Harold Lehr has filed a lawsuit against the Long Island Veterinary Specialists for giving his dog two risky MRIs that paralyzed him.
Last fall, Lehr took his 14-year-old arthritic rescue dog to the vet office to get treated for a limp. The lawsuit claims that the vet gave him two MRIs that paralyzed Oscar. While the pooch was under anesthesia, the vet technicians forced his body into positions that damaged his spine.
According to the lawsuit, Oscar was incontinent and in agony after the tests were performed. The suit additionally alleges that the dog wasn’t taken for walks or cleaned properly, leaving him with bed sores and fecal and urine burns.
The vet, who originally said the MRI would be used to check for a slipped disc or cancer, attempted to cover it up by saying the paralysis was only temporary and would go away in a few days. He also said the incontinence was due to the medications he was taking, when it was in fact caused by a spinal injury.
Lehr finally moved Oscar on Nov. 4 to a Manhattan facility where the vet said the spinal injury was “due to improper handling, positioning or impact during and after the MRI.”
The vet at the new facility also said that they wouldn’t have ever performed the MRI “as it was totally inappropriate for a mild limp and way too risky, especially since they already knew arthritis was causing the mild limp.”
“We are certain that others who allegedly reviewed the care of the animal in question, are either lacking in sufficient education and experience, or were provided incomplete and inaccurate information. Either way, their attempt to opine in this instance is reckless and irresponsible, and takes advantage of pet owners at a vulnerable time,” Alexander Bateman Jr., an attorney for LIVS, said.
The complications from the risky MRIs crippled Oscar and he had to be euthanized.
Lehr said he had over $27,000 in vet and medical bills from the whole ordeal.
Visit Cohen & Cohen, P.C. for information about personal injury claims.
