Another Bruyette Response from VCA West LA

BRUYETTE VCA OFFICIAL RESPONSE:

Mr Muzika,

If you felt the charge were inappropriate why did you agree to them? If you felt our company is as evil as you state why did you continue to use our services? Why if you had heard from former VCA interns that WLA and VCA was such a bad place did you entrust your pets care to us?

Why, because you know that this hospital and the doctors here do everything we can to provide excellent patient care. As a consumer you have a choice and you made the correct choice in using our hospital.

Muzika Response:

Not true. I agreed because you were his internist and Chretin his oncologist. Dr. Reimer, after he did the dental in November, stated that Dustin's mouth did not look bad enough to have caused his not eating. He said that there is likely something else causing his loss of appetite. However, Reimer is not a specialist, and you recommended a dental approach. We  thought he'd be treated by the dental specialist in Culver City, but the wait would have been over a month. You suggested that I not wait and get it done immediately.

I booked the surgery with Reimer, who insists on X-ray guidance on dental procedures, unlike when I had a dental cleaning and extraction at your facility a year before. You agreed this would be the best approach rather than to wait.

I was stunned by your billing person saying it would be $1,000 for the first day, but I assumed you were also doing an ultrasound to check on his cancer, not merely administering fluids. Also, I have insurance on Dustin and it will likely pay 75%. I also assumed the terms used by the billing person included kidney dialysis, which I assumed was expensive, as opposed to simple fluids administration. By Sunday, the third day I talked to a vet, it was clear dialysis was not involved. You never explained in detail what the treatment would be nor asked for permission for various test protocols. The billing person just told me what the daily cost MIGHT be, i.e., $1,000 for the first day. I was stunned again, when she told me Sunday the current charges were $1,600 as of Sunday, then on Monday the actual bill was over $2,800. I agreed because I loved Dustin, but did not know he received exactly the same treatment as at Adler's for 1/4th the cost. Had I known then, I would have shifted Dustin to Adler's on Saturday or Sunday. But you did not keep me informed of his progress or treatment on Saturday, nor did anyone else at VCA.

BRUYETTE:

You should check out VCA Charities and HoPe Veterinary Center and see the good this company and our employees do for pet owners and pets. Shame on you for insinuating otherwise but I suppose your path to spiritual enlightenment has not been a path where you actually bothered to find the truth. 

Muzika Response: 

What do you mean shame on me? You are a hi-tech crook hiding behind lies of competence and compassion. Take a look at what 150 customers said about you. I also know what interns said about VCA West LA and their personnel and pricing practices.

You have no idea what enlightenment or awakening means. You appear to have no idea even what not-profit making compassion means. 

Bruyette:

I wish you well sir and I hope you find peace in this world.

Muzika Response: 

David, I have peace beyond what you can know, but I also feel injustice and corruption when I see it and vow to fight it.  

Why don't you, if you are open and transparent, send me a list of charges that Antech charges you for diagnostic testing?  Can you show me what you pay for Lactated Ringers? Costco charged about $29 for a case of 12 a year and a half ago. Can you tell me personnel charges for administering an amoxi tab in addition to your $96/day hospitalization charge? How much does blood gas testing cost you versus what you charge? If you are really interested in helping animals and people that own them, will you help me establish a non-profit clinic by showing me what it takes to set one up and the costs?

BRUYETTE a day later:

My best to you sir. 

Muzika:

I take this as a no to all my requests for transparency regarding your costs, and my request for help.  This is in complete contradiction to your original response stating you wanted to elucidate me on the expenses of running your facility. Apparently you though just mentioning you have 160 employees ans lots of expensive equipment was a substantial attempt to elucidate me on why you charged 300% more for identical treatment at another VCA facility.

Dr. Bruyette Responds to My Post

Dear Mr Muzika,

I am so sorry to hear about Dustin's passing. My condolences to you and your wife.

I am concerned about the tone of your e-mail and subsequent posting as there seems to be some confusion, which I hope to try to clarify. As I am sure you know when mis-information is posted on websites it can be quite challenging to sort out the truth from the emotion.

