Sunday, June 23, 2013

In memory and honor of one very special cat. How incompetent QUACK Edward J. Nichols, DVM, Crestway Animal Clinic, San Antonio, Texas, treated Suki

In 2005, Nichols served me with an unconstitutional injunction to try to dismantle this web site to prevent me from telling Suki's Story.

HE FAILED

He then appealed the judge's ruling...

AND FAILED AGAIN.

Below is the timeline of what this arrogant, bully vet did first to Suki...and then what he did to me.

What Happened to Suki...and What Happened to Me: A Timeline


 

 
Suki's Story

 

Suki's medical records from Ed Nichols, Crestway Animal Clinic, San Antonio, July 17-1996 to April 19, 1999 (13 visits total):

Suki's Patient Chart

Suki's Lab Work, October 13, 1996

Suki's Lab Work, June 27, 1998

Suki's Lab Work, March 22, 1999

Suki's Lab Work, April 19, 1999

 

Suki's medical records from Perrin 410 Animal Hospital, April 20-26, 1999:

Suki's Hospital Patient Chart

Suki's Hospital Lab Work, April 23, 1999

Suki's Hospital Lab Work, April 25, 1999

 

Read the OFFICIAL ALEGATIONS Against Ed Nichols, DVM, Crestway Animal Clinic, San Antonio:

Correspondence from the Texas State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners re my complaint against  Ed Nichols  (Despite ample and documented FACTS and PROOF of what Nichols had done to Suki, Martin E. Garcia dismissed the complaint based only on Suki's age, and complete ignored all evidence of numerous breaches in the standard of care and violations of recordkeeping statutes)

 


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

July 17, 1996 

I take Suki to Edward J. Nichols, DVM, Crestway Animal Clinic. Patient history consists of CNS disorder, vestibular syndrome in 1995, and reference to treatment for hyperthyroidism at A&M. PE (physical examination) is blank. B12 injection. .2mg dexamethasone. No description of patient symptoms, behavior, or appearance. Weight 7 lbs. Temp 101.4  Suki is 17.

 

July 24, 1996

2nd visit to Crestway Animal Clinic. .2mg dexamethasone. .5 cc flocillin injection. No weight. No temperature. No PE. No description of patient symptoms, behavior, or appearance.

 

October 11, 1996 (wrong date on chart, should be October 12, 1996)

3rd visit to Crestway Animal Clinic. .5 B12 injection. .3 dexamethasone. 100 LRS subQ. Weight 6.9 lbs. No temp. No PE. description of patient symptoms, behavior, or appearance. Lab work 10/13/96

 

February 3, 1997

4th visit to Crestway Animal Clinic. 100cc LRS subQ. B complex injection. No weight. No temperature. PE: (illegible). No description of patient symptoms or appearance. 

 

August 2, 1997 (wrong date on chart, should be August 30, 1997)

5th visit to Crestway Animal Clinic. .25cc Depo Medrol for arthritis. Cosequin. .5cc comb B shot. 100cc LRS SQ. (illegible) Weight 7 lbs. No temperature. PE: “ok.” No description of patient symptoms, behavior, or appearance.

 

January 3, 1998

6th visit to Crestway Animal Clinic. 100cc LRS subQ. Weight 7.4 lbs. Scale teeth. Flo .7ccSQ. No temperature. No PE. No description of patient symptoms, behavior, or appearance.

 

June 26, 1998

7th visit to Crestway Animal Clinic. Bloodwork. 6.7 lbs.  No temperature. .2 dexamethasone. B12. Bcomb.  Urinalysis: (illegible) 1.015. No PE. No description of patient symptoms, behavior, or appearance. Lab work 6/26/98

 

December 5, 1998

8th visit to Crestway Animal Clinic. .1 dexamethasone. B12 Bcomb .5. Tumil-K 460mg x 10 ˝ (illegible).  Cosequin. Nutrical. Advantage. Weight 6.2 lbs. No temperature. 100cc LRS. No PE. No description of patient symptoms, behavior, or appearance.

