What would you do? Vets missed brake on XRay

[Horseyjen!]

I am stuck and am not sure what to do. To cut a long story short my horse had XRays, we suspected a broken pedal bone but the Xrays which were carried out by my local vets at my yard ruled out a brake so he was treated for Ligament/Tendon problem. Box rest for 6 months and he was still no better. Eventually I asked if I could have MRI as he had improved to a point but wasnt sound by any measure. He went into a Hospital and they XRay before MRI and immediately found a large pedal bone fracture.
He was then fitted with a bar shore and kept in a small pen for a further 3 months. The vets at the hospital could not understand how it was not seen in the first xrays and said if it had been he quite likely would have been coming back into work now (about 6 months recovery time).
To satisfy myself I asked for copies of the original xrays which took me months to get. I then sent them for a second opinion. I only gave the second opinion vet the same information that the first vet was faced with at the time of XRay as I wanted it to be fair. The second opinion picked up straight away a pedal bone fracture.
My horse is now retired as the brake wouldnt heal as it had been left too long without a bar shoe on. It is healing slowly but they doubt it will ever fully heal so that he can be in full work again.
What would you do in this situation?

 

[cptrayes]

It wasn't acceptable to have happened. BUT, the treatment for a pedal bone break is box rest and a bar shoe and small pen, so I think you might have real problems proving that any damage was done due to the misdiagnosis.

If the hospital vets are prepared to stand as expert witnesses in court, then I would take a claim against the orignal vet for your losses.

If not, then I would talk to the original vets in a firm but non-confrontational way and get them to pay for the second opinion, and any meds that a break would not have needed but were given for the tendon.

It's a horrible situation, I feel for you. I hope the horse does come right.

 

[Horseyjen!]

Thank you - it is sad and thats why I feel like I dont know what to do because it isnt going to make a difference to the outcome.

If the bar shoe had gone on straight away I think it would have been ok but the bar shoe went on 8 months later. Just before the MRI he was turned out in a small paddock (close to 1 acre) as the local vet said after that length of time it shouldnt harm the tendon/ligament any more than it is so unfortunately he was running and fly bucking and generally horsing around all on a normal shoe for about 2 months. (I didnt make that clear in my post)

And to make matters worse the local vets and the hospital vets have just merged so if i cause trouble with one its really with both.

They would like to XRay him again now but my insurance has expired so I will have to pay for the Xrays myself. Had it been picked up straight away my insurance would still cover as I only get 1 year from date of injury to claim.

 

[cptrayes]

I don't know whether you feel you have the negotiating skills to do this yourself or to take someone with you who does ( a real negotiator, not someone who will get all aggressive) but I think you need to ask for a meeting with the senior partner and tell him what you have told us and show him the second opinion and then ask what he is prepared to do and leave a biiiiiig silence until he makes an offer. You are certainly owed something, at least the original xray fee back, plus any treatment specifically for the tendon and now I think they should re xray him for you for free as well. That would be a reasonable set of things to ask for.


Good luck.

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

OP, am I understanding this right? You say your horse was turned out for 2 months and he was cheerfully galloping about and fly bucking without a care in the world? And now he's retired due to a broken pedal bone. I don't understand how he could go 2 months with no sign of lameness then relapse to the degree that he has?

 

[monstermunch]

This is an incredibly difficult situation. Although I find it unaaceptable for a vet to miss a fracture like this (assuming it was obvious). the only thing different in your treatment of it would have been the remedial shoeing.
I would suggest that finding out exactly what difference having bar shoes on makes to the healing process and time scale and success rate of a pedal bone fracture. If it is significant then I would be taking legal action. If it is arguable exactly how much difference the shoe makes then I would raise a complaint against the vet, and ask for them to waiver the vets fees or offer compensation of some sort but i wouldn't pursue it further.
To be honest one thing does confuse me about this. you said that nothing showed up on x ray so you box rested based on it being tendon/ligament damage. Am I right to assume that this was an assumption and no other scans were done. I would question box resting a horse for 6 months when you have no idea what the problem is. When the x rays came back clear I would have sent the horse immediately for a full and proper investigation using approproiate scanning equipment. This would have more than likely showed up the exact problem, or in your case confirmed the mis diagnosis straight away.
You were kind of flying blind on the off set of this one.
That said I'm not so sure the outcome would have been too different, but obviously you will never know. you have to decide whether you have the energy to fight it legally.
Good luck. I don't envy your decision