Fono delves into questions around the DOA vet’s qualifications

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Dr. Ken Lameta, a veterinarian originally hired from Samoa to head the small animal clinic at the Department of Agriculture told faipule yesterday morning that he received his license from the Health Regularity Board to allow him to work in American Samoa in 2012, however, his license has since expired and he failed to renew it.

Dr. Lameta, along with the Director of the DOA, Solialealofiotagaloa Iosua Tasi Mutini appeared before House Agriculture Committee yesterday morning to discuss many issues regarding the service of Dr. Lameta in the territory, including drugs taken from the animal clinic and the reason why Dr. Lameta continues to work for the DOA despite the fact that he does not have a license.

Samoa News understands that the veterinarian is not U.S. trained, neither is he U.S. certified. He’s a graduate of the School of Agriculture at Alafua, where he also taught. His veterinarian studies also took him to a university in the Philippines.

When asked why he did not renew his license, he said he provided everything needed to renew his license at the Department of Health (DOH) including his photo, however, the woman working for the DOH failed to get back to him and to inform him about the status of the process.

Vice Speaker of the House, Hon. Fetu Fetui Jr told Dr. Lameta that the committee has received numerous complaints and phone calls from members of the public over what they call the ‘unprofessional’ and ‘unreliable’ services he provides. There were also reports that more than 30 animals have died after he treated them. Fetu said that a pet owner claims that her dog died after the veterinarian failed to render the required services, which was a surgical procedure.

Dr. Lameta told the committee that he was aware of the many complaints against him and of the local media accusing him for things that he never did. He also denied reports that more than 30 animals died after he treated them.

“Those are all false reports,” Dr. Lameta told the committee. He claims that everything happened after he questioned a woman working at the Veterinarian Clinic in Tafuna regarding the reason why she used two different receipt books to enter money that comes into the clinic. He added that one receipt book went to the director at the time, while the other receipt book was under the supervision of the woman.

“Two months after I questioned this lady at the Tafuna vet clinic about the reason why the office has two different receipt books, I was informed that reports are all over the local media accusing me of something that I never did,” Dr. Lameta told the committee.

Rep. Vailiuama Steve Leasiolagi interrupted and requested that the committee chair, Rep. Ape Mike Asifoa advise the witness to refrain from making such statements, which affect vet clinic employees who are unable to appear before the committee to defend themselves.

Rep. Faimealelei Anthony Fu’e Allen questioned the veterinarian regarding his education background.

Dr. Lameta said he received his doctor’s degree from the Philippines and he can perform services in all countries under the Commonwealth and he received his license from Samoa.

Faimealelei told Dr. Lameta that he’s very concerned that he has a Commonwealth license but he’s not licensed to work here in the territory. He also questioned whether he is authorized to order drugs and medicines for animals from off island.

When asked if he’s responsible for more than 30 animals dying because of his services, Dr. Lameta said no, he’s not responsible for them because there were no reports to confirm that it was his failure that caused the problems.

When asked about the investigation into him in the past, Dr. Lameta confirmed to the committee that there was an investigation of him a few years back.

Faimealelei told the DOA director there was a recommendation by the director of the Department of Homeland Security (DHL) to the Attorney General at the time regarding the result of the investigation.

Solialealofiotagaloa said that he was aware of the recommendation and the investigation, along with the many concerns from the public regarding this issue. He also said that Dr. Lameta’s contract is set to expire next month.

However, after reviewing all the concerns along with their future plans, he assured the committee that he has a plan to renew Dr. Lameta’s contract for another year. He then cited to the committee his reasons behind his decision and the committee agreed with the director.

When questioned about drugs for treatment of animals removed from the DOA office a few years back, Solialealofiotagaloa confirmed that the drugs were returned to his office.

Solialealofiotagaloa was informed that there were complaints from lawmakers concerning the NZ drugs and whether they were approved for use in the US.

According to the director’s statement, some of the drugs were expired and they’re working closely with the American Samoa Environmental Protection Agency (AS-EPA) regarding this issue and they are aware of the situation regarding the expired drugs and that EPA would deal with the expired drugs.

Several faipule echoed Faimealelei’s concerns regarding the non-US drugs confiscated by DHL from the Vet clinic in Tafuna.

Fofo Representative Andra Samoa questioned Dr. Lameta about why he did not have a license to work in American Samoa. Dr. Lameta explained that he had had a license to practice in the territory, but it expired in 2012.

Samoa told Dr. Lameta that he should not be working in the territory because he’s not certified to perform any services and moreover, he doesn’t have a license to allow him to work here. Samoa said that she will follow-up on this issue with the Health Regulatory Board.

Ituau Faipule Manumaua Wayne Wilson told Dr. Lameta that if he’s not licensed to work in the territory, the drugs to treat animals and other vaccines for animals should not be under his care. It should be under the LBJ Pharmacy’s care.

Manumaua said that the drugs are very strong and dangerous. He’s worried that the drugs could end up in the hands of the wrong people because reports say that these drugs can be also used to manufacture illegal drugs.

Pago Pago Faipule Vesiai Poyer Samuel told Dr. Lameta that he needs to renew his license in order for him to continue his service in American Samoa.

Vesiai told the committee that his children were among those people who lost their pets at the hands of this man and he can’t get this out of his mind, especially when he thinks back on how his children reacted when their pet died.

The DOA director agreed and told the committee that this is going to be another requirement for the renewal of Dr. Lameta’s contract — that he must be licensed to perform his service in the territory. The director further told the committee this doctor has the lowest salary of any doctor in the territory, which is $40,000 per year.

Vesiai said he isn’t worried about the vet’s salary. He’s more interested in getting him licensed before he performs his services in the territory. With regards to the doctor’s salary, Vesi’ai said whether it’s $40,000 or even $10,000, he should be thankful that he’s getting paid.

BACKGROUND

It was during the beginning of last year that drugs were confiscated from DOA director’s Office because there was no licensed vet to prescribe them at the time.

The Department of Homeland Security had removed the drugs from the Vet Clinic along with a supply of drugs for the treatment of animals that had been ordered from New Zealand in November 2019.

Homeland Security Director Samana Semo Veavea explained to Samoa News last year that the reason why they took the drugs was because at the time there was no vet present to subscribe them.

The invoice for the order with freight costs was $10,622 and had been ordered by Dr. Lameta, who is now taking care of livestock after complaints about him escalated after members of the public came forward claiming their pets had died after treatment from the veterinarian.

One of the first stories reported by local media was that one of the Customs K-9 dog almost died due to an alleged mis-diagnosis by Dr. Lameta.