INVESTIGATION: Texas Veterinary Disciplinary Records Missing on TBVME Public Lookup Tool

June 6, 2022

INVESTIGATIVE SUMMARY:
Six years ago, lawmakers called on the Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners (TBVME), the state agency tasked with licensing and regulating Texas veterinarians to address some ‘concerning’ data reliability issues. Specifically, the agency was supposed to fix its licensee look-up website — a tool that enables pet-owners to search for their veterinarian’s disciplinary history. Just months before this agency’s next legislative review, KXAN investigators (Austin, Texas NBC affiliate – a nationally-recognized, award-winning team of journalists) discovered dozens of disciplinary records still missing from the look-up tool.

Want to look up your pet’s vet? Some Texas records may be missing online (5.12.22)
https://www.kxan.com/investigations/want-to-look-up-your-pets-vet-some-texas-records-may-be-missing-online/

  • The Governor’s press secretary Renae Eze sent this statement to KXAN:
    “The Texas Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners has faithfully followed all recommendations from the sunset commission — including those related to uploading disciplinary documents and Agreed Orders and improvements to the board’s data management system. The implementation of some of these recommendations are ongoing, as the board has faced delays due to unforeseen issues such as staff vacancies, issues with IT contractors, and other technical difficulties. Despite these delays, the board has worked closely with the sunset commission throughout this process to ensure all recommendations are followed, and the board remains committed to ensuring the best possible quality of veterinary and equine dental provider services for the people and animals of Texas.”

RELATED:

Part 2: Is your pet’s vet safe? Backlogged Texas cases may make it hard to know (5.13.22)
https://www.kxan.com/investigations/is-your-pets-vet-safe-backlogged-texas-cases-may-make-it-hard-to-know/

  • The state agency receives hundreds of complaints a year about its licensees, according to agency logs. KXAN takes a closer look at why only a few hundred licensees have been disciplined over the last five years, and why the agency reports hundreds of ongoing cases tied up in its legal department — awaiting next steps.

President, executive director resign from Texas vet board amid KXAN investigation (5.23.22)
https://www.kxan.com/investigations/president-executive-director-resign-from-texas-vet-board-amid-kxan-investigation/

Texas veterinary board uploads missing records after KXAN investigation (6.2.22)
https://www.kxan.com/investigations/texas-veterinary-board-uploads-missing-records-after-kxan-investigation/

  • The newly appointed Interim Executive Director, Mike Tacker, said he would look into the status of these records. This week he reported that the issue had been “rectified.”

TEXAS BOARD OF VETERINARY MEDICAL EXAMINERS:
https://www.veterinary.texas.gov/index.php