When I saw Dustin in November 2010 his creatinine and urine specific gravity were normal which indicated normal kidney function. He did have an increased BUN, which can be elevated as the result of diet and/or dehydration. At that time you and I discussed that the weight loss may be due to decreased caloric intake and given his dental disease it seemed reasonable to pursue that avenue prior to embarking on additional diagnostics. You agreed and had a dental procedure performed elsewhere.

You called me 3 weeks after the dental and told me that Dustin was doing much better. He was eating well and was gaining weight.

We then saw Dustin after you had been out of town for 12-14 days and called to say Dustin was not doing well. Since we did not have any appointment slots available we had you drop Dustin off so that we could examine him and obtain some blood tests. I then called you to inform you of those test results and we then discussed a treatment plan, which you approved. 

In addition, every day Dustin was in the hospital you were contacted by a doctor with a medical progress report and the billing department so that you would know what was happening with Dustin as well as be informed about the associated costs. At that time you authorized the charges and approved the treatment plan. Its very important that pet owners are well informed about both the medical and financial issues as we are well aware that cost is a well founded concern.

Your comments about VCA and our billing practices and charges are simply not true and I would be happy to discuss with you the realities of practice and the costs associated with running a hospital such as ours. Veterinary medicine is not plagued by the issues of third party payers, so your comments comparing veterinary to human medicine are not valid ones. Our hospital has 160 employees (36 of which are doctors), is open 24 hours a day, has both general practitioners as well as specialists and utilizes a great deal of sophisticated and expensive equipment. As such our overhead is much greater than the average, smaller general practice. That is one of the reasons that we always quote for our services. We do not take advantage of any pet owner as we are all pet owners and are in this profession to help animals as best we can.

This hospital writes off about $ 40,000 a month in charges to help those in financial need, offset the costs associated with their pets health care. If you know of another practice that does this please let me know.

I am very sorry you feel the way you do regarding this hospital, myself and our profession but we believe that we acted in Dustin’s best interest over the course of the 3 plus years we cared for him.

Sincerely,

David Bruyette, DVM, DACVIM

Medical Director

My Response:

Dear Dr. Bruyette:

I have never questioned the care given by John Chretin, who kept Dustin alive and who never suggested expensive diagnostic testing when the tests would not affect the treatment protocol, as with Lakshmi.

However, I do question your clinic's charges, regarding them as excessive. Indeed, you did suggest a treatment plan, but I had no provided knowledge of all the tests you were going to perform as part of that treatment, such as six tests for blood gasses in 4 days. Charging $75 for a bag of lactated ringers solution that cost you $2.50 does seem excessive, an $20 for giving an amoxi pill. These are just examples.

Dustin's sister obtained the same 4 day treatment with the same out come just a year and a half before, as 1/4th the cost of Dustin's stay at another VCA facility. Are your expenses really 300% higher than Adler's for the same number of animals seen? 

Now what comments did I make about your billing practices and charges are not true?  What specifically that I said, was not true? 

Dr. Bruyette, I was not communicated with each day of Dustin's hospitalization by a treating doctor or anyone on the medical staff. Yes, billing did contact me daily to authorize charges and asked to pay up front. I brought Dustin in Thursday, talked to you for 5 minutes on Friday, and another vet on Sunday. No vet say me with an overview of Dustin's condition or prognosis on Monday, the day of his release.  I was given a written care sheet for his home treatment, written by you, which I carefully followed. Perhaps you count that as a patient contact.

With a staff of 160, someone could have called to ask how Dustin was doing a few days after his release. Your letter is the first I heard from anyone at VCA regarding Dustin, and only after I posted my own story.

If you look at the below links of client reviews of their experience at VCA West LA, the common thread is that of over charging and average to less than average competence.

