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Report: #710242

Complaint Review: William Schultz DVM & Schultz Veterinary Clinic - Okemos Michigan

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  • Reported By: Cindy — Howell Michigan U.S.A.
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  • William Schultz DVM & Schultz Veterinary Clinic 2770 Bennett Road Okemos, Michigan United States of America

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On Dec. 26, 2008 Dr. Wm. Schultz DVM, owner of Schultz Veterinary Clinic in Okemos, Michigan did a c-section on my show dog Mulan. Eight months later she showed signs of distress so was rushed to Michigan State University clinic.  I was
flabergasted at what they found.

There surgeons removed a huge cantalope sized growth.  In it was a piece of GAUZE left on her uterus by Dr. Schultz. Her
body tried to isolate the infection caused by the gauze, but eventually it escaped the protective growth and spread
throughout her body cavity and almost killed her. She had never had surgery of any kind before the c-section done by
Dr. Schultz so he was the only one that could have left the gauze in there.

Michigan State University did lifesaving surgery to remove the growth and the gauze in it, and expertly managed the
massive pyometra infection caused by the gauze. She was cut open from her ribcage to crotch (a 2 ft incision) so they
could rinse the infection out of her organs.  She then spent days tethered to a drain and IVs. The bill was very very
expensive to save her life - all because Dr. Schultz left the gauze in her.

She is a purebred show dog for our kennel, and was being actively shown at AKC dog shows. We have spent a fortune 
training her for showing and getting the proper health clearances for breeding her. Contrary to common knowledge,
you don't "make money" at dog shows - it's very expensive to  show a show dog.  The only way you can recoup some of that  is when she has an occasional litter.  We are not wealthy by any means! We go above and beyond to be ethical and raise healthy, happy puppies and make sure they go to good homes - but becasue of this, Mulan will never have another wonderful temperamented puppy. She was a wonderful representative of the breed and now her unique genetics are lost forever.  The  damage done by Dr. Schultz' negligence severely impacts the health and temperament of future generations.

But beyond this, she is our beloved pet and family member and we love her dearly. Dr. Schultz made her suffer
unnecessarily. Mulan was in pain for almost 8 months, but being a stoic breed, did not let us know until the infection
became so severe she was close to dying.

Almost two years after the c-section, the vet bills still sit on a credit card accumulating interest I cannot afford, while
Dr. Schultz' flys around in his private plane and the insurance company stalls. They argue that MSU should have
pieced her septic uterus back together with infected tissue, rather than save her life. Had MSU done that, she would have
surely died. I have nothing but respect and admiration for the vet at MSU handled the surgery and pulled her through.

In his first two phone calls to me Dr. Schultz admitted his mistake and said he would take care of the damages. I took
him at his word and waited. He lied. I retained an attorney when hiS Insurance company refused to even talk to me. Then
he called and harassed me at least 4 more times saying that if I told anyone he would sue me for slander. After almost a
year of waiting and no solution, I filed complaints with various state agencies.

When the state decided to investigate his license, Dr. Schultz' insurance suddenly decided to settle after more than
a year of foot-dragging - but offered to reimburse just a small portion of expenses and damages. To obtain their offer
of settlement, they demanded I sign a gag order that would infringe on my constitutional right of free speech, stop the
state licensing investigation, and have me state that leaving gauze in Mulan was "alleged" and a "doubtful and disputed
claim" which was not true. If I had signed, I'd be liable for Schultz' attorney bills defending the state investigation,
and would open myself up to a defamation lawsuit, so I declined signing and did not take the settlement at that
time. They then claimed I "agreed" to the settlement - which I did not and tried to threaten me into accepting it and the
gag-order. I refused to accept it with those terms.

The very next day, I received a threatening letter saying Dr. Schultz is planning to file criminal charges against me for
extortion and defamation unless I remove certain true statements and supporting documentation from my website and
print a retraction. Apparently he was upset I wouldn't go away. His attorney even went so far as to say she would
recommend he file a (false) police report against me, even though it was a felony to do so. I filed a complaint against
his attorney for harassment. 

