Brambleton Veterinary Hospital gave wrong dose of meds

We brought PJ to a new vet today to have his stitches checked out. Turns out that Dr. Linda Jennings DVM, or her staff, gave him the wrong dose of medication.

According to our new vet (more soon), PJ should be getting 375 mg of Clavamox, but he was only given 250-mg tablets. And yes, it’s available in 375-mg tablets.

According to Pfizer, the recommended dosage for Clavamox is 6.25 mg/lb. PJ weighs about 60 lbs. Do the math and you get 375 mg.

The vet knew this; the vet tech was very clear that we should give him the 60-lb. dosage of pain meds.

But not only did they give us the wrong dose of medication, the people at Brambleton Veterinary Hospital charged us for the larger dose. (When I get home I’ll snap pictures of the receipt showing that we paid for 375 mg. and the tablets that read 250 mg.)

So let me be clear: The staff at Brambleton Veterinary Hospital in Roanoke, Va., was not only nasty and rude to us, but they gave our dog the wrong dosage of medication.

Good thing we went to another vet.

Update, five minutes later: You know what? As much as I would like to think this happened because the vet was evil or incompetent, I realize that’s probably not the case. Most likely whomever stuffed the pills into the envelope simply grabbed the wrong dosage.

Obviously they knew the correct dose — it was on the bill. It saddens me to say so, but I think this was an honest mistake.

Update, 5 more minutes later: Karen called the vet (!) and the woman who answered, Christina, was friendly and polite and offered to swap out the meds immediately. (I can’t imagine she’ll be working there long. :) 

When Karen told her she was uncomfortable coming to the office, Christina said that she was at the desk and there wouldn’t be a problem. When Karen got there, the office manager saw her and “made a beeline for the back,” Karen said. Christina swapped the meds and we got a receipt to document the error.

Oh, and Karen reports that the office was otherwise empty of customers.

http://www.kantor.com/2007/05/14/avoid-brambleton-…