I am a shareholder of VCA stock. I receive and review all SEC statements, as well as VCA's own releases.  I have also talked to interns that have worked for you at VCA and had nothing good to say about practices there. VCA claims that even while the economy tanked, they held and even increased revenue by acquiring successful clinics, shrinking staff, and increasing service charges. They cut costs by firing people and increasing fees.  I know for a fact that Antech charges more for tests for independent and small vets, and even the City of LA, for their sheltered animals, compared to what they charge large volume vets, which is a fraction of what they charge independents. There is no heart in that, only business. 

Perhaps you write off $40,000 in charges a month, if you do, because you just cannot collect those fees.

Yours Truly,

Ed Muzika, Ph.D.

RATINGS FOR VCA, WLA (about 140 ratings)

VCA West Los Angeles: (very poorly rated, various rating services)

http://losangeles.citysearch.com/review/46263?reviewId=16109111
http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3710598731

http://www.mojopages.com/biz/value-vet/los-angeles/ca/90024/10562261

http://local.yahoo.com/info-20387260-vca-west-los-angeles-animal-hospital-los-angeles?csz=Los+Angeles%2C+CA


http://www.yellowpages.com/los-angeles-ca/mip/vca-west-los-angeles-animal-hospital-22896085


http://www.vetratingz.com/ratings/3296/Veterinarian-VCA-West-L.A.-Animal-Hospital.html


More mixed than negative:


http://www.insiderpages.com/b/3710598731/vca-west-los-angeles-animal-hospital-los-angeles

http://www.yelp.com/biz/vca-west-los-angeles-animal-hospital-los-angeles

Small Animal Rescue Team

Small Animal Rescue Team Los Angeles

The Kitty Ordeal

Kitty, a beautiful 8 month old Tabby cat found herself in quite a predicament. She managed to climb a very sparsely branched tree and was unable to get down. After spending several days in the tree her frantic guardians were turning to everyone asking for help. The fire department refused to assist them stating they will only save humans. Kitty had just been spayed so her family thought to ask her Veterinarian for help. As they were at the vet. hospital they ran into a few good Samaritans who had the answer.

Kitty’s guardians were told about a story they had seen on Fox 11 News of SmART rescuing a cat from a tree. The good Samaritans told Kitty’s guardians that they would do the leg work necessary to find where SmART was from and what had to be done to get their help. After some internet research they found out SmART is in LA, and although they live in Ventura, they were determined to have Kitty rescued.

The local animal control agency was contacted and asked to assess the situation. An officer responded and determined that Kitty was in quite a tough spot. They contacted Brenda Barnette, the General Manager for Los Angeles City Animal Services and requested SmART’s assistance. Brenda Barnette contacted LA City Mayor Villaraigosa and requested authorization to send the Small Animal Rescue Team to Ventura. Mayor Villaraigosa quickly responded and gave the green light.

On January 30th SmART members, Nav, Ramon, Reds, XXX, and Nett arrived and were shocked to see the tight rope act Kitty had been doing for five days. She was in such a horrible situation. Kitty was literally clinging to very thin branches that were swaying in the wind 40 feet above the ground. As SmART was assessing the situation it began to rain steadily. Poor Kitty was soaking wet, cold, and exhausted. SmART knew they had to move fast to save her life.

The team derived a game plan and set it into motion. A large rescue net was set up at the bottom of the tree below kitty. XXX was sent onto the roof of the two story complex with a net while Reds secured the lifeline for Ramon to climb the tree. Nett and Nav were on the ground with nets ready to receive Kitty once rescued.

The team’s 24 foot ladder was set up and Ramon climbed the ladder and carefully managed to situate himself in the tree with Kitty. Ramon displayed excellent climbing skills and had to stand a thin branch bowing with his weight while holding onto the branch Kitty was on. He carefully set up running protection as he climbed so if he fell he would not be injured. As Ramon neared Kitty, a very timid cat, she shied away from him and went further out on the limb. Ramon remained patient and coaxed kitty even trying to tempt her with some Greenies as he stood on a thin branch 40 feet off the ground. His patience paid off and when he was close enough to scruff Kitty he quickly managed to get a hold of her while doing a tight rope balancing act of his own.