I feel it's important people know that while he is a personable and seemingly good vet when things go well -
should he make a mistake treating your dog - he will not do the honerable thing - but will come after you! Mulan deserves
to be treated fairly for all she went through. I feel it's important others know so they can make informed decisions as
to whether they would use a veterinarian that would make a mistake, then harass and threaten the victim for speaking
out. This is why, in early Nov. I made the web page he is so angry about.

www.petmalpractice.com is where I am exercising my right to free speech that Dr. Schultz so wants so desperately to
silence through gag orders and intimidation. On this site there are additional photographs and the medical reports
documenting the entire situation, including information about Michigan's 1919 Dog Law which Dr. Schutz is also using to
hide behind.

Because CNA (Schultz' insurance company) will not pay for the damage done to Mulan by Dr. Schultz, I was forced to file a
lawsuit against him to try and recover damages.  This was not his first mistake on one of our dogs.  He previously did some
other questionable veterinary care on other dogs, one of which died. At the time I gave him the benefit of the doubt
that it was "just a mistake". I tried being nice and all I got was foot-dragging and harassment.

In the meantime, I discovered that Dr. Schultz is not the board certified specialist he holds himself out to be! According
to the AMVA it is unethical for vets to indentify themselves as members of an AVMA recognized speciality if such
certification has not been awarded. Dr. Schultz represents to clients that he is a veterinary reproduction specialist and
as such implies he has met the criteria of the specialty college. His website states he offers a variety of canine
reproductive services, implying he is an expert. Behind closed doors he allows you to believe he has credentials. He
charges more than 3x the standard fees for his c-section services, yet is not Board Certified by the American College
of Theriogenologists, the only entity that can certify this specialty.  He leads his clients to believe he has these
credentials, and does not.

It is bad enough we were defrauded by a vet without the specialty accreditation he implies, but worse that he
continues to threaten and harass us and will not take responsibility for his mistake. Most of all he is unconcerned that he almost killed a very beautiful and loved girl who suffered greatly due to his negligence.

He is more concerned about his reputation and attempts to silence anyone who tells the truth. He has gone so far as to
have honest negative reviews from other people removed from some websites. (Were they threatened too?)

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 03/25/2011 02:11 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/william-schultz-dvm-schultz-veterinary-clinic/okemos-michigan-48864/william-schultz-dvm-schultz-veterinary-clinic-left-gauze-in-my-show-dog-and-almost-kill-710242. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
0Author
6Consumer
1Employee/Owner

#7 General Comment

Gauze causing uterine infection?

AUTHOR: Dr Michael Merrithew - ()

POSTED: Tuesday, October 21, 2014

I came across this complaint today and have read these comments about the problems with your dog.  Yes, accidents can happen.  Having performed well over 50,000 surgical proceedures(I stopped couting at 50,000)  I can attest that the odds are that it will happen to most surgeons at one time or another.  Yet, the fact that MSU had to remove her uterus due to the "massive infection" would have absolutely nothing to do with a sponge or anything else left inside the body, other than the uterus itself not having been removed from a non-breeding dog.  The sponge would be classified as an incidental finding unrelated to the Pyometra.  The body would attempt to wall off the foreign body and may, or may not have ever caused her a problem.  The fact that she was un-spayed, however, was far more dangerous, as you have discovered.  I have known Dr Schultz for 45 years and have known him to be thourougly commited to practicing first rate medicine. Respectfully submitted.  Dr Merrithew

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#6 Consumer Comment

Thank you for posting your experience

AUTHOR: rochelann - ()

POSTED: Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Dear Dr. Schultz;

I found this report and am very happy that I did.  I am in need of a repro vet and was considering you, pending research.  While you Dr. Schultz, may be a good vet most of the time.  You apparently aren't an ethical vet.  Yes, mistakes happen.  However, when you make a mistake you should be more than willing to do the responsible thing and make it right. 


It makes no difference if this dog was a show dog or a family pet, the situation shows a great lack of character on your part.  You should have been happy to pay the bills for saving the dogs life.  If this had been one of my AKC GRCH, BIS winning bitches, we would be in court and you would be paying not only for the medical care, but also for future lost litters, etc.