 

December 31, 1998

I take Suki to the Broadway Emergency Clinic. Tooth abscess. Clindacure is prescribed. Suki's chart from Broadway ER, 12/31/98

 

January 4, 1999

9th visit to Crestway Animal Clinic. “Pulled tooth.” .2 dexamethasone. B12 Bcomb .5  flo .6. No weight. No temperature. No PE. No description of patient symptoms, behavior, or appearance.

 

March 22, 1999

10th visit to Crestway Animal Clinic. Weight 6 lbs. No temperature. Bcomb .5. .2 dexamethasone SQ. Nutrical. No PE. No description of patient symptoms, behavior, or appearance. Lab Work March 22, 1999

 

March 24, 1999

11th visit to Crestway Animal Clinic. “Fluids.” .5cc Winstrol injection. No weight. No temperature. No PE. No description of patient symptoms, behavior, or appearance.

 

April 7, 1999

12th visit to Crestway Animal Clinic. Depo (Medrol) .5 for arthritis. B12. “Bag of fluids.” No weight. No temperature. No PE. No description of patient symptoms, behavior, or appearance.

 

April 19, 1999

13th and final visit to Crestway Animal Clinic. Temperature 101. “v. dehydrated.” Abscessed premolar – extract under [nitrous oxide/oxygen/halothane]. .6cc flo. “SX.”( it looks like there is an “SX” – veterinary abbreviation for surgery.  Don’t take my word for it, Review the April 19, 1999 records and see for yourself. It sure looks like SX to me.) Bcomb B12 .5. 1mg dexamethasone SQ. 100cc LRS SQ. “release home tonight.” “multiple organ shutdown” is circled on the patient chart entry. Lab work April 19, 1999

 

April 20, 1999

I take Suki to Perrin 410 Animal Hospital. Hospital patient chart.

 

April 21 – 25, 1999

Suki is treated by four veterinarians at Perrin 410 Animal Hospital. Hospital patient chart

 

April 23, 1999

Suki’s first lab work at Perrin 410 Hospital. Hospital Lab Work 4/23/1999

April 24, 1999

Notation on record: "owner concerned with cat's drooping jaw - apparent fracture of the left mandible." Hospital patient chart

 

April 25, 1999

Suki’s second and final lab work at Perrin 410. Hospital Lab Work 4/25/1999.

 

April 26, 1999

Suki dies. Hospital patient chart

 

June 26, 1999

I go to Crestway Animal Clinic to obtain Suki’s complete medical records. At the reception desk, after a staffer hands me a folder so flat that looks empty, I open it to find a one-page patient chart, front and back, and four lab results representing 13 visits in 34 months. I say to my friend on my cell phone (in a normal tone of voice, I might add), "That son of a bitch, there's nothing here." I repeat it, adding "I don't know how he thinks he's going to get away with this," because I am stunned at the incomplete state of Suki's records. Other than "son of a bitch," no other profane or obscene language was used by me at any time, nor was any threat made to him or anyone in the waiting room.  When Nichols appeared in the doorway, I said, "I trusted you," and he came at me saying in a loud voice, "You are the most selfish person I have ever known!"  He starts to pace back and forth in front of me, saying over and over "what you did to that poor cat, what you did to that poor cat," alternating his pacing with coming at me to get in my face and gettin as close as he could without touching me, and then backing off again to continue his rant. He sniped at me, "Put that in your book! Be sure and put in your book what you did to that poor cat!" which made NO sense. Nichols knew I was a journalist, but the only book I was working on at the time was on women and prescription drugs, published the following year in 2000. When I tell him his words will come back to haunt him, he gets closer and says, "We'll just see who will be haunting who," which was even more frightening  than the ranting and pacing. He pointed at the door and shouted, "Get off my property!" He instructed his records clerk to call the sheriff and to "get my attorney, get Mark Clark on the phone."  (more on Clark below). I finally got Suki's records--pathetic and incomplete as they were--and got the HELL out of there. I was long gone by the time the deputy arrived. No one from the sheriff's department ever contacted me. I later called the deputy who assured me the whole incident was a big fat nothing, that Nichols didn't even press charges (gee I wonder why lol) but they were required by law to respond to every nuisance call. I filed my own report with the deputy about Nichols getting in my face and his disturbing statement about "We'll just see who will be haunting who." I made sure THAT was on the record with the sheriff for my own protection. True to form, during the informal conference in Austin the following year, Nichols couldn't wait to bring up the incident, determined to play the victim. Time and again he was instructed by the Texas attorney general's lawyer that none of that was relevant to the investigation, but Nichols wouldn't stop until he was given a final warning (I think the lawyer knew exactly what Nichols was trying to pull). BTW, in his waiting room, this genius did all of his pacing, ranting and raving and his creepy "We'll just see who will be haunting who" comment near my open cell phone line with someone on the other end who heard the whole thing, further earning Ed Nichols my vote as "The Stupidest Vet in the Universe." 

