has filed a malpractice lawsuit against two South Florida veterinarians<\/a>, alleging the mistake delayed the surgery Apex actually needed and left him facing additional expenses. <\/p>\nA limp leads to surgery<\/p>\n
Apex, who is just shy of his second birthday, began limping as a puppy \u2014 according to Raphie Shin, whose boyfriend is the dog\u2019s owner. So, they took Apex to their vet.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe kind of whimpered when he manipulated his right shoulder. And so, he said, \u2018OK, let\u2019s get X-rays,\u2019\u201d Shin said. <\/p>\n
According to an exhibit filed in the lawsuit, a radiology report revealed a \u201c\u2026right shoulder lesion \u2026 typical of osteochondrosis (OCD)\u201d \u2014 a developmental joint disease that mostly affects large-breed dogs.<\/p>\n
Shin said their veterinarian recommended surgery.<\/p>\n
In April 2025, they took Apex to Good Care Animal Clinic in southwest Miami-Dade for the procedure.<\/p>\n
Shin said they were told the surgery had been successful and they could pick up Apex later in the day. <\/p>\n
\u2018It was shocking\u2019<\/p>\n
But once Apex returned home, Shin said they quickly realized something was wrong.<\/p>\n
Instead of a surgical incision on his right shoulder, Apex had been shaved and stitched on his left shoulder.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was shocking. We were in disbelief,\u201d Shin said.<\/p>\n
The discovery has sparked an eight-month legal battle that is now playing out in Miami-Dade court.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit, filed last November by Apex\u2019s owner, names the veterinarian who performed the surgery, Mario Cabrera, and two of his businesses. <\/p>\n
Cabrera promotes his mobile veterinary surgery business online, saying they travel to practices in the area in a GMC Hummer: \u201cI am fortunate to have teamed up with veterinarians from more than 100 hospitals in South Florida,\u201d Cabrera said in a video posted on the Cutting Edge Surgical Referrals website. <\/p>\n
Adalberto Cotelo is also a defendant in the lawsuit. The veterinarian did not perform the surgery, but his Good Care Animal Clinic billed for the procedure. <\/p>\n
Vets acknowledge wrong-side surgery<\/p>\n
In a court filing responding to the lawsuit, the defendants admitted that \u201cDr. Cabrera mistakenly performed a surgery on Apex\u2019s left shoulder\u201d and they \u201c\u2026did not initially realize their error\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n
The filing states that after recognizing the mistake, Cabrera apologized and told the dog\u2019s owner there was a lesion on the left side that would have needed attention in the future. <\/p>\n
But Willard Shepard, the attorney for Apex\u2019s owner and a former NBC South Florida reporter, disputes that explanation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was never any reason to cut open the left shoulder at all,\u201d Shepard said. <\/p>\n
Shepard points to an email, filed as part of the lawsuit, from the board-certified veterinary surgeon who later operated on Apex\u2019s right shoulder.<\/p>\n
In that email, that vet wrote that Apex\u2019s \u201c\u2026left shoulder was completely normal\u2026\u201d and \u201c\u2026was likely opened and no procedure was performed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not complicated at all. It is a difference between knowing your right and your left,\u201d Shepard said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey didn\u2019t tell him when they called him, \u2018Hey, we operated on the wrong limb.\u2019 They let him pick up the animal. They didn\u2019t say a word to him.\u201d <\/p>\n
Court records show the defendants offered to perform surgery on Apex\u2019s right shoulder at no cost. Apex\u2019s owner declined the offer. <\/p>\n
Refund dispute<\/p>\n
The lawsuit also alleges the defendants refused to immediately refund the cost of the surgery and that getting the nearly $5,200 returned was conditioned on Apex\u2019s owner signing a confidential settlement. The defendants denied the allegation in a court filing. <\/p>\n
The money was ultimately returned more than two months later, according to the complaint. <\/p>\n
The attorney for Cotelo and Good Care Animal Clinic told NBC South Florida in an email: \u201cWhile we appreciate your journalistic efforts, we simply cannot comment on pending litigation. Doing so runs the risk of influencing any future jury empaneled in the case.\u201d<\/p>\n
NBC South Florida also reached out to Cabrera\u2019s attorney for comment but has not received a response.<\/p>\n
Shin said the situation has taken both an emotional and financial toll: \u201cIt\u2019s been a big financial burden. We couldn\u2019t get Apex the correct surgery till three months later because we had to wait to make the money.\u201d <\/p>\n
Although Apex has since undergone surgery on the correct shoulder, Shin said he continues to struggle with mobility issues, requiring therapy and limiting him to short walks. She worries about his future. <\/p>\n
\u201cI just want Apex to have like as normal as possible, a normal life,\u201d she said. \u201cBecause he didn\u2019t have his normal puppyhood. I just want him to be pain-free.\u201d<\/p>\n
What\u2019s next <\/p>\n
Apex\u2019s owner has filed complaints against both veterinarians with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Both veterinarians have active licenses.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit is ongoing in Miami-Dade County Court.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A South Florida dog owner said he took his young Cane Corso named Apex in for surgery on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356491,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-356490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=356490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/356490\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=356490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=356490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=356490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}