Here is a copy of a letter I sent to Briarcrest on 08/11/14, of which there has been no response:
Dear Dr. Brickler:
I have been a loyal client to Briarcrest for over 20 years. I have referred many, many people looking for a quality vet for their animals. Regrettably, there are some issues that we felt needed to be addressed.
Maggie (canine family member of Julia Carver)
* On July 17th, we brought Maggie in as her eyes and nictitating membrane were red and inflamed in both eyes and were having obvious sight difficulty. After about a 30 second examination and approximately two minutes in the room, we were told it was allergies. When we tried to have our concerns and possible other causes addressed, we were told, "Nope, its allergies. I've treated 12 dogs for this exact same thing today" and were basically brushed off. Maggie was given an allergy shot and we were given drops to put in her eyes twice daily. We did not receive any further instructions as to how long to wait for medications to take effect. We were there a total of 10 minutes from the time you entered the room until checkout and leaving your facility.
* Maggie went blind on the evening of July 26th. Her eyes were still extremely red and inflamed. We brought her to an ER vet on the 27th. We were told that she needed to see an eye specialist about her eyes as they did not have the equipment there to diagnose her condition. They referred us to another vet with specialist qualifications.
* We went to the referred vet July 29th. After an extensive examination, it was determined that what she has is systematic and one of three things; bacterial infection, fungal infection or something more serious, such as cancer (most likely lymphoma). As we could not afford the very expensive bloodwork and x-rays, we decided to try to treat her as if it were a bacterial infection for a period of 1-2 weeks to see if there was any improvement. She was given more eye drops, antibiotics and several other medications. We were told that if this infection is bacterial and can be treated, she most likely would have regained some sight (not all) if it had been caught earlier. We made the checkup appointment for 2 weeks.
* August 6th, one week later (one week earlier than planned), we brought her back to that vet as her eyes had started bulging. Upon reexamination, she was no better, but no worse. The bulging was due to the eye pressure. As a last ditch effort, treatment was altered to include oral steroids. If in two weeks she is no better, then we will know she is not responding to treatment and we will have to have her euthanized. She is now permanently blind.
Ellie (canine family member of Stacy Burris, sister of Julia Carver)
* Mid-May, Ellie was brought in due to a hypoglycemic episode. Blood work was done and it was found that her liver enzymes were 10 times the norm. (These same enzymes were extremely elevated at her checkup the previous year.) She was given liver medication to see if they would help. However, liver disease was never mentioned.
* At this same visit, Ellie's heavy panting was questioned by my sister, wondering what the cause could be as she didn't feel this was normal. She asked if it could be a possible collapsed trachea. You told her that it was allergies and instructed her to give Ellie Benadryl.
* July 20th my sister and I rushed Ellie to an ER vet due to gastrointestinal issues. While waiting for the ER vet to come into the room, I noticed a "thumping noise" in her panting. When the ER vet came in to question us on the reason for the visit, she noticed her breathing/panting and the noise Ellie was making while doing so and examined her. We were told that she had a collapsing larynx, which is common in Labrador retrievers. We were told that was not treatable for Ellie due to her age and condition. The ER vet also stated that this condition had been going on for quite some time. Due to the eventual larynx collapse, it was decided to euthanize Ellie to avoid further suffering and possible suffocation or asphyxiation.
As you can see by the above, there have been two severe misdiagnoses on two of our family's beloved pets with dire outcomes in the last several months. This is just too much. All this is to show you that you need to slow down and take time with your animal patients to correctly diagnose conditions and to address their owners concerns and questions, just like you used to. Unfortunately our faith in you and your practice has diminished to the point that we will no longer be using you for veterinary care.
***NOTE: We had to euthanize Maggie on 08/20/14*** read more