Then the unthinkable happened…Ramon lost his balance! Thank goodness for all the experience and training SmART has, Ramon’s safety gear all held strong. He was dangling from a thin rope about 35 feet in the air while holding onto a very frightened Kitty. XXX raised his net, and it was still about five feet away from Ramon’s reach. Ramon and XXX worked symbiotically and Ramon dropped Kitty who safely landed in XXX’s net. The crowd of about a dozen men, women, and children below cheered in excitement. Kitty’s thankful guardians quickly placed soaking wet Kitty into her carrier and rushed her to the vet.

Kitty was slightly dehydrated but made it out of the ordeal safely. She went home, ate a lot of food and finally laid down for her first good nights sleep in nearly a week.

SmART Rescue #11-05, Ventura County Kitty [HQ]

Length: 4:40

Proposed Pet Increase Now at Planning Cmmision

The proposal to increase the companion animal limit is now in the

Hands of the City Planning Department!

Please call and especially e-mail the below ASAP and let them know that you support the proposal 10-0982 to increase companion animal limits in Los Angeles, and also tell Tom Rothmann that increasing the pet limits for fosters and companion guardians from 3 to 5 will NOT negatively impact the environment!

Tom Rothmann, City Planning

Tom.Rothmann@lacity.org

            213 978-1370      

Please Cc: the head of City Planning

Michael Logrande

michael.logrande@lacity.org

 

Tom Rothmann is doing research right now to determine things like, will more doggy pee-pee get in the ocean and negatively impact the environment if Angelino's are allowed to care for two more companion animals! 

So the information to send should be more along the lines of these facts:

 

1. The ocean has an island of plastic bottles bigger than the size of the state of Massachusetts. Human-animals negatively impact the environment much more than non-human animals, who have NOT negatively impacted the environment for millions of years. 
2. Hundred of thousands of baby diapers and plastic pampers filled with urine and shit are thrown out car windows and/or left laying on our beaches. Certainly babies, kids and adults negatively impact the environment much more so than two more companion animals per household! And when our companion animals poop, we pick it up in a recyclable baggy and dispose of it properly!
3. The ordinance requires people to keep cats indoors if they decide to get more than 3 so that could actually serve to take cats out of the environment. 
4. The ordinance restricts the number of guard dogs on a property to two dogs and no non guard dogs are allowed on that property that that actually takes dogs out of the environment. 
5. The AVMA says that the average family has 1.86 pets so there is no evidence to show that the community would suddenly go crazy adopting animals.
6. There is an existing leash law to contain dogs and a requirement to pick up poop when you are out with your dog. 
7. Apartments, condos and gated communities with homeowners associations are exempt and set their own rules. 
8. The small number of good citizens who already have more than 3 dogs that are not a problem would be able to license the additional dog producing revenue for the city. 
9. People would be able to provide temporary foster care for shelter animals reducing the number of animals killed and disposed of which would offer some environmental relief. 
10. There's no limit on the number of children a person can have and some people have none and some have two and some have more. The point being that people don't just have kids because there are no imposed limits.

Little Dustin Died Last Night of Multiple Illnesses

Dear little Dustin died last night of kidney failure after a nearly four year struggle with cancer (small cell lymphoma), irritable bowel syndrome, and stomatitis. He had most of his remaining teeth removed 2 months ago because he was not eating. His oncologist was at VCA West LA and suggested an internist there, Dr. Bruyette, to determine why Dustin was not eating.

Dustin's kidney functions were just about normal with a slight elevation in his BUN, which Bruyette discounted as reflecting kidney disease, because his other and related blood values were normal. So he recommended a third dental examination, cleaning and extraction to better manage his stomatitis, which began about 14 months ago.

Well, it wasn't stomatitis that was bringing him down, but kidney failure, which Alan Chinn, a psychic, had diagnosed two months ago.

While I was away in Pheonix for 15 days, Dustin deteriorated. When I returned I took him into the West LA VCA to Bruyette to find out the source of Dustin's severe weight loss. Dustin had gone from 7 lbs 4 ounces in late November, to 5 lbs., 3 ounces when I returned.