Guess I will just drive a little further and deal with a more responsible, reliable and ethical repro vet.

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#5 General Comment

Rebuttal to Dr William Schultz

AUTHOR: Fieldlablover - ()

POSTED: Sunday, May 26, 2013

 I ran across this complaint. I personally have dealt with Dr Schultz and he was the most gracious vet I have ever visited, coming in to do an "emergency" TCI when he was off and supposed to fly to his daughters' wedding later that day. I witnessed the procedure and he explained it in detail. As far as your accusation of him not being a board certified reproduction specialist, he has been in practice for over 30 years before they had a specialty. My own reproduction specialist has been doing reproduction for over 20 years and she didn't go back to school to get the specialty. In fact, the leading guru of reproduction specialist, Dr Robert VanHutchinson in Ohio does not have a specialty. In fact, all 3 of these people know more about Canine Reproduction than many that are Board Certified. Did you ask to see his credentials which I know are posted in his office? Was the c-section performed after hours? Dr Schultz is one of the oldest repro specialists in the Midwest, after Dr Hutch. He instructs in TCI and he is on the front lines of reasearch. What is striking about your report is that you do not carry pet insurance on your own "valuable dogs." His first conversation that he admitted to a mistake says it all. We do not know what you asked for. I am a breeder of 33+ years, and I am guessing you asked for the impossible, money for the fact that your b***h could no longer procreate, and Dr Schultz contacted his lawyer. Your letter is whiney and incorrect and you should not be breeding dogs if you expect the impossible. Mistakes happen to Veterinarians and Surgeons. This whole letter says to me you are new to breeding and think you had some great dog that you bred without clearances since neither number you list fits the OFA or CERF. You are the fraud here and if you cared about your dogs you would be doing health certs on them. You sound like a typical back yard breeder with the typical spin.

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#4 Consumer Comment

Response to Dr. Schultz

AUTHOR: CD - (United States of America)

POSTED: Thursday, February 14, 2013

 In response to Dr. Schultz' comment:  I never said she was a Champion, she is pointed and from Best in Show Champion lines  and would have finished easily, had Dr. Schultz not damaged her reproductive organs making her ineligible to be shown.  As for all 3 puppies having undescended testicles

pretty amazing since one was female. Mulan's hips were x-rayed on 9/8/2004, her CERF clearance is #AM2727/2008-41, and her CHD clearance is AMCA 1344. It has now been 4 years of foot dragging and he still hasn't paid the huge veterinary bill he caused. I don't see how clearances and testicles have anything to do with gauze negligently left in my dog and his not taking responsibility. 

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#3 REBUTTAL Owner of company

many misleading comments

AUTHOR: Dr. William Schultz - (United States of America)

POSTED: Tuesday, January 08, 2013

I have done over 30,000 surgical procedures and this is the only foreign material that remained in a surgery. 

Mulan survived and is doing well. 

She was never a "champion" and had three pups all with retained testicles which is considered a genetic problem.  She never had "health clearances" prior to breeding.

This owner has filled this report with only one fact and the remainder is her "Free Speech". 


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#2 General Comment

Dr. Schultz's reputation

AUTHOR: Anstamm - (United States of America)

POSTED: Thursday, September 27, 2012

I am a breeder of Scottish Terriers with more than 30 years experience breeding. Our kennel has produced hundreds of champions, including Group, Specialty, and Best in Show winners, including the 2010 Westminster Best in Show winner. In that time, I have never worked with a more skilled or caring veterinarian than Will Schultz. You should be ashamed of slandering him all over the internet. I think you will find that this campaign will damage your reputation far more than his.

Cindy ****
Anstamm Scottish Terriers

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#1 Consumer Comment

How terrible for both you and the dog!

AUTHOR: Anonymous - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, March 25, 2011

 Sounds like this is a case of severe vetaninary malpractice! Hope you sue the Hell out of this practice! Both people and animals should be protected!  PLEASE KEEP FIGHTING!

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