Page 12 - Palm City Spotlight - May '23

Page 12, Palm City Spotlight

tip of tHe tAiL

Cannabis Exposure difficult for clinicians to diagnose and to treat. Furthermore, to enjoy the edibles you purchased without having to pay an

drug testing these pets is often unreliable. Currently the only expensive veterinary bill on top of it.
rapid testing on the market is for humans and recent studies Established in 1981, Palm City Animal Medical Center
indicate that there are validity concerns due to metabolite is dedicated to providing the best possible care for your
variances between canines and humans. pets. With focuses on compassionate care in surgery,
Bottom line, the use of medicinal or recreational marijuana physical therapy and rehabilitation, preventative medicine,
is here to stay, as is a dog’s propensity to find things he should extensive diagnostics, and emergency service, Palm City
not get into. Just like when you have children in your home, Animal Medical Center combines exceptional medical
you lock up dangerous things in high cabinets, a locked care with a caring philosophy for pets and their owners.
drawer, or an area where wandering hands (or in this case, For more information, call (772) 283-0920, visit www.
curious noses) cannot get into. The same principles should palmcityanimalmedicalcenter.com or find us on Facebook
apply when you have pets in your home. This will allow you at www.facebook.com/PalmCityAnimalClinic.

On a typical Wednesday a few weeks ago at Palm City
Animal Medical Center the doctors and staff were all busy reAL estAte
seeing appointments and performing scheduled surgeries
when a dog was rushed into the hospital for sudden onset
neurologic signs and abnormal behavior. During his exam
he was barely able to stand, had urinary incontinence, Treasure Coast Real Estate To try and solve these problems, Governor DeSantis
a low heart rate and a fever after being outside playing Report convened a special legislative session to comprehensively
at SandyPaws just prior to the onset of signs. We began deal with the issue. A complex and detailed law was
treating him for shock in an attempt to stabilize him while Property Insurance Rates Are Ridiculously passed overwhelmingly in both houses of the legislature,
getting to the bottom of his diagnosis. While performing and was signed into law on December 16, 2022, and
tests we placed him in an ICU run with IV fluids and strict High, But You May Be Able To Lower became effective on January 1, 2023.
monitoring where he continued to decline, becoming more Yours By 25 Percent A major part of this bill is that if homeowners agree
lethargic and less responsive despite treatment. It was during to mandatory binding arbitration, rather than suing,
this time he also began vomiting, at first large amounts of By Jim Weix they can get policy discounts on new and renewal
water but eventually he vomited up what appeared to be a Why is homeowner’s policies of up to 25 percent in 2023.
plastic ziplock bag. Upon inspecting this bag we discovered insurance in Florida Another part of the bill deals with the assignment of
the cause of his symptoms was cannabis ingestion. The so expensive? The benefits or AOB. These AOB contracts have long been
ziplock bag was punctured and open, but multiple edibles answer is hurricanes abused by dishonest contractors seeking to obtain large
were found still inside the bag and more were found in his and fraud. According settlements by convincing homeowners to sign away their
vomit. Now knowing that this doodle was suffering from to The National rights to any claims under the homeowner’s insurance policy.
the effects of THC, we were able to treat him appropriately Insurance Crime Bureau, Fraudulent contractors then inflate the claims to secure larger
with IVs and supportive care and he ultimately made a full, “Insurance fraud and settlements – without benefit to the victim homeowner. One
albeit expensive, recovery. abuse is rampant in way attorney fees have fueled the explosion of frivolous
You would think this case was an uncommon one since the state of Florida, lawsuits in Florida in recent years is by incentivizing
we don’t live in a major metropolitan area. Unfortunately, costing homeowners and attorneys to create disputes and inflate claims.
this is far from the truth and treating stoned dogs is now insurance carriers billions of dollars each year.” My insurance company is offering a 20 percent discount
a fairly common occurrence. With the increasing use of Due to this, Florida homeowners have been facing on my $6,000 premium if I agree to mandatory binding
medicinal marijuana throughout the country, and the various rapidly increasing insurance rates, liquidations, and arbitration. My only reservation is that the insurance
oral formulations that cannabis is now available in, the rise failures of their carriers, over the last few years. As a company gets to pick the arbitrator. To me, that sounds
of THC toxicity in canines is alarming. In the past six years, result of rapidly increasing litigation over claims in the like asking the fox to guard the henhouse.
there’s been more than a 400 percent increase in calls about state courts, and other factors, insurance companies Maybe this is the answer to lower rates, but I would
marijuana poisoning to the Pet Poison Helpline, and vets are in Florida were facing increasing difficulty in getting suggest talking to your attorney before agreeing to it.
reporting a greater than 60 percent increase in cases they are required reinsurance, among other problems. Feel free to call me if you would like to discuss
seeing come into their practices. To put a perspective on the “excessive” homeowner your options. I can be reached at (772) 341-2941 or
The most common symptoms included urinary claims in Florida, the country’s third largest state in jimweix@jimweix.com.
incontinence, disorientation, an abnormal drunken gait, population (having just surpassed New York) in 2021 Jim Weix is a broker associate with The Keyes
lethargy, increased sensitivity to stimuli, a slow heart rate, there were 100,000 lawsuits in Florida with claims totaling Company. Jim has 25 years of experience selling real
and hypothermia. These symptoms usually present within 30 $7.8 billion in damages, whereas the other 49 states had a estate full-time. If you have questions or want the services
minutes to an hour from time of ingestion and can last anywhere total of 24,000 cases claiming $2.4 billion. In other words, of an experienced expert, you can reach Jim at (772) 341-
from 24 to 72 hours. Although prognosis with appropriate Florida wins the national award for fraud. 2941 or jimweix@jimweix.com.
treatment is usually excellent, there has been a rise in fatalities
recently due in large part to the increase in THC concentration
now found in marijuana products. Dogs don’t know just to eat
one-fourth of a cookie or one edible, and since they metabolize
medications much differently than humans do, they feel the
effects of THC to a much greater degree.
An additional complication is that many of today’s edibles
come packaged in chocolate and fruit flavors, which are
highly attractive treats to pets and also can be highly toxic.
Chocolate, grapes, raisins, and xylitol are just a few of the
ingredients being used that cause significant health issues in
our pets. A pet who has gotten into these types of edibles may
be suffering from a multidrug toxicity, which makes it more

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