Posted in: Comics, Recent Updates | Tagged: cat, Comics, healthcare

Author Of The Art Of War… Goes To War, Over Tiko The Cat

Published Mon, 16 Jan 2012 08:15:03 -0600

Last updated Mon, 16 Jan 2012 08:16:28 -0600

Kelly Roman, author of the upcoming HarperCollins graphic novel The Art Of War has a battle a little closer to home.

Against against BluePearl Veterinary Partners, better known as NYC Veterinary Specialists.

He's launched a blog to document his civil lawsuit which alleges that BluePearl gave him incorrect medication for treating his and his wife's cat Tiko, and failed to adequately examine the cat after the error was discovered. He writes;

Our legal Complaint charges that BluePearl Veterinary Partners (also known as NYC Veterinary Specialists) provided us with incorrect medication – they couriered us Cyclophosphamide, a strong chemo drug, instead of Cyproheptadine, an appetite stimulant. We administered this incorrect drug to our cat, Tiko, on a daily basis for two weeks prior to his death before recognizing the error; when we informed BluePearl doctors of the error, we were told not to worry. Tiko had undergone intravenous cancer treatment at BluePearl, but died of a massive infection and a ruptured bladder only days after we ceased giving him the incorrect medication. If there was Cyclophosphamide inside the bottle labeled Cyclophosphamide, many veterinarians we have consulted with agree that it would have made Tiko much more anemic than he already was from IV chemo, increasing his risk of infection.

If BluePearl had, at the minimum, examined Tiko immediately after being notified of the medication error, they most likely would have detected Tiko's infection and bladder issues before they became catastrophic. Not having the correct appetite stimulant also explains his loss of weight and appetite over the two weeks he was given the incorrect medicine. We believe this negligence undermined our investment in Tiko's cancer care, which is why we are seeking reimbursement as damages.

Tiko died an extremely painful death. Only after his death did BluePearl call us and claim that the incorrect medication we received was only incorrectly labeled, and that according to them, the mislabeled bottle actually contained the correct medication. We do not find their claim to be credible – and the timing of their claim is highly questionable, given that the medicine had already been administered to our pet which had died. BluePearl should have examined Tiko after being informed that the medication was incorrect – instead they told us to wait and see how things went.

Roman has taken to CraogsList to raise medical experts, the blog to raise public support in his legal journey and his knowledge of the strategy to ecover the $10,000 spent on Tikio, allegedly incorrectly. The Art Of War will be published in July.