December 7, 1999

I file a 54-page complaint against Edward J. Nichols, DVM, Crestway Animal Clinic with the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners (TBVME), with attachments and timeline proving numerous repeated and prolonged mistreatment of Suki including unauthorized and dangerous surgery and anesthesia on a "v. dehydrated" dying cat later pumped with steroids and left to die in a cage at Crestway without notifying me of her true condition. I also cite numerous inaccuracies and omissions in his records, where he leaves out symptoms, weight, temperature, diagnoses, names and dosages of Rx drugs, no mention of the amount, type, or frequency of home subQ fluids that Suki had been on, no routes of administration or amount of anesthesia given, and more. 

 

December 17, 1999

I receive letter from the TBVME stating that a case number has been assigned to my complaint. Case #00061 Letter dated 12/17/99

 

July 19, 2000

I receive letter from the TBVME stating that an informal conference on the allegations against Edward J. Nichols, DVM, is set for August 17, 2000.  Letter dated 7/19/2000

 

August 17, 2000

I attend informal conference in Austin, held by the TBVME Enforcement Committee regarding my complaint against Edward J. Nichols, DVM. Attendees: Martin E. Garcia, DVM, board member; plus the members of the committee: Ron Allen, executive director; Lee Mathews, attorney for the board; Peter Hartline, director of enforcement; Dennis Barker, investigator (replacing Jon Long, original investigator on this case), Edward J. Nichols, DVM. Outcome: Martin E. Garcia, DVM, makes the unilateral decision that no violations of the Rules of Professional Conduct of the Texas Veterinary Licensing Act occurred in this case. basing his decision ONLY on Suki's age. See A State of Disgrace: Is the TBVME Really Protecting the Public? No one else on the "Enforcement Committee" had any authority to touch Ed Nichols once Martin E. Garcia DVM made the one-man decision to give Nichols a free pass on all of the repeated and provable violations of the statutes of the Texas Veterinary Practice Act, using Suki's age as his reason. That's right--Suki's case was dismissed based only on her age, NOT on the sizable amount of evidence that proved how Nichols had repeatedly  mistreated Suki in violation of the board's Professional Standard of Humane Treatment.  

August 19, 2000

Two days after the farce that took place in Austin in which "Dr" Ed Nichols walked scot-free without having to explain his repeated medical  mistreatment of Suki, I started the web site S.A.V.E. - Stop Abusive Veterinarians Everywhere, dedicated to Suki, victim of Edward J. Nichols, Crestway Animal Clinic, San Antonio and victimized again by a deeply flawed vet board system that looked the other way.  I vowed to do everything possible to prevent this from happening to another innocent animal again at the hands of any vet. If this could happen to Suki and me, how many other vet victims were there?

August 21, 2000

I receive letter from the TBVME stating that my complaint against Edward J. Nichols, DVM, has been dismissed. Letter dated 8/21/2000

