Posted on 07/21/2016 7:52:58 AM PDT by MichCapCon
The Michigan Court of Appeals handed down a ruling in what it called the “Curious Case of Mr. Pigglesworth,” exonerating celebrity veterinarian Dr. Jan Pol of misconduct in a case that spanned five years. Its 3-0 decision overturned a fine and probation for Pol’s supposed negligence that was reported by another veterinarian who had watched his cable television show and took issue with his procedures.
Pol, of Weidman, Michigan, is the star of the TV show "The Incredible Dr. Pol” on Nat Geo Wild, which focuses on his rural Mount Pleasant-area veterinary practice.
In 2011, Pol treated a Boston terrier named “Mr. Pigglesworth” that had been hit by a car. He agreed to keep the cost of Mr. Pigglesworth’s surgery under $300, which was the budget set by his owners, Mable and Loyd Frisbie. The Frisbies, who were longtime customers of the veterinarian, would otherwise euthanize the dog.
Pol removed Mr. Pigglesworth’s damaged eye, stitched lacerations in his mouth and x-rayed his fractured pelvis, which he said would heal. The pet went home with his owners the day after his operation and made a full recovery, the court said.
Despite the successful procedure, a state licensing subcommittee called the Board of Veterinary Medicine punished Pol with a $500 fine and probation. The board acted after a Kentucky veterinarian filed a complaint against the 73-year old doctor, objecting to his treatment of the terrier, which had been documented on the TV show. The board is part of Michigan's Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs.
After an investigation, the Bureau of Health Care Services, also part of the licensing department, issued a complaint against Pol, alleging mistreatment of Mr. Pigglesworth. It cited his failure to wear surgical gear (mask, gown, gloves) and to provide the patient with IV therapy. The bureau also faulted Pol for not placing a warming pad or blanket in the dog’s kennel during his recovery.
The complaint also highlighted two violations of the public health code, which allowed for a disciplinary subcommittee to punish Pol with a fee and probation, and require him to take part in continuing education classes.
“As we said in the beginning, this case is curious. A dog’s life is saved, yet the veterinarian faces sanctions,” the court said. “The evidence submitted does not establish a clear standard of care that respondent violated.”
Pol told MIRS News he was "very glad that they came out with this opinion." He added that for clients who can’t afford the best care for their pets, he tries to provide care and avoid euthanasia.
House Speaker Kevin Cotter, R-Mt. Pleasant, who had previously defended Pol, expressed his support for the court’s decision in a statement.
"I am very glad to see Dr. Pol vindicated and justice served in court," Cotter said, according to MIRS News.
In 2013, Cotter sponsored House Bill 5176, which sought to prohibit authorities from investigating reports of misconduct or allegations “based upon information obtained from viewing the broadcast of a reality program.”
The bill, which Dr. Pol testified in favor of, was referred to the House Health Policy Committee in December 2013. The committee held one hearing the following May but never took a vote on the measure. It died with the end of the 2013-14 session and has not been re-introduced.
“This is common sense,” Pol said of the bill. “We all know that not everything we see on television is how it really happens 100 percent of the time. There simply isn’t enough time to show every single step of the process or procedure. By using television editing, my viewers are given a snapshot of what life is like for a rural veterinarian. But we are just as caring and professional as any big city vet.”
Linda VanVoorhis, who described herself as a concerned taxpayer and pet owner, attended an official hearing on the complaint against Pol in January 2015. She also attended the licensing board’s disciplinary subcommittee meeting in March 2015.
"Why in the world the state of Michigan picked up on this complaint from an out-of-state, former veterinarian was beyond [my] comprehension," said VanVoorhis. "The owners of the dog were happy with the dog’s complete recovery and actually brought him to the subcommittee meeting."
VanVoorhis added, "I think it’s ridiculous that as a taxpayer I paid for this judge for an entire day, this courtroom for an entire day, the attorney general’s representative, the prosecutor. That’s a ridiculous amount of money that was wasted. And [Pol] probably paid for attorney fees for four years to get this far."
“A tremendous amount of state time and money was wasted, and I’m sure a lot of agony for [Pol] and his family and his practice,” she said.
Michael LaFaive, who directs the Morey Fiscal Policy Initiative at the Mackinac Center, said the case is another example of regulatory bureaus hampering for-profit service providers.
