Besieged Bush veterinarian Eric Jayne quits his practice
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The veterinary board accepted Dr. Eric Jayne’s surrender of license on Jan. 8.
His supporters are crushed.
“He is a hero,” Pamela Samash of Nenana said. “We should have rolled out the red carpet for him.”
Friends described Jayne as one of the few veterinarians willing to work in the Bush and said he provided quality care for animals.
Jayne was under investigation for multiple allegations of negligence, prescriptive practice and standards of care, according to an affidavit signed by Dawn Bundick, an investigator with the Alaska Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing.
The veterinarian left Alaska in the fall, and friends said they didn’t know if he was coming back. They launched a petition and letter writing campaign in a show of support for Jayne.
Officials with the Humane Society of the United States and Doyon Ltd. wrote letters to the veterinary board complimentary of Jayne. Supporters said they gathered hundreds of signatures on a petition to be presented to the Alaska Board of Veterinary Examiners.
Scarlett Hall, a dog musher in Eagle, was disappointed to hear Jayne would no longer be practicing veterinary medicine in Alaska.
“That’s a shame for all of us who live in the Bush areas,” Hall said. “It takes a lot for a vet to come into a rural area and work. Eric was willing to do it.”
Fairbanks dog musher Kathy Lenniger agreed.
“It’s too bad,” she said. “He really did enjoy going to the villages, and he really did believe in helping animals for people who could not afford large vet bills.”
Samash fears Jayne’s experience will deter other veterinarians from working in rural communities. Jayne was the only veterinarian willing to travel to Nenana, Anderson and Healy to do vaccinations and perform minor surgeries, such as spaying and neutering, Samash said.
She called on the state to set policies that encourage veterinarians to practice in rural Alaska.
“I am so upset,” Samash said. “Instead of an investigation, he should have had an award ceremony. As it stands now, no vet is going to want to do this.”
Attempts to reach Jayne were unsuccessful.
After showing me the complaint notification letter Dr. Jayne said I guess this proves "no good deed goes unpunished"
Based on the few hundred words written by Bohman, I hold that my conclusion is objective and plausible if not probable. A conclusion that is strikingly at odds with the sensationalistic headline featuring the victimesque adjective, "besieged". As if the Romans were attacking Masada itself!
That veterinarian is not above standards of care, the law, or beyond concerned investigations. No veterinarian is and I applaud his decision to quit. It is the one act I can actually respect in this long saga of squirrely medicine.
The only victim here in my opinion is an alleged trifecta composed of: 1. the animals (alleged negligence), their owners (used), and the profession (not valued).
The responsibility to uphold one's license is the doctor's, no one elses. This veterinarian on some level sounds like he failed himself, the profession and his patients/clients.
The old 'blame the victim' technique.This is never an effective propaganda stunt unless the targeted audience is terribly stupid.
Many do feel the ever-threatening looming glare of government oversight over every detail of professional activity....from ordering and dispensing medications to surgical protocols. The concept of "client:patient relationship" is why most vets are reluctant to even dispense some ear wash or medication for an obvious problem without seeing the patient. Sending meds out to a Bush village instead of requiring the animal to come into Fairbanks might be considered taking a risk that you will then receive a letter informing you that you are now under investigation by the State Occupational Licensing Division.
Of course, we citizens have allowed this to happen for a number or reasons, bearing in mind that there are perhaps a few, very few, cases of true negligence and malpractice.... We fail to take responsibilty for our own actions/inactions. We fail to be vigilant about the inherent tendency of any government to want more and more power. We fail to seriously rally and demand change, when we finally realize the system is seriously flawe, perhaps beyond our control anymore.
If you want to do something about this, you can. History has demonstrated this to be true. But, it requires risk-taking, time, and perseverence. Not things i see much of in our society overall, anymore.
I stand by the comforting thought...
"Always do the right thing, even if the authorities forbid it....never do the wrong thing, even if the authorities require it." Because of this basic belief, lots of Jews were saved by non-Jews in Europe, slavery and segregation were outlawed in our country, and the list goes on.
When we first moved to Fairbanks we visited a vet clinic to inquire about rabies shots for our puppies. We were informed that the visit would be almost $200 per puppy. I responded that we just wanted the rabies shots and we were told that each pup would need a "well puppy" check in addition to the vaccincation. I, in turn, told them that my puppies were well and they didn't need any such exam and if I had any concerns about their health I would certainly have them examined by a vet.
Another vet we visited informed us that the parvo/distemper shots we administered ourselves (for $6 a piece) would not be acknowledged and that they needed to have the series done over again. What a crock! We had purchased the vaccinations through another vet in the first place.
Not long after we moved here one our of girls seemed "off" to me. She wasn't eating well and was not enthusiastic about seeing dogs hooked up. She is a really high energy dog so I was concerned and took her to another vet clinic in town.
She was diagnosed with an open pyometria (a potentially life threatening infection) and I was told she needed an emergency spay right away. I was presented with an estimate for $2,500!! Are you kidding me? I told them no and that I would take her home.
They were not willing to release the dog to me at first until I informed them I'd be happy to call the troopers. I was given antibiotics for her and a $500 bill which I promptly paid.
I phoned around and a vet told me to call Eric. He came over the next day and spayed her on our kitchen table. The interesting thing is that when he opened her up, her uterus was perfectly healthy and there was no sign of infection anywhere. She returned to her crazy self in a matter of two days and my challenge at that point was keeping her calm enough that she would heal! I was left wondering if the $2,500 vet clinic would have even told me that their diagnosis was incorrect.
It is a shame that Eric has renounced his licence. And shame on the vet(s) who made these ridiculous accusations in the first place.
As others have said, then we can then damage the business of the greedy sob(s) with boycotts, badmouthing, etc. There is a deep throat out there, the truth will eventually be found out.
Pigs!
This is the only way I can think of to actually change something for the better, so that there's some shred of hope to get another vet out to the rural communities again. Perhaps even Dr. Eric will come back. If you have a better idea, give me a call and let's talk.
Pamela
Now people in the Bush have no vet.
If so then we need to find out who did it and drive the SOB out of town
Thanks for the clarification.