6/22/2022
I am infuriated over an excessive dental billing from Rose Valley Veterinary Hospital owned by the Dr. Oz's. I have used Dr. Oz services for over 5 years but that ends now. I took my little Chihuahua in for a 3 year Rabies shot billed at $65 which was fair and reasonable. Dr. Oz then informed me that my dog required dental care due to a loose tooth that he found during the Rabies exam. He said the first step was to do an in house Blood Test to make sure that it would be safe for her to undergo Anesthetic, which resulted in a cost of $445. Shortly after taking her home he called for me to bring her back for additional blood collection due to an irregularity in the testing results. I brought my dog back in (with no mention of any additional charges) and was billed an additional $365 for an IDEXX K9 profile (which I found has a Vet cost of around $100 that was jacked up to $270). I was now out of pocket $810 and still had no idea of the amount of dental work required. Dr. Oz kept telling me he could not give me a cost until after a full exam under Anesthetic. He then told me that if the work was minor the charge would be around $700 for the procedure. He warned me that it could be upwards of $3,000+ if major work was required.
I explained that as a 73 year old pensioner I could not afford a canine dentistry cost of $3,000+. He implied that chances were it would be less than $1,000 or possibly $1,500 if complicated extractions were required; which I counted on, keeping in mind he had inspected her teeth already. Low and behold; after surgery my bill at pick up was a further $1,770 (total cost now $2,580). After I examined the bill (the assisting nurse said my dog had no decay just 4 loose teeth) I have to question why the bill didn't fall below the $1,000. I found that the billing could never have been the Dr. Oz quoted $700 as the Procedure Fees (excluding the extractions at $292 and medications at $145) alone totaled over $1,300 consisting of; 1) a Dental "Pack"? of $460, 2) Dentistry Grade 1 labor $235 (plus the extraction charge?), 3) Anesthesia $420?, 4) Fluids $79, 5) Monitoring $75 & 6) Doggy day charge $42 covering the 6 hour dental procedure???.
I have an actual bill from another local vet hospital, for dentistry done on a family member's dog last month, totaling $1,524 (all procedures outlined above included and involved 4 more complicated extractions at a cost of $460 versus Dr. Oz simple extractions at $292). Comparing my cost of $2,580 from Dr. Oz, versus the $1,524 from another local vet for a more complicated procedure, is very upsetting.
I also question if my dog actually required any dental surgery at this time based on only on my dog's loose teeth, with no dental decay whatsoever, which would have been evident to Dr. Oz when he examined my dog's tooth discovered during the Rabies vaccination. I wonder how many of Dr. Oz customers have gone through this overbilling as when I delivered my dog to the clinic on Monday June 20 I noticed behind the counter a tray of approximately 20 little brown bags containing the same 4 medications (Dr. Oz charge $145 - 1 of which was also dispensed on the competitive vet bill - Gabapentin @ $17 versus Dr. Oz charge @ $46) one of which I was ultimately given when I picked up my dog 6 hours later. Monday must have been Dental Mill Day at Rose Valley Veterinary Hospital resulting in a very profitable billing for the day by Dr. Oz of $50,000+. The $50,000+ is based on my minimal extraction bill procedure billing totaling over $2,580, as a minimum billing, times the 20 doggy clients found with “dental problems” in the proceeding 2 weeks. Now Dr. Oz has a $40,000+ profit to pay for his month long vacation starting at the end of June.
