Doc not 'horsing' around with suit against Penn

Peter Allinson is a board-certified physician practicing at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore. Yet all his years of medical training could not save Tess. He thought he knew how to save her, but he says University doctors didn't listen to him when he suggested his course of action. Why? Because Tess is a horse and "horses are different than people," said Peggy Marsh, a veterinarian in the Penn Health System, according to a recent lawsuit. "[Allinson] is a people doctor, not a horse doctor," she allegedly said, according to the text of the lawsuit. The horse died the day after Allinson brought her to the University-affiliated New Bolton Center. And two years later, Allinson filed suit against Marsh, another veterinarian and the University alleging negligence in the treatment that his Arabian mare received. Allinson, a resident of Kingsville, Md., is demanding judgement in the amount of $100,000 plus punitive damages to cover the loss of Tesoro Especial, or Tess. Allinson's lawyer, Timothy Rayne, declined to comment. University officials only recently became aware of the suit and have not yet formulated a response, said Penn spokesperson Ken Wildes. According to the suit, Allinson and Marsh disagreed about how to treat Tess' "depression and decreased bowel sounds." Allinson thought she had a condition which needed immediate surgery, while Marsh thought it could be treated medically. When Allinson noticed the problem, he spoke with his regular vet; both agreed that Tess needed immediate surgery. Upon admittance on January 26, 1997, to the New Bolton Center -- the Penn Veterinary School's 24-hour emergency facility in Kennett Square, Pa. -- Tess was seen by Marsh, the resident on call. According to the suit, Marsh did not perform standard tests like X-rays or ultrasounds, even after being asked to do so. Allinson disagreed with Marsh's analysis, citing his own medical expertise, but both Marsh and Sports Medicine Professor Eric Parente, the other vet specifically named in the suit, concluded that Tess did not require surgery. Tess' condition worsened, and the veterinary staff still declined to operate. The next day, Tess collapsed and died. A post-mortem examination revealed that Tess died as a result of a mechanical bowel obstruction, just as Allinson claims he told the Penn doctors the horse would do without surgery. The University has to officially respond to the lawsuit before it can proceed. The case could go to trial by this summer.

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