I recently received some feedback from an individual, claiming to be an Emergency Veterinarian in my local area. She said that she felt that Dr. Sutton, Dr. O'Hair, and Dr. Morelli did nothing wrong and were quite justified in how they handled the situation. I pointed out that the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners did accept my complaint which shows there was enough evidence to look into my allegations. Her response was, "that doesn't mean anything! The board gets complaints from crazy people all the time. They are just required to investigate every complaint they receive."
So that gave me idea of going over the steps my complaint went through right up to where it is now. I wont even be going over the steps I took to write the complaint.
Step One:
When the board receives the complaint, an Individual with the title of director of enforcement (or their designee), will review it. They may call you for an interview to obtain additional information. If they find that the complaint resulted from a misunderstanding, is outside the jurisdiction of the Board, or is without merit, they will not investigate. If the argument is strong enough, an investigation is approved
Step Two
The investigator is assigned. They notify the veterinarian of the complaint against them and they have 21 days to respond to the allegation in writing. This is also when the vet is asked to provide a copy of the medical records to the board. The vet may also ask to see a copy of the complaint you submitted.
Step Three
Once the vet's response is received, you are sent a copy to view. You have 10 days to respond to what the vet said. After that, there is no more responses between you and the vet. You don’t get to see it, but the vet responds one final time to your rebuttal. With all the information that was obtained, the investigator begins to write a report on what they found and if there is a probability that a violation occurred.
Step Four
The report is sent to the Director of enforcement and Executive Director for their approval. From there the complaint may go in one of two direction. (1) It may go to a panel of 2 Veterinary board members who will determine if the complaint should be closed, investigated more, or go to Informal Conference. However, if the violation is outside of medical judgment or practice (2) the complaint file goes to the Executive Director, the Director of Enforcement, the Investigator, and the staff committee (the board attorneys). They will decide if the complaint is dismissed, investigated more, or settled.
As of right now, I am currently in Step Four, awaiting to find out if I am moving on, or not. Dr. O'Hair's case will be evaluated by the panel of two veterinarians and Dr. Sutton's will be handled by the panel consisting of the staff committee of attorneys. The pictures and posting from the staff of HTAC have done a tremendous job of showing how the events are not like Dr. Sutton said. Amazingly, employee posts are still occurring and providing valuable insight and information
So that gave me idea of going over the steps my complaint went through right up to where it is now. I wont even be going over the steps I took to write the complaint.
Step One:
When the board receives the complaint, an Individual with the title of director of enforcement (or their designee), will review it. They may call you for an interview to obtain additional information. If they find that the complaint resulted from a misunderstanding, is outside the jurisdiction of the Board, or is without merit, they will not investigate. If the argument is strong enough, an investigation is approved
Step Two
The investigator is assigned. They notify the veterinarian of the complaint against them and they have 21 days to respond to the allegation in writing. This is also when the vet is asked to provide a copy of the medical records to the board. The vet may also ask to see a copy of the complaint you submitted.
Step Three
Once the vet's response is received, you are sent a copy to view. You have 10 days to respond to what the vet said. After that, there is no more responses between you and the vet. You don’t get to see it, but the vet responds one final time to your rebuttal. With all the information that was obtained, the investigator begins to write a report on what they found and if there is a probability that a violation occurred.
Step Four
The report is sent to the Director of enforcement and Executive Director for their approval. From there the complaint may go in one of two direction. (1) It may go to a panel of 2 Veterinary board members who will determine if the complaint should be closed, investigated more, or go to Informal Conference. However, if the violation is outside of medical judgment or practice (2) the complaint file goes to the Executive Director, the Director of Enforcement, the Investigator, and the staff committee (the board attorneys). They will decide if the complaint is dismissed, investigated more, or settled.
As of right now, I am currently in Step Four, awaiting to find out if I am moving on, or not. Dr. O'Hair's case will be evaluated by the panel of two veterinarians and Dr. Sutton's will be handled by the panel consisting of the staff committee of attorneys. The pictures and posting from the staff of HTAC have done a tremendous job of showing how the events are not like Dr. Sutton said. Amazingly, employee posts are still occurring and providing valuable insight and information