Thai court awards compensation for dog which died during treatment

[snoop1130]

 

In what is believed to be the first case of its kind in Thailand, the Civil Court in Bangkok has ordered an animal hospital and a veterinarian to pay 70,000 baht compensation to the owner of a Labrador which died during surgery.

 

The court found both the hospital and the vet guilty of negligence, causing the death of the 11-year-old Labrador, according to the owner’s lawyer.

 

The court ruled that, even though the dog’s owner had signed a letter of consent for the hospital to proceed with the operation, to remove a tumour from its lung, it did not mean that the vet did not have to exercise caution in performing the surgery.

 

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Full Story: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/thai-court-awards-compensation-for-dog-which-died-during-treatment/

 

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2022-03-29

 

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[ThailandRyan]

11 year old dog ise to the end of life. Labradors last 10 to 13 years and tumors are always an issue, especially cancerous ones.

[impulse]

There's a pretty good chance that the vet saw the extent of the disease and decided to euthanize the pooch to prevent months of suffering.

[Tropicalevo]

And now vets fees will have to increase so as to pay for insurance against claims.

I have had to euthanise a number of dogs here and I would never sue a vet.

They are caring people and they love animals. They charge very low prices and will try their hardest to do the right thing.

 A sad, vicious attack by these owners.

[FriendlyFarang]

33 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

And now vets fees will have to increase so as to pay for insurance against claims.

I have had to euthanise a number of dogs here and I would never sue a vet.

They are caring people and they love animals. They charge very low prices and will try their hardest to do the right thing.

 A sad, vicious attack by these owners.

You personally know the vet who got sued and were there while he performed the surgery to know that he is caring person and didn't do any mistakes?

[humbug]

4 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

And now vets fees will have to increase so as to pay for insurance against claims.

I have had to euthanise a number of dogs here and I would never sue a vet.

They are caring people and they love animals. They charge very low prices and will try their hardest to do the right thing.

 A sad, vicious attack by these owners.

I would never euthanize an animal, i do understand some people do it, and I accept its people personnel choice, its just not for me

 

my dog recently passed after 2 surgeries over 3 months to remove all tumours, lots of radio therapy treatment, just in the end, she went, surgeons were great, vets were great

 

but I do understand incompetance here, there are way too many of everything now, and finding good vets and surgeons is not easy

 

i used the university vet hospitals recently kaset/ and chula, because even if they have trainees, they still have professor/specialists that do many of the surgery and supervise

 

but there have been times in the past when I have used one off vets, and thought, jeez, no way am I coming back here

Edited March 29, 2022 by humbug

[humbug]

4 hours ago, impulse said:

There's a pretty good chance that the vet saw the extent of the disease and decided to euthanize the pooch to prevent months of suffering.

That could happen

[rwill]

Well if this becomes the norm probably lots of vets will stop doing procedures.  Any time surgery is performed there are risks associated with it.

[rwill]

Reading the original article the owner was asking for 1,000,000 baht.  The court reducted it to 70,000 baht.  It also says the verdict is not final and can be appealed.

 

The dogs owner might not end up with anything or even a loss after her attorney fees.

[jacko45k]

Will this open the floodgates to compensation for humans making medical malpractice claims, or will the defamation laws keep that under wraps!

[RichardColeman]

9 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

And now vets fees will have to increase so as to pay for insurance against claims.

Or vet operation helmet cams for court evidence

[mikebell]

They should euthanise the three million strays spreading disease and causing fatal accidents across the land. I classify strays any not on a lead held by an owner.

[G Rex]

4 hours ago, rwill said:

Reading the original article the owner was asking for 1,000,000 baht.  The court reducted it to 70,000 baht.  It also says the verdict is not final and can be appealed.

 

The dogs owner might not end up with anything or even a loss after her attorney fees.

Unfortunately sueing vets  is becoming more common in the west.  Hopefully this does not set a precedent here - although the defamation laws being as they are in Thailand will offer some protection to veterinarians.

There is no information in the article to suggest any wrongdoing or malpractice by the vet. It seems the owner is unable to accept the negative outcome of the anaesthesia/operation.

Living creatures (us included) are not machines - and unfortunately sometimes things just go wrong.

The reading and signing of a surgery consent form is the ‘forum’ where owners are informed that there is ‘risk’ (of negative outcome) with any medical or surgical procedure.

If this case is appealed to a higher court - the ONLY winners will be the legal teams.

[xtrnuno41]

Who decided the vet wasnt doing his work properly? Who, with knowledge, witnessed the operation?

The vet was Frankenstein? Dont think so.

The dog was already 11, so thats the only point on which you could say, not properly.

He should have refused it, but never the less he tried.

In the article is said died in surgery and later negligence, so what is it now?

 

Dont know if the vet made it clear, the dog could die due to age and surgery.

She should have accepted the fact the dog is getting to the end of his life.

Go to Korea and have the dog cloned, then he is "back" again. They do it there.

You pay , they do it successfully.

But no, you start courtcase for more then 2 years!

Spending  a lot in court on lawyer, going to psychiater due to case., asking for a million.

Ridiculous.

 

Its the same you sue someone over cracking your rib, who was doing cpr on you.

The person survives thanks to you, but then sues you.

Happily in "my" country, they cant.  

[realfunster]

So, in a very Thai way, basically a nice middle ground outcome, she gets 70,000 which is probably more or less a refund on the price she paid for the procedure & medical care. 

 

Proclaiming to be a lover of dogs she could reasonably have been expected to understand that (i) 11 is considered old age for Labradors and (ii) an operation to remove a lung tumour is not a straightforward operation and has it’s risks, particularly with an old age dog. Of course, not having the operation and allowing the cancer to spread also has risks. 

 

I too love my dogs but her claim for THB 1 million for psychological distress is misplaced in my view. 

 

That being said, I have come across some awful and incompetent vets in Thailand. This also goes for doctors, lawyers, dentists as well. In fact, in just about any profession you could mention. The need to self-advocate is paramount in Thailand and if, even as a ‘layperson’, you get a bad feeling about the skills of even a “highly qualified” Thai professional, I suggest you move on elsewhere…

[metisdead]

A offensive post making a personal attack to another member has been removed as well as the replies:

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As per the forum rules:

 

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[Sheryl]

On 3/29/2022 at 9:16 PM, impulse said:

There's a pretty good chance that the vet saw the extent of the disease and decided to euthanize the pooch to prevent months of suffering.

The death occurred during surgery and apparently there was evidence of medical negligence.

 

Thai vets rarely euthanize sand never without owner's consent. In fact it can be  difficult to find a Vet in Thailand willing to euthanize. That is nto what occurred.

[Sheryl]

19 hours ago, xtrnuno41 said:

Who decided the vet wasnt doing his work properly? Who, with knowledge, witnessed the operation?

The vet was Frankenstein? Dont think so.

The dog was already 11, so thats the only point on which you could say, not properly.

He should have refused it, but never the less he tried.

In the article is said died in surgery and later negligence, so what is it now?

 

 

 

The court, which obviously had access to much more information than appears in this short article, believed there was evidence of negligence.

 

The dog died during surgery due to negligence. The details are not provided in the article but apparently satisfied the court. Would have had to be quite blatant to do that. Something like an overdosedose of anesthetic, severing a major blood vessel etc.

 

Far from unusual in Thailand, unfortunately.

 

[Captain Monday]

"As such, the court rejected the dog owner’s demand of one million baht in compensation for mental distress and awarded her with just 70,000 baht in compensation for the death of the dog".

 

A sad story but this looks sums the approximate livestock replacement value for a pedigree lab pup in the US at least not sure about Thailand.