Veterinary Medicine has many problems: Overcharging clients and advising unnecessary tests and procedures isn’t one of them. And when 20/20 or another journalist bring up an “expose” on veterinary medicine–the public is more then happy to accept it. They eat it up.
And that’s why veterinary medicine has so many problems–the legit problems that’s I’ve mentioned about the Wal-Mart employee issues. The small business woes. The general public still sees pets as a commodity. And the law sees them as property. So veterinary medicine is easily portrayed as a shopping rip-off. These exposes are not advising that veterinarians aren’t doing enough for the pet (as some might with, say, the topic of obesity), they are telling the public that their vet wants TOO much healthcare.
Anyway, in all my experience (14 years now) as a vet assistant, sometimes a very unhappy one, I have never had an employer charging a fair or comparable exam fee. Of all the nail trims I’ve done–probably one-tenth was charged to the owner’s bill–the rest were free. We routinely give baths, clip matts, or do other small procedures that do require time, but don’t go to the owner’s bill. And unlike human medicine, if there is a mistake, miscommunication, or just buyers remorse, they fees will be reduced or eliminated altogether (by the vet). So the problem is actually the OPPOSITE of what the exposes/news stories challenge–vets charge too little, and constantly have to negotiate on the behalf of the animal to do ANY 
tests/treatments, because people choose not to make their animal’s health a priority. Veterinarians rarely get to employ the *gold standard* diagnostic or treatment. They have to cater to low-budget options instead. And that affects the business, wages, and future hiring ability. Give away enough services and suddenly, there’s no money for bonuses, raises, or to replace a missing worker. It all trickles down.
So vets aren’t in the business to make money and gouge you. If they were–well they would be dentists, and I and all the other skilled workers like me, would be paid appropriately. Veterinarians would be making the salary they are WORTH. Instead of having the highest school debt, and lowest pay of any professional. Instead of making a couple of dollars above minimum wage for my experience, BS in Animal Science, and dedication–as well as SKILL–I would be getting the pay (and benefits) of a human nurse. Substantially higher. AND, instead of having people just off the street working at vet hospitals, and largely unregulated employment rules/policies, there would be more eyes on the business if public perception of veterinary hospitals switched from shopping-service to medical necessity.
The public’s perception of animal importance and the media’s coverage of stupid things coupled with silence about actual problems in the career is the real problem with veterinary medicine–but where’s the expose on that?
Related articles
kit10phish.wordpress.com 
Catty Remarks