Ethics

Today we had an interesting lecture on ethics in AVM. It was interesting because it had us start to dissect right and wrong into sub categories. Why is this event wrong? Because it is illegal? Or because as a veterinarian, that is poor care/treatment? Or is it just not good for the societies view on vets?

Example:
Examining a horse, you forget your hoof testers. you decide to make a diagnosis without them. Turns out you were wrong and the testers would have helped you make a correct diagnosis. Horse misses a year of racing while recovering.

Technically, you did nothing illegal. This is bad business, in that the CVO can fine you, you could get fired, and/or the client finds a new clinic and you lose the client. But because we are still a semi-service industry, it is a "buyer beware" situation. The client should have questioned the absence of testers or found a more experienced vet.

I would have always considered this an un-moral (if that is a word) act, but professionalism, laws, and medicine have fine lines between them.

Another Example:
You admit a spay which has to stay overnight at the clinic, as per clinic policy. The dog eats it's stitches overnight and is a gross mess of infection in the morning. It now has to stay for a couple more days to be monitored on fluids and antibiotics. The client is charged for the extra hospitalization time. Owner wants you to take the extra time off saying that it is your fault for not having a cone of shame on the dog.

Again, nothing illegal. In fact, not poor care either. You did not know the dog was going to eat it's stitches, because 99% of the time when a spay stays overnight at the clinic, they do not! And this is how "most vets" do things. Second, informed consent should cover this. Properly worded, the owner signed a paper after a vet or tech explained that post-spay infections can occur as a risk of the procedure. So you are fully morally allowed to keep those charges.

Now, the PR on this sort of thing may cause some clinics to just eat some of the cost, but the "relationship" of the owner to the clinic is the only factor that would change this.

I do not have a lot of business background, so I find all this very interesting!

Pretty much the following is what counts as morally wrong on all fronts:

• Fraud – charging with no deliverables (no service provided or object obtained)
• Deception and Misrepresentation – lying about qualifications/deliverables (ex. saying you are board certified and you are not)
• Manipulating for financial gain at the expense of others
• Profit at the expense of society, be it individuals or the environment 

Do as you wish with this info. And remember, laws in Canada are different than other countries. But ethics, legality, professionalism, and morality have to all be taken into consideration in every case that we handle. 

Fun stuff.