The Veterinary Council's judicial committee has suppressed the name of a veterinarian it has suspended for professional misconduct.
The suspension is pending a psychiatric report, a medical report and the development of a three-year programme of supervision, the council said in a statement.
The veterinarian, who pleaded guilty to two charges in the first hearing under the new Veterinarians Act 2005, will be deregistered if he does not fulfil the requirements for medical reports and a supervisory programme.
He also has to pay a $5000 fine and costs of up to $6000.
The charges of professional misconduct were laid against the veterinarian by the council's complaints assessment committee after complaints were made by his clients following his treatment of a dog in October 2003 and a horse in January 2004.
The vet incorrectly diagnosed stifle joint disease in a dog that was suffering from stiffness, leading to an unnecessary operation and significant complications.
The client sought a second opinion from another veterinarian and a referral to Massey University but the vet failed to request the full written report he told the client would be forwarded to him.
The vet also treated a horse with chronic diarrhoea. Two separate blood samples either failed to arrive at the testing laboratory, or arrived too late to be reliably tested, but he told the client that the first test had been "muddled and bizarre", and used the insufficient information from the second test to diagnose serious renal disease.
The third test that he took did not indicate a renal problem but he still told the client this was a cause of the illness. Both animals have since recovered.
The judicial committee said the diagnosis and management of the dog was probably professional misconduct by itself, and certainly was when coupled with the dishonest answers to the complaints committee.
In the case of the horse, the vet lied to his client and this was exacerbated by his responses to the complaints committee.
- NZPA
New Zealand
