That question was the title of an article by Joe Inglis, DVM, a British veterinarian.  His answer:

Vets overcharging is a very common concern amongst pet owners, and one that as a vet I am really worried about too – I hear enough stories of owners feeling ripped off to know there is a real problem out there. I have also experienced a culture of what can only be described as profiteering in several practices over my years as a vet, where vets are pressured into recommending additional tests or procedures on very dubious clinical grounds simply to push up profits for the practice owners.

I remember in one of the first practices I worked in being told not to dispense courses of tablets on a first consultation, even if I felt it was the right thing to do, because it was much more profitable to get the owner back for a second appointment and then dispense the treatment. I felt very uncomfortable with this approach back then, and ever since I have become more and more angry at the way in which practices are increasingly focussed on profits rather than pets.

My view is that vets should do what is right for the pet and pet owner not what is right for the vet and their bank balance. Of course vets have to earn a living and I’ve got nothing against practices operating in a profitable manner, but I don’t believe that this can be only be done by vets acting more like pushy used car sales people than caring professionals. I think there is another way, where vets prioritise working with the owner for the best outcome for their pets, taking into account the circumstances and views of the owners rather than simply trying to squeeze as much money as possible out of them.

Later in the article, he cites (and provides proof of) another vet ripping off a patient for nearly $3,000 (US; £1692) for performing an extensive array of diagnostic tests on a dog for… an upset stomach.   Did that vet read this article, in what claims to be the most widely-read veterinary magazine in America, advising vets that 13-25% of their annual revenue should be from diagnostics – and that figure should grow on an annual basis (discussed here)?

Read the rest of Dr. Inglis’s article here.

Of course, there is no blanket answer to the question he asks.  Like physicians, auto mechanics and chefs, all practitioners are different.  But when one considers the data contained on Shayna’s List, and correlates it to the many other sources of similar data on the Web, the fact that overcharging has become a standard practice in many veterinary clinics in the U.S., in Canada, and in England, becomes inescapable.

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