Posted on 12/07/2005 2:57:52 AM PST by beaversmom
Joe was family to Cindy Gaffney, and the Marengo woman says the Great Dane's March 2004 death devastated her.
What compounded her grief was the feelings of "guilt that she had betrayed Joe, as well as frustration and helplessness because she could not provide relief for Joe's pain," according to a lawsuit Gaffney's attorney filed this week.
The five-count suit seeks in excess of $50,000 per count from Dundee Animal Hospital in East Dundee, and one of its veterinarians, Dr. Leonid Gurevich. According to the suit, Gurevich's actions "led to the untimely death of Joe Gaffney, a canine member" of her family.
Gaffney's attorney, Amy A. Breyer, said the lawsuit focuses on the animal hospital billing itself as a 24-hour emergency facility that could provide specialized care.
Gaffney, a former volunteer with the hospital's Helping Paws organization that rescues Great Danes, said she chose the facility because it was supposed to provide that round-the-clock emergency care.
"When it came down to it, the doctor made a death decision for this dog rather than provide 24-hour emergency care," said Breyer, whose Chicago practice is the first in Illinois to focus on animal law.
Debra James, the hospital's practice administrator, declined comment on the lawsuit. The hospital's attorneys could not be reached for comment.
Gaffney said she awoke early on March 3 to the sounds of her 9-year-old dog making retching sounds. She contacted the Dundee Animal Hospital and took him into the facility. Gurevich diagnosed Joe with bloat, she said. Bloat is a condition that affects large animals in which the stomach twists and causes pain. It can be fatal without surgery.
However, Gurevich did not recommend surgery, based on Joe's medical history. The Great Dane had a leg amputated earlier that year and had been undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, she said.
According to the lawsuit, the veterinarian refused to perform the surgery. He gave Gaffney, who wanted Joe to have the surgery, the names of several other hospitals that could perform the procedure but acknowledged Joe could die en route. Gurevich did not give Joe any pain medication or fluids, the lawsuit states.
Joe later was taken to a Woodstock animal hospital where he died undergoing surgery.
The lawsuit states that as a result of Joe's death, Gaffney suffered "great mental anguish, including: crying, nausea, headaches, shaking, loss of sleep, loss of appetite, nightmares, daytime nightmarish thoughts, anxiety, anger (and) sadness ..."
A Feb. 27 hearing is scheduled on the lawsuit.
Breyer said animal law is a fairly new field and includes veterinary malpractice and animal research issues. She said her practice focuses on companion animals, or pets. She said there has been a movement toward using the word companion rather than pet.
"The hope is people will view these relationships more seriously," she said. "My personal feeling is over the course of U.S. history, companion animals have not been valued very highly in economic terms and the insurance industry takes advantage of that."
Insurance companies, which provide veterinary malpractice coverage, generally are not interested in settling cases, she said.
"The current strategy is they litigate until the individual plaintiff can't litigate anymore and goes away," Breyer said. "I have clients who understand it is a process and it takes awhile and will not be defeated by their war of attrition strategy." 12/02/05
Exactly !!!
Exactly how all this stuff starts, a greedy lawyer making a name and bank account for themselves.
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