2000-2003

I write repeated letters and emails to the board staff in Austin to petition them to reopen Suki's case and have it evaluated by a competent, ethical vet outside of the "neighborhood" where Nichols had referred to having 60 acres of land near board secretary and sole decision-maker Martin E Garcia's 3,000-acre spread in South Texas. Nichols of course later denied saying any such thing, so I must have imagined that he or his family had land in South Texas. The landholding comment was immaterial anyway--Garcia was a waste of time and space, every bit as arrogant as Nichols and unfit to evaluate this case (as later pointed out by one of our vet experts). Suki's case needed to be properly evaluated by a board vet familiar with the standard of care in San Antonio, not by someone practicing in a town with a population of (at that time) under 10,000. My repeated and years-long attempts to appeal to ANYONE in Austin with a conscience failed. Garcia had ignored all of the evidence--including the disgraceful state of Nichols' records which proved beyond all doubt that he had committed repeated violations of the statutes of standard of care and recordkeeping. All my efforts resulted in was putting the AG's office, the board, and its staff in the awkward position of having to defend Garcia, a vet who had knowingly and deliberately dismissed a valid, well-documented, and provable complaint based ONLY on the patient's age. As I was later told by a committee member: "No one's going to lose their job over this."

September 11, 2001

I file a second board complaint against Ed Nichols when he refuses to release Suki's complete medical file directly to me and instead tells my legal representative that his lawyer, Mark Clark of New Braunfels, now has all of Suki's records at his office. This is in direct violation of the Texas VPA statute of records retention at that time which states that Texas vets have to keep patient files on their premises for a period of three years following the date of the last visit. Nichols is once again allowed to flaunt the rules of his own profession and the complaint is closed due to voluntary compliance when Nichols' lawyer Mark Clark finally releases Suki's records. Along with the records we receive a snarky letter from Mark Clark bragging about how I had already had my day in court (referring to the informal conference in Austin, which is NOT a legal proceeding of any kind), and that I had lost. (As an aside, Nichols' lawyer Mark Clark was convicted in 2011 of sexual performance with a minor and sentenced to seven years in prison,  surrendered his law license, and made to register as a sex offender. He is of course appealing his case.)

May 4, 2004

I testify to the Sunset Commission in Austin, Texas, regarding my unsatisfactory experience with the complaint review process at the TBVME, and make recommendations for improving the process, including the following:  the addition of a second board member and a public member on the Enforcement Committee; the committee should be able to determine violations of a nonmedical nature; and that disciplinary records be made more easily available to the public.

 

2004

Victory! Partial, anyway. The 79th Texas Legislature passes HB 1131 which includes my recommended changes to the complaint review process of the Texas State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners, including the addition of a second board vet and a public member to be present at all informal conferences; that the committee will have the authority to determine violations of a non-medical nature; and that the disciplinary records be made more easily available to the public The bill goes into effect September 1, 2005. See Sunset Changes to Vet Board  The most significant change is that NEVER AGAIN WILL A SINGLE BOARD VET HAVE THE UNILATERAL  POWER TO PROTECT A FELLOW VET FROM DISCIPLINARY ACTION BY IGNORING ALL EVIDENCE AS MARTIN GARCIA DVM DID IN SUKI'S CASE. I couldn't protect Suki from Nichols, and I couldn't appeal to Garcia's "conscience" not to protect a colleague based on nothing more than a patient's age. But I damn well made sure that NEVER AGAIN could only ONE BOARD VET be in complete control of the disposition of a board complaint without proper evaluation by at least one other board vet and in some cases more.

2003

I rename my web site The Veterinary Abuse Network, vetabusenetwork.com, to reflect the growing numbers of fellow veterinary victims I am finding locally, nationally, and internationally as a result of veterinary boards refusing to properly discipline vets for overt and egregious violations of the Veterinary Practice Act. 

May 2004

I am quoted in an article in Reader's Digest entitled, "The Power of Forgiveness," in which I relate my experience and state that I made a conscious decision to NEVER forgive Edward J. Nichols DVM for his disgraceful and prolonged mistreatment of Suki. It is a vow that I keep to this day and will keep forever, choosing instead to channel my outrage at this monster's actions by helping to educate people about protecting their pets at the vet, filing board complaints against suspected violators of the Veterinary Practice Act, and speaking out on matters of public concern, health and safety with regard to veterinarians who are in positions of public trust in a profession that polices itself, regulated by vet boards who often look the other way. 

