this type of proceeding (although you might ask an attorney for some advice as you prepare your small claims case).
If you're considering filing a vet malpractice lawsuit, you should speak with an animal law attorney. A lawyer who's experienced in this area should be able to evaluate your case and tell you whether it seems worth suing your vet. If the problem wasn't related to the vet's professional competence, you may want to consult with a personal injury lawyer to discuss the option of filing a simple negligence lawsuit.