My Experience with The Scottsdale Veterinary Clinic / Dr. Langhofer
Dr. William Langhofer and his Scottsdale Veterinary Clinic were entrusted with the life of my Scarlet Macaw Salty when she became ill. Salty died while under his care. I paid over ten thousand ($10,000.00) for Dr. Langhofer's medical services. Dr. Langhofer and his Scottsdale Veterinary Clinic advertised that his hospital had 14 different fields of medical specialization, including exotic pets and heart problems. Dr. Langhofer advertised and represented that he was "highly skilled at working with exotic animals." The Scottsdale Veterinary Clinic staff told me that he was one of the "best bird doctors in Arizona." After Salty died, I sued Dr. Langhofer and his hospital in Superior Court for malpractice, gross negligence, gross incompetence, and negligent misrepresentation. After a 4 day jury trial, the jury entered the entire verdict against Dr. Langhofer and the Scottsdale Veterinary Clinic and found in favor of me, David Kaufman, the plaintiff. At his deposition he admitted that he and his hospital had no further education or accreditation in any of the 14 fields of medical specialization that his hospital advertised. After Dr. Langhofer was sued he removed his website claims of his hospital having any specializations, and he attributed these changes to "routine changes to the website." He also stopped advertising that he was "highly skilled" with exotic pets.

Arizona Veterinary Medical Examining Board
I reported Dr. Langhofer's actions to the Arizona Veterinary Medical Examining Board. This is the governing authority that oversees veterinarians in Arizona. After a review of my complaint, Dr. Langhofer was unanimously found guilty of Unprofessional or Dishonorable conduct by every single member of both the investigative committee of the Arizona Veterinary Medical Examining Board and every single member of the Arizona Veterinary Medical Examining Board. His veterinary license was put on probation for a year, he was fined, and the board forced him to attend continuing education in addition to that which is required to renew a veterinary license.

 

Documents
Click on this icon below to read the letter from the investigative committee recommending violations of Arizona law on unprofessional or dishonorable conduct:

Click on this icon below to read the letter from the executive director of the Arizona Veterinary Board concluding that Dr. Langhofer be charged and found guilty of breaking Arizona law for unprofessional or dishonorable conduct of a veterinarian:

The Arizona Revised Statues on Regulations for Veterinarians:
ARS 32-2232 - Unprofessional or Dishonorable Veterinarian Conduct

 

Here is The Scottsdale Veterinary Clinic website for Dr. Langhofer that I relied on
Dr. Langhofer advertised that his hospital had a specialization practice in 14 different fields of medical specialization without having any further education in any of them.

Click on the images below to see Dr. Langhofer's website where he removes all of his claims of medical specialization and his being highly skilled at working with exotic animals after the lawsuit is filed:

Before the lawsuit             After the lawsuit
                  

Before the lawsuit             After the lawsuit
                  

I relied on Dr. Langhofer's claims of specialization in exotic animals and heart problems to save Salty's life. Neither he nor anyone at his hospital had any further education or accreditation in exotic animals or heart problems.

 

No Further Education or Accreditation
Hear directly from Dr. Langhofer himself, what he has to say under oath at his deposition about the fact that no one at his hospital had any further education in any of the 14 different medical fields his hospital claimed to have a specialization in. Dr. Langhofer also tells the court that he can only name "most" of the areas of medical specialty that his hospital claimed to have a "specialization" in. He first tells the court that he "doesn't recall" advertising that his hospital had a specialization in heart problems, Then he changes his testimony and admits that he did advertise that he specialized in heart problems. Dr. Langhofer testified under oath that despite his advertising to the public that his hospital had a specialization in "heart problems" no one at his hospital had any further education in the medical field of heart problems, of any kind. After he was sued he removed his hospitals claims of heart specialization and all of his claims of any kind of specialization.

 

Ethics in Medical Records
Dr. Langhofer was found guilty of failing to maintain adequate medical records, a violation of Unprofessional or Dishonorable Conduct under the Arizona Veterinary Practice Code (ARS 32-2232 - Unprofessional or Dishonorable Veterinarian Conduct). Hear Dr. Langhofer tell you in his own words under oath at deposition that he doesn't know that medical records have anything to do with "ethics," and he doesn't know if poor medical record keeping is "unethical."

 

Hear Dr. Langhofer tell you he made a false statement
Hear Dr. Langhofer tell you in his own words under oath at deposition: Dr. Langhofer admits making a false statement to the Arizona Veterinary Medical Examining Board:

 

Inadequate anesthesia logs
Dr. Langhofer comments on his anesthesia logs that he was responsible for when he was administering a dangerous gas to Salty. As you can see Dr. Langhofer failed to fill these extremely important forms out that document the administration of dangerous gas.

Click on these icons to see how Dr. Langhofer kept track of his anesthesia logs as he administered a dangerous gas to Salty, at three different surgeries that he performed:

               

 

After Salty's death
After my scarlet macaw Salty died, while under Dr. Langhofer's care, I hired two true avian specialists and board certified veterinarians that specialized in avian practice and radiology. These true specialists testified at trial in Superior Court that Salty died from undiagnosed and untreated heart disease. The condition of Microcardia (abnormally small heart) was identified by these true specialists. Despite Dr. Langhofer advertising himself as a specialization hospital in both exotic pets and heart problems, he failed to identify any heart condition in Salty whatsoever. This is evidenced by his own medical records. He testified under oath that even if he did identify this condition in Salty he typically doesn't list it in his medical records, even though he knew such a condition could result in death. Dr. Langhofer states under oath that he considers microcardia to be a "symptom." Webster's Dictionary defines symptom as: "subjective evidence of disease or physical disturbance." Dr. Langhofer states that he typically does not list microcardia because he believes it to be a symptom, despite the fact that Webster's Dictionary defines the word symptom as subjective evidence of disease. Yet, he testified under oath that he is aware that such a condition could result in death. Dr. Langhofer didn't send any of her radiographs to a radiologist or a true avian specialist, for evaluation.

 

 

Contact Us
If Dr. William Langhofer or the Scottsdale Veterinary Clinic (currently located at 7311 East Thomas Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85251) has hurt you or your pet please email the Concerned Citizens for Responsible Veterinarian Care, tell us your story, we will evaluate your circumstances and possibly fund litigation against Dr. William Langhofer and/or The Scottsdale Veterinary Clinic on your behalf.