July 21, 2005

I am served with a lawsuit by Edward J. Nichols, DVM, and Edward J. Nichols, d/b/a Crestway Animal Clinic, by his attorneys of record Ann Comerio and Karen Vowell, (Cause No. 2005-CI-11391) for libel regarding the statements on my website vetabusenetwork.com, and for slander for my May 2004 testimony to the Sunset Commission in Austin, along with an application for temporary and permanent injunction and temporary restraining order demanding I remove from my web site his name, the name of Crestway Animal Clinic, and all references to his treatment of Suki. Other claims in the petition  include tortious interference with business prospects, business disparagement, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. (Nichols later withdrew his emotional distress claim when we demanded to see proof of medical treatment and/or insurance claims supporting his claim of emotional distress.) My attorneys of record are Ricardo Cedillo and David Denton of Davis, Cedillo, and Mendoza.

 

July 28, 2005

A hearing on the temporary injunction is held in the Bexar County District Court, San Antonio, Texas, the Hon. Michael Peden presiding. My attorneys argue the unconstitutionality of the injunction. Ed Nichols takes the stand where he once again proves he is as stupid and arrogant as ever. Just like in Austin, Nichols tries repeatedly to get in hearsay testimony until the judge finally warns him that the court will not consider it. Because Nichols and his lawyers had no other evidence to present to the court, Ed Nichols' and Crestway Animal Clinic's motion for temporary injunction is DENIED.

Order denying Nichols/Crestway temporary injunction issued by Judge Peden.

NOTE: I have to interject here that in 2012, Texas passed anti-SLAPP legislation that--had it been in effect in 2005--would likely have brought Nichols' case against me to an early end. SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation)  are unique suits that go after a person's First Amendment rights such as freedom of speech, the press, religion, assembly, and the right to petition government for redress of grievances. Anti-SLAPP legislation protects defendants by requiring the filers of these bully lawsuits to present EVIDENCE of their claims from the beginning. This prevents rich, bully plaintiffs from being allowed to proceed with what is often an abusive and invasive discovery process--"fishing expeditions" into the defendant's personal and professional life--looking for anything they can use to intimidate, threaten, break and/or bankrupt anybody speaking out on matters of public concern, health and safety.

December 2005

Four months after the lower court's ruling, Nichols files an appeal  with the 4th Court of Appeals. No. 04-06-00070-CV  

January 13, 2006

Court ordered mediation is entered into--Nichols and his cadre of attorneys including his defense attorney are in a separate room, and by this time we have filed a counterclaim for veterinary malpractice and fraud. Mediation fails as I refuse to remove Nichols' name, the name of his clinic, or his treatment of Suki from my web site. As I told the mediator judge Pat Boone and my attorneys from day one, my First Amendment rights are non-negotiable, and I will never stop telling Suki's Story no matter how many  crazy-ass lawyers Dr. BigBucks Nichols sics on me. I am telling the TRUTH, FACTS, and PROOF of what he did to Suki. In mediation, Judge Boone warns me that Nichols' lawyers "will tear you apart." I say, let them, because whatever they do to me will be nothing compared to the suffering that a dying, dehydrated Suki went through due to prolonged mistreatment, including unauthorized surgery and anesthesia with no IV fluids at any time. Boone tells me his prediction: I will lose at trial, be ordered to take my site down ("and I have the feeling you're not going to do that" he adds) and then tells me "you can write your little stories from jail." I say fine, whatever. I'm not removing Nichols' name from anything. This "doctor" did what he did and we have the proof. The threat of jail was repeated years later at my deposition when Nichols' lawyers threatened to call the judge during the depo to have me cited for contempt, and yet again when they put in one of their bazillions of motions that both I and my attorney should be imprisoned for ignoring the (unconstitutional) temporary injunction served on me in July of 2005--an injunction that failed both at the lower court and at the appeals level. For the record I was never imprisoned at any time--my  guess is that this was Ann Comerio's dog-and-pony show to impress her filthy rich client that she could indeed deliver threats, intimidation and bullying that are the hallmarks of a SLAPP lawsuit designed to deprive someone of their freedom of speech. But I will not hesitate to go there if anyone ever tries to mess with my First Amendment rights again. And I WILL write my "little stories" from jail. 

 

2006

Discovery begins in Nichols v. Catalano.