I had noticed Dustin was drinking more water even before I left for Phoenix, but his blood values had been near normal just 3 weeks before.

Dustin was hospitalized for 4 days at West LA and put on an IV. His BUN was 147 on entry (hign normal is 28), and his creatinine was 9.1, with anything over 2.1 an elevation.

This was an enormous and sudden decompensation.

Anyway, the 4 days of hospitalization cost over $2,800, which followed almost $1,000 for an unnecessary dental just 2 months before.

I also want to point out I never saw a doctor at West LA VCA. I could not get an appointment and had to drop him off. I talked to Bruyette for 5 minutes on Friday (Dustin was hospitalized on Thursday afternoon), and I talked to another internist on Sunday for 15 minutes. 

Nor did anyone from VCA West LA call to find out how Dustin was doing after he returned home. 

Avoid VCA West LA, they have gone totally over to the Darkside of rapacious and unrepentant Capitalism, as did the human medical model years before. What is worse, VCA now owns Antech Diagnostics, which is one of the leading veterinary labs, and which has drastically raised its fees for tests submitted by independent vets----because they can. They selectively charge higher rates to small practices with low volumes, and much lower fees to large practices or VCA clinics.

In any event, Dustin did not eat after he got home even though his creatinine had dropped to 3.9, and BUN to 71. So we force fed Dustin with a syringe for alomost 2 weeks, up to 130 cc a day of Science Diet AD, as SD KD cannot be syringe fed. He even gained weight. I took him to his usual vet, Adler, now also VCA, and his weight had increased to 6 lbs. 2 ounces. However, blood tests taken 3 days ago there showed creatinine had gone back up higher than even when he went into hospitalization at VCA, West LA. His creatinine was now 10.1, and BUN 156.

Last night (Jan 30) I went to get him for his 6 pm feeding, but he was under the bed and I could not get him. Two hours later Kerima and I got him out, and found he was already in a borderline in a coma despite doing well the previous days except for not eating.

My nickname for Dustin is my tumor, as whenever I lay down, within minutes he'd be on my chest, looking into my eyes or sleeping.

So I put Dustin on my chest. He was ever so quiet and his eyes were open. Then he seemed to revive a little and began looking at me. He laid there for about an hour, and I picked him up and carried him to Kerima in another room, and put Dustin in her lap. He was there for about 20 minutes then began a series of coughs, about 15 or 20, that gradually got weaker, then he died with her holding him.

All of our other cats were very disturbed. They knew something was happening, but not what. Dustin is now lying in an open box for them to see and say goodbye however cats do during this night. Sometime today, Cal Pet will pick up his body and cremate it, just as they have done with 8 other cats over the past 21 years.

Kerima was heart broken, holding tightly onto Dustin and crying profusely. I tried to tell her to let go and be more peaceful for Dustin's sake, as when most of us feel really sick or are dying, we like to be left alone.  But she got lost in her emotions and wanted me to sympathize with her holding on and crying, but I could not. I wanted Dustin to feel peace while passing, not us holding onto to him.

Daisy, Dustin's sister, had died 1.5 years before of kidney failure at home also after 4 days of hospitalization at Adler's Vet Clinic, which at that time belonged to a different corporation. That hospitalization, with the same treatment mostly, for the same diagnosis, cost $720, of 1/4th of Dustin's hospitalization at VCA West LA. She died peacefully at home also. This shows you the moral corruption and greed VCA-Antech has brought to the entire veterinary industry who are following VCA's  pricing practices.

I will tell you more later, but there is a crying need for quality veterinary care, such as we received at Adler VCA in Reseda, even after they had sold themselves to a large corporation, versus the 4 times as expensive VCA West LA just 1.5 years later.

In fact, this will be a mission of our Ashram: to establish a low cost, non profit, veterinary clinic charging less than half VCA rates. This would be a not for profit vet clinic. We are beginning exploration of this concept at this time.

