![]() She elaborated: "he issue with the alleged misrepresentation here is not that it concerns an unmeasurable subject matter. The judge concluded that Antech's "representation that it provides accurate, dependable diagnostic testing is nonactionable puffery. Each and every Antech Laboratory Technician is under daily QA/QC programs designed to ensure accurate results while receiving annual mandatory testing to insure their skills and knowledge are second to none. Dependable testing is more than technology accurate and dependable results rely on highly skilled and trained technicians. No one better understands the importance of quality patient care and the value of accurate dependable care than VCA Antech. District Court Judge Josephine Staton said Antech marketing language cited by Patt is not specific or measurable in such a way as to prove false. In a ruling in May on a motion by Antech to dismiss the claim, U.S. Whether the reliability of Antech's results is unacceptable in a legal sense won't be resolved by this case, however. As a result, pet owners lost pets needlessly and had to experience their pets suffering prolonged treatment, with concomitant psychic and economic costs. "Antech's faulty laboratory practices threaten not only the health of animals, but of humans," the suit alleges, noting that some of the conditions for which the laboratory produced false negatives are transmissible to people, including infections of parasites such as Giardia and hookworms.įurther, the suit charges, "By providing invalid results to veterinarians across the country, Antech is also, in effect, providing invalid results to pet owners. The complaint describes 25 instances of inaccurate or questionable findings or otherwise unsatisfactory service involving 15 dogs, five reptiles, two rabbits, two cats and a bird. The reason she's seeking to end her contract before it expires is because, the claim alleges, Antech repeatedly returned incorrect, sometimes inexplicable, results. In spotlighting the contracts, Patt's case raises provocative questions about the accuracy of private veterinary laboratory diagnostic results. Antech denies the allegations and is countersuing Patt and Little Critters for contract breach. Her complaint alleges that Antech, by pressing veterinarians into exclusive contracts, is engaging in monopolistic behavior in violation of federal antitrust law and state law governing business practices. Patt has one such contract with Antech and is trying to nullify it. The contracts generally extend for four years or longer, with automatic renewals that are difficult to cancel. In exchange, the practices receive what they believe to be preferential pricing and sometimes sweeteners such as in-house diagnostic equipment or cash in the form of forgivable loans. Under the contracts, veterinary practices typically commit to a certain dollar value of business with the lab for a period of years, and to use only that laboratory for the great majority of their business. market for private veterinary diagnostic laboratory services. According to the complaint, Antech and Idexx each control 45% of the U.S. The suit, which seeks certification as a class action, challenges the legality of exclusive, extended contracts that are common among customers of Antech as well as of its chief competitor, Idexx Corp. Antech is headquartered in Southern California Mars Inc. The complaint alleges unlawful business practices, attempted monopolization and breach of contract. District Court for the Central District of California. Jill Patt and her practice in Arizona, Little Critters Veterinary Hospital, is suing Antech Diagnostics in U.S. In a role-reversing case in California, the plaintiff has become the defendant.ĭr. Books & VINcyclopedia of Diseases (Formerly Associate)Īntech, one of the world's largest veterinary diagnostic laboratories, is known among veterinarians as being litigious, a reputation earned from years of lawsuits against private practitioners involving business contract disputes.VINcyclopedia of Diseases (Formerly Associate).
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