2006

I obtain written opinions from three veterinary experts, including a board certified anesthesiologist and assistant professor at Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine, who identifies nine violations of the standard of care committed by Ed Nichols on Suki on one day alone -- April 19, 1999. In my absence and without my knowledge or consent, he put Suki in an induction box and gassed her with halothane and nitrous oxide. Nichols injected my anemic, hypokalemic elderly cat in chronic renal failure with one mg of dexamethasone (steroid) and left her dying, "v. dehydrated" in a cage in "multiple organ shutdown" (both notations in his writing) with no IV fluids, potassium supplementation (her potassium count was 2.9), or so much as a phone call to me. His version was that Suki was in pain from an abscessed tooth and he needed to alleviate her "pain" immediately. (One of his versions to the Enforcement Committee in Austin was that "it was all about the comfort of the pussycat," referring to his questionable use of steroids, but never addressing how "comfort" figured into not administering IV fluids, potassium, Winstrol or Epogen to a cat who needed all of the above.)  Suki showed no signs of pain when I took her in nor is there any symptom of pain recorded on the chart. Who knows what he really did or why he did it? Suki's age, four potentially fatal conditions (none of which are recorded on his chart) and pre-existing CNS disorder disqualified her as a candidate for anesthesia without pre-anesthetic evaluation or bloodwork.. I would have NEVER GIVEN CONSENT for anesthesia had I known what he was doing to her. My other two experts also confirm repeated breaches in the standard of care committed by Nichols on Suki, including inexplicable use of steroids while proper treatments and tests are not performed over many weeks, along with "deficient" record keeping containing no diagnoses of CRF, anemia, hypokalemia, hyperphosphotemia and more; and omissions of weight, temperature, names and dosages of Rx drugs, amount/type/frequency of home subQs, and more.

Nichols so-called "expert" Gary Norsworthy, DVM, in his written report, stayed away from Nichols' provable wrongdoing and chalked up the whole incident to a "monumental misunderstanding."  Two days before his court-ordered deposition Gary Norsworthy DVM was de-designated as Nichols' expert witness before we could get our hands on him, leaving Nichols with no testifying expert and no vet anywhere to this day who can medically explain what Nichols did to Suki. What does it tell you that not even Nichols could produce a testifying veterinary expert witness for HIS side?

July 2006

In our most disappointing setback, the judge dismisses my counterclaim against Nichols for veterinary malpractice and fraud, citing it as outside the statute of limitations. However, the judge added that this dismissal did not affect the merits of the case nor the facts of the case, which would still stand in my defense against Nichols' defamation case against me. The dismissal of my counterclaim was based ONLY on statute of limitations, nothing more. NOTE: People often ask me why didn't I sue Nichols right after Suki's death? My attorney and I had discussed it, as we knew we had enough on him to make his insurance company and defense attorney sweat big time. We knew even then that no one would ever be able to medically defend his prolonged mistreatment of Suki, his unauthorized surgery and anesthesia, and his absolutely PATHETIC records. I didn't want to sue Nichols, believing that it would be better to report this guy to the board to protect other people and animals from this type of "doctor." A lawsuit would benefit only me, not the public, and the public needed to know the truth about this creep. Besides, I couldn't risk giving Nichols another chance to turn himself into the "real" victim like he did with the sheriff's incident. So I never sued Nichols except for this counterclaim that was filed in 2005 in response to his defamation suit--a strategic decision made by my attorneys--and dismissed by the judge due ONLY to statute of limitations in 2006. 

September 13, 2006  

HUGE VICTORY!  The Texas 4th Court of Appeals affirms the trial court’s order denying Nichols' temporary injunction and denies Nichols' appeal.

  Judgment entered AGAINST NICHOLS by the Texas 4th Court of Appeals.

 

February 8, 2007

I testify at the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners public meeting.  

 

March 21-22, 2007

CBS-11 in Dallas/Ft. Worth does a two-part investigative series called “Bad Vets.” I am interviewed for Part 2. Investigative reporter/anchor Tracy Rowlett covers the Texas vet board’s dismissal rate of 92 percent of complaints filed in Texas on veterinary negligence and malpractice. See the two-part series here.   

 

May 2007

Discovery in Nichols v. Catalano ends. 

