Complaint Review: Dr. Mohammad Hasson

I found it necessary to bring one of my cats to an emergency veterinary hospital in Orlando called Emergency Pet Hospital, owned and operated by Dr. Mohammed Hassan who can also be found under the alias of Dr. Mark Hassan. Upon arrival at the hospital, my cat was brought into the back room and a number of tests were performed, including blood work and X-rays. Dr. Hassan reported back to me that my cat was in Acute Renal Failure and would need to be hospitalized overnight, catheterized, and given IV fluids. When all was said and done, the bill totaled $1,433.33 which was paid on two separate credit cards. This total included the medical management and medications prescribed.

After three weeks, his symptoms still did not completely subside. Instead of returning to Dr. Hassan for the follow-up, I brought my cat to the Banfield Pet Hospital in Winter Garden, FL. There he was seen by three separate veterinarians, primarily Dr. _____. After spending over an hour back and forth on the phone with the technician from Dr. Hassan’s office, we were unable to secure the blood work or a copy of the X-Rays. Licensure law for veterinarians states that failure to produce these documents after a full payment can result in revocation of the veterinarian’s license. At this time, based on costly new blood work and X-Rays, Dr. ____ concluded that the cat likely had never been in acute renal failure. She prescribed a new course of medical management for feline stress and moderate Idiopathic Sterile Cystitis. Dr. ____and her partners at Banfield determined that the best course of treatment, if the cat had initially been brought to them, would have been a 3 night hospitalization and IV fluids. The estimated cost of this was approximately $500.

We next looked over the plan of medical management that Dr. Hassan had prescribed for the cat and it was determined that, whether knowingly or unknowingly, this course of treatment would ultimately have never alleviated his symptoms and would definitely have required an expensive follow-up visit. The cat was administered an injection of 1,000mcg of B12 which is typically used only for liver failure when the cat showed no signs of liver damage of any kind. He was issued 15ML of Veraflox which was not deemed safe by the vets at Banfield, given the cat’s health circumstances. He was issued Uroeze Tablets which were considered an incorrect course of treatment given his symptoms, and shouldn’t have even been issued if he had been in acute renal failure. Finally, he was issued a new food called Urinary SO. However, we were billed and charged for the food Feline c/d –S 4#. Dr. _____ determined that Urinary SO was not healthy for all of the cats in my household while Feline c/d would have been. I should have been issued what I was charged for, for various reasons.

The veterinary visit to Banfield cost an additional $443.17, largely because Dr. Hassan’s office would not send his original paperwork or X-Rays so they had to be redone at a cost of $170.50 for the blood work and $147.41 for the X-Ray, totaling $317.91. If he and his staff had sent over the necessary documentation, they would only have had to rerun the Chem at a cost of $59. I also was issued a new course of medical management including Clavamox, Feliway, and Furosemide at a cost of $120.21.

When I drove back out and approached Dr. Hassan regarding these matters, I was finally issued the original blood work and X-Rays. However, when I asked him why this was the course of action, he insisted that he had treated my dog accordingly. As it turns out, the medical records in their office for him had been saved as canine. It was even listed at the top of the invoice.

It is my opinion that Dr. Hassan was aware of his actions. I believe that I was overcharged not only for the initial hospital stay, but also for the course of medical management, with the knowledge that I would be compelled to return of necessity. I am requesting that the initial payment to Emergency Pet Hospital of Orlando be stopped.

If you need to contact someone regarding this matter, please feel free to call Dr. Eboni ____ at Banfield Pet Hospital. The office number is _______ and this is referencing a visit under the name of Oscar on June 15, 2013. He was brought in by a friend, ______, who was caring for him. I can also fax any additional documentation over if necessary, including any of my invoices from either clinic as well as both sets of blood work.