There is no way an 80 year old on social security can afford the usurious rates charged by current vet practices. Something must be done to help pets of rescuers with dozens or hundreds of animals, as well as the animals of the elderly and poor who are now going without care. More about this later.

The Real Michael Vick Rehabilitation Story

Michael Vick & the Value Proposition

NOVEMBER 18, 2010 - BY FRANCIS BATTISTA - ( VIEW COMMENTS )

LA Times sports reporter Bill Plaschke wrote a compelling piece for yesterday’s paper on the resurgence of Michael Vick as an NFL quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. Plaschke interviewed the caregiver of Mel, a pit bull and former resident of Best Friends Animal Society—and one of Vick’s former canine victims. Powerful stuff. Plaschke’s article boils down to is this question:

“Essentially, an ex-convict is dominating America’s most popular sport while victims of his previous crime continue to live with the brutality of that crime, and has that ever happened before?

Do you cheer the player and boo the man? Can you cheer the comeback while loathing the actions that necessitated the comeback? And how can you do any of this while not knowing if Vick has truly discovered morality or simply rediscovered the pocket?”

From what we at Best Friends know of the way Michael Vick has related to the animals he abused, the answer is clearly that he has “simply rediscovered the pocket.” Best Friends took 22 of Vick’s 48 seized dogs and the only contact we’ve received from Vick or his representatives was by way of some overtures from his agent, one of his attorneys and a PR firm specializing in reputation rehabilitation. They were interested in some public glad handing that would put Vick in a favorable light with the NFL, which at the time was still considering whether or not to reinstate him. We declined.

Best Friends has never heard from Michael Vick or any of his representatives inquiring after the health or well being of any of the 22 dogs that we received from his fighting ring.

According to the law, Michael Vick has paid his debt to society. Many would argue though that being free to get on with his life is one thing. Being welcomed into the highly privileged ranks of the NFL is quite another and warrants a much higher threshold of qualification. Plaschke again:

“…a large percentage of the population will still think Michael Vick is a sociopath. Many people will never get over Vick’s own admissions of unthinkable cruelty to his pit bulls — the strangling, the drowning, the electrocutions, the removal of all the teeth of female dogs who would fight back during mating.”

Obviously not a sufficiently large enough percentage of the population feels that way to deter the NFL from allowing someone on the field who many do believe is a sociopath ex-convict as long as he can fill the seats. They wouldn’t do it if they didn’t know they could get away with it.

Despite the fact that America is routinely described as a nation of animal lovers, concern for the lives and well being of those animals doesn’t yet compete with the desire to be entertained. That’s a problem.

It’s a problem because the same imbalance of public opinion that tolerates Michael Vick as a celebrated athlete also tolerates puppy mills, pet stores and shelter killings…each a cause of suffering many magnitudes the scale of Michael Vicks crimes and in some cases the same order of depravity.

Ending the societal abuse of homeless pets that results in the death of 4 – 5 million animals annually in our shelter system will require more than the heroic efforts of rescuers, it will require recruiting a larger percentage of this nation of animal lovers to a value proposition that places the lives and well being of our animal companions above personal entertainment, the allure of designer breeds and pets as fashion statements. The Michael Vick story is, for me at least, a marker along the way pointing us to the tasks ahead on the road to No More Homeless Pets.

Francis Battista

The Real Michael Vick Rehabilitation

Michael Vick & the Value Proposition from Best Friends

http://blogs.bestfriends.org/index.php/2010/11/18/michael-vick-the-value-proposition/

"From what we at Best Friends know of the way Michael Vick has related to the animals he abused, the answer is clearly that he has “simply rediscovered the pocket.” Best Friends took 22 of Vick’s 48 seized dogs and the only contact we’ve received from Vick or his representatives was by way of some overtures from his agent, one of his attorneys and a PR firm specializing in reputation rehabilitation. They were interested in some public glad handing that would put Vick in a favorable light with the NFL, which at the time was still considering whether or not to reinstate him. We declined.
Best Friends has never heard from Michael Vick or any of his representatives inquiring after the health or well being of any of the 22 dogs that we received from his fighting ring."