 

June 14, 2007

I testify at the TBVME public board meeting.

 

October 11, 2007

I testify at the TBVME public board meeting.

 

February 14, 2008

I testify at the TBVME public board meeting.

 

March 2008

After two and a half years of litigation, trial is set for March 10, Cause No. 2005-CI-1139, Nichols and Crestway Animal Clinic v. Catalano, in Bexar County District Court, the Hon. Peter Sakai presiding. 

March 9, 2008

We are ready for trial, with our witness list produced to the judge (no such list had yet been produced to the court at this time by Nichols), boxes of background info, a PowerPoint presentation, Nichols' pathetic patient records, his laughably sucky deposition in which he said under oath that Suki was never under anesthesia even though it's on the chart in his own handwriting, and most of all, our outstanding testifying expert witness from Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine, who had given a brilliant deposition despite Nichols' attorney's desperate attempts to discredit her. . 

Later that same day...

On Sunday night, twelve hours before trial,  Nichols' lawyer Ann Comerio contacts my attorney to talk settlement--settlement of a lawsuit that THEY initiated two and a half years earlier, an obvious SLAPP suit designed to take my First Amendment rights to keep me from telling what Ed Nichols and Crestway Animal Clinic had done to Suki. We were ECSTATIC. As my attorney put it, "They waved the white flag." Yesss!!!! These cowards were on the run. The TRUTH has a way of doing that. 

March 10, 2008

Settlement announcement made in Bexar County District Court. The case of Edward J. Nichols and Crestway Animal Clinic v. Julie Catalano was DISMISSED WITH FINALITY by Judge Peter Sakai. Neither Nichols nor his lawyer Ann Comerio appeared in open court for the announcement, nor have we received a signed copy of the settlement agreement with Nichols' signature on it. 

Later that same day...

I happily sign the settlement agreement entered into the night before between Nichols' lawyer and mine, with my First Amendment rights (and my web site) safe from this control freak who was  disgusting, despicable, and stupid enough to think that his wealth and relentless legal intimidation would "buy" him my freedom of speech, or anybody's, especially in view of the mountain of evidence we had of what he had done to an innocent cat for absolutely no reason except his own toxic arrogance.

June 19, 2008 

I testify at the TBVME public board meeting.

January 2009

FINALLY, TEN MONTHS AFTER the dismissal of Nichols' case against me, we receive a copy of the settlement agreement with Nichols' signature. I have no idea what took so long. The bottom line is that the freak Ed Nichols and his equally freaky lawyer (Ann Comerio, who recently ran a LOSING campaign for chief justice of the 4th Court of Appeals in Texas AND a LOSING campaign for Bexar County District Court Judge) -- are out of my life forever. My First Amendment rights remain completely intact. There is no judgment, ruling, gag order, or verdict against me controlling the content of vetabusenetwork.com or any future sites, and I will continue to the end of my days and beyond to warn pet owners about what the monster Ed Nichols and CRESTWAY ANIMAL HELLHOLE did to Suki and only God knows how many others? 

Epilogue

I continue to pray every day as I have since April 26, 1999, that Ed Nichols and every "doctor" like him will suffer and rot in the deepest bowels of hell for a thousand eternities for what they have managed to get away with for so long. Creeps like these abuse public trust and count on apathetic veterinary board systems to commit only God knows how many atrocities on animal victims who can't talk, and human victims who trust them without question. 

Until the public wises up and does its homework on the vets they choose, and until veterinary boards man up and properly discipline the worst of these creeps, BadVets will continue to thrive based on nothing more than appearances, complicit staff members who often help their employers in their continued abusive behavior, loyal "fans" in complete denial, and the lies that vets spread about their own victims, hoping against hope that enough stupid, trusting people will believe them and not the facts and proof of what they have done to innocent animals. 

For more information on the bully SLAPP lawsuit that Ed Nichols and Crestway Animal Clinic filed against me and the happy outcome for me and the Veterinary Abuse Network, visit Suki's Safe Haven, the official blog of the Veterinary Abuse Network.

Suki's Safe Haven

Any questions on any of the above? Contact me here. 

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