“Regulatory bureaus are another layer of government that add often unnecessary and sometimes inconsistent applications of force to otherwise peaceful commercial transactions. This is a case in point,” he said. “Both the veterinarian and the owners of the dog assented to the transaction and the latter have testified to being happy with the results. The case should have ended there. Unfortunately, regulatory bureaus provide a means for officious private and public busybodies to interfere with and even attempt to punish for-profit service providers. It is hard not to applaud the court of appeals for their thorough (and sometimes humorous) takedown of this particular bureau.”
LaFaive added that a competitive market is a better solution than regulatory bureaus.
"One reasonable solution to this regulatory overreach is obviously to have less of it. Short of that would be to consider a voluntary alternative. Maintain these bureaus and their work for those who think them necessary, but permit an alternative. If adult customers of veterinarians wish to choose a vet that dispenses with static 'best practices' as defined by some regulatory body, let them alone enjoy the benefits — or the costs — associated with such a decision," he said. "Over time, I believe the evidence would show that the market makes a better regulator than your average state bureau."
No kidding.
Fine. You take your pet to a vet who can’t be bothered to put on a pair of gloves. I won’t.
My question. Was what was viewed on a reality show and the basis of the complaint the true procedure or a dramatic recreation for the show?
A license is a government permit to do something that is otherwise against the law to do. It is a government permit to break the law. Without that license you go to jail.
That depends on the state laws regulating veterinarians. Some states are much more lax than others. You can bet your bippy that California would not allow unlicensed vets today.
In one episode either the Doc or his son gave Mrs. Pol a new handgun for her birthday - then proceeded to have some target practice from their deck on their large property. He’s one of the good guys, with over 20,000 clients in his practice.
The following Monday, I took her to a REAL vet, my own Cornell-trained vet. She agreed with my diagnoses and treated the conjunctivitis, sending me home with a week of drops, and testing to make sure the ear mites and worms were dead and gone. They were.
A month later, armed with a SPAY USA coupon for a substantial discount, I took Zizu to North Shore Animal League to get spayed. A Caribbean vet examined her as part of their pre-surgical workup. He declared that she had an upper molar that "needed to be pulled, $330 please). I told him there was no way he was pulling a permanent molar on a 9 month old kitten. I took her back to my vet to look at the tooth. She agreed, just said it might need to be scaled. And since then, another Cornell-trained vet looked at the tooth and said it was fine, too.
NO Caribbean trained vets for my pets!!
I’m going to have to disagree.
Years (and years) ago, vets came out to the farm to treat stock and pets. I have seen a vet clear a woodworking bench, lay down some brown paper (to protect the wood), castrate or stitch a dog with we, non-certified owners, assisting and it all took minutes. No sterilization. No warming pad (in fact, that is contraindicated as it can accelerate infection). Antibiotic/antiseptic powders and solutions were employed on the wound and surrounding tissues. All animals lived to the limit of their genetic lifespans in perfect shape.
Attend a calf castration sometime.
And my vet, second generation in the practice, was an Army medical corpsman. We consult him for minor issues before even thinking of the MD. Consider that a DVM needs to understand the physiology of multiple species, as well as biochem,organic chem and basic issues of medicine that hold true across species. That letter “D” stands for Doctor and they have a doctorate.
It is more difficult to enter and complete a vet program than it is for a clinical human medical program.
People have been brainwashed that every ill or injured animal needs $1k worth of tests, access to hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of machinery, before any treatment is even begun, then they wonder why the vet bill is so high.
You can love your animals and get the very best care for them without delaying treatment so the practitioner can check off all the high price point additions.
We love Dr. Pol, watch the show and have been following this case. Dr. Pol is talented, experienced and one of the best in his field. So glad this turned out in his favor. We know for a fact that SJWs have now targeted vet medicine for the next front in regulating our society to death. Good they lost this one.
This is a shining example of bureaucracy serving to serve bureaucracy. I’m reminded of a story of a family that rescued a deer and the deer just hung around their property. The fish and game department came out,killed the deer and fined the family. “We had to kill the deer to protect it.”
And a vast majority of REAL farmers will likely stitch up their own hunting dogs and cattle.........
I used to hunt in N.W. Kansas in a really, really small town and stayed at the farm house of the landowner who had a house in town where he ran the bank.
The farmhouse refrigerator was filled with all kinds of veterinary drugs he used on his cattle and dogs. All the farmers out there were their own vets since the nearest real vet was about 65 miles away.......
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