Law & Ethics

Washington, D.C. - A plan to advance animal-disease traceability, authored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), is being released to the public for review and comment before implementation is considered.

Sexual harassment in a small-business setting tends to present differently than in a towering office-building in corporate America.

New York - 1/28/08 - As the fifth and final defendant in the Michael Vick dog-fighting case was sentenced in a Virginia court, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) reported that most of the dogs seized at the football star's property have a chance at rehabilitiation.

Mind-numbing television programs truly have a therapeutic effect after a long day at work. Listening to Oprah Winfrey or Tom Cruise talk about their latest philanthropic and humanitarian undertakings makes my eyes roll back in my head faster than a pint of Guinness.

Fort Collins, Colo. - More than 69 percent of U.S. swine producers use a veterinarian, with five out of 10 large operations employing a DVM on staff. Overall, approximately half the sites polled turn to a local practitioner for care.

I don't want you to go broke. And I want to teach you how to avoid it now and through your eventual retirement.

Washington - 11/6/07 - The Farm Bill is scheduled to hit the U.S. Senate floor this afternoon, opening up a policy debate on farming issues and a handful of topics related to veterinary medicine.

When the average person thinks about a "trust fund," he envisions Paris Hilton or some filthy-rich kid from college days who wouldn't recognize a hard day's work if it bit him.

As various associations adopt guidelines or standards of care for the practice of veterinary medicine, a concern exists that they will be interpreted as current standards of practice by state regulatory boards and the attorneys general who represent them before they have been accepted by the masses.

Fort Collins, Colo. -- He's been preaching about pain management for more than a decade. CSU ethicist Bernard Rollin found a choir with the release of AAHA and AAFP guidelines.

Take these steps to protect your practice and your team from thieves.

Worcester, Mass. - In 1992, I graduated from veterinary school and began job hunting. I searched through journal ads and mailed out resumes. When I called one clinic to make sure they had received my resume, the clinic owner picked up the phone. What he said astounded me.

Austin, Texas - Veterinary regulators employ a "monopolistic licensing scheme" to put lay equine dentists out of business. Their anti-competition tactics are unconstitutional, punishing those with skills that "far exceed that of nearly every veterinarian in the state of Texas."

When I speak to veterinary students or new graduates, the topic of an eventual practice purchase often comes up.

Sometimes the animals in a veterinary clinic are just plain funny. You never know what they might do next. But that's a good thing. It adds a bit of adventure and fun to our lives, and is part of the reason we veterinarians have the best job in the world.

When a team member has an accident, avoid liability claims by starting the paperwork early.

Several legal and consulting matters passed through our offices recently, dealing with administrative record-keeping failures related to controlled substances.

Columbus, Ohio - 8/16/2007 - A veterinarian who is also a state lawmaker plans to offer an amendment to pending animal-protection legislation that would take pets away from abusive owners.

Here is a true story about the value of life. Its profound message rises out of the ashes of a potentially deadly fire, and the heroic efforts of man and animal. As you read it, ask yourself about the value you place on life.

Every year, my veterinarian clients keep getting younger.

Animal-law expert Barbara Gislason, a Minneapolis attorney, believes the time is ripe for veterinary medicine to help design a fair system to resolve the emotional-value issue in malpractice claims. Otherwise, she warns, the courts will do the job, and the profession might not like the outcome.

A special position dedicated to clients can be the mechanism that keeps your service machinery running flawlessly.

SHAUMBURG, Ill. - 6/5/07 - The 4.7 million people bitten by dogs in 2006 spurred the creation of a tri-sponsored Dog Bite Prevention Week and introduction of a Congressional resolution, by U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, to recognize the week and prevent future dog bites.

Nothing will help nip an investigation faster than a clearly maintained drug record book.

It's simply good business practice that will reduce or eliminate costly incidents.

The weather in New York is beginning to improve after a long winter and my staff is fielding the usual rash of telephone calls from vets hoping to open new practices. And, though I am going to be giving a day-long lecture on the topic of new practice formation at the Atlantic Coast Veterinary Conference later this year, I thought now would be a good time to provide some useful pointers to veterinarians planning to set up shop in the near future.

It's an important day in the life of every veterinarian. Do you remember your day? Put yourself back in time: It's graduation day.

Estate planning can be a real headache, but it is just one more thing that we do in order to protect our spouses and our dependents.