An Osborne Park vet has been fined and suspended after she gave a dog nine times the recommended dose of medication for its weight, leading to its death – then tried to hide the evidence.
Vet Brooke Sullivan treated black labrador retriever-cross Lucy at the practice she worked at in October 2022.
An Osborne Park vet has been suspended after a prescription error leads to a dog’s death.Credit: Getty
Lucy had a wound on her foot which medical notes filed with the State Administrative Tribunal show looked like an insect bite.
Sullivan also noted the eight-year-old dog looked as though it might have sprained a ligament in its leg.
She prescribed three types of medication, one to be consumed once a day at a dose of 25 grams.
Lucy’s owners complied with the instructions, but Lucy’s health deteriorated and after days of vomiting she was euthanised at a different clinic nine days later.
The dog’s owner, a pharmacist, then realised the dosage of medication prescribed to Lucy was nine times the recommended dose for her weight and requested a meeting with the Osborne Park clinic’s owners to discuss the issue.
Tribunal documents then show Sullivan found out about the meeting and logged remotely into the dog’s medical notes and, after realising her error, altered the prescription details to hide her mistake.
But Lucy’s owners had a screenshot of the original prescription and made a complaint to the Veterinary Practice Board.
After an investigation, the board found Sullivan’s behaviour constituted professional misconduct.
She was ordered to engage in further veterinary education, was fined $2000 and ordered to have her registration suspended for three months.
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