What is Eye Surgery Malpractice and When Does it Occur?

The most common types of eye surgeries are LASIK surgery, retina surgery and cataract surgery.  LASKI surgery alters a person’s vision and eliminates the need to wear contacts or eyeglasses.  Retina surgery encompasses many types of procedures.  The type of procedure received depends on the eye condition of the patient.  Cataract surgery is performed when the lens that covers the eye becomes cloudy, impairing a person’s ability to see clearly.  During this surgery, the cloudy lens is replaced.

Errors can occur with any of these surgeries.  Examples and causes of errors include:

• Performing surgery on the wrong eye
• Not having adequate knowledge of the procedure
• Performing surgeries that are not necessary
• Failing to perform an assessment prior to the surgery or following up post-surgery
• Using surgical tools carelessly
• Misreading or ignoring laboratory results
• Not following up with patients after the surgery
• Prematurely discharging a patient
• Disregarding or failing to take appropriate patient history
• Delaying surgery unnecessarily, resulting in further complications
• Staff or doctors being inattentive
• Failing to construct a surgical plan
• Making careless decision

Errors can result in many types of visual impairments that can last for the rest of the patient’s life.  Unfortunately it is difficult for the negative effects of corrective eye surgery to be undone.  The types of injuries a patient can suffer after a negligently performed eye surgery include:

• Permanent blindness
• The inability to see contract
• Impaired depth perception
• Blurry vision
• Seeing spots, halos or flurries
• Seeing double or triple vision
• Dry eyes

A legal duty exists for medical professionals to follow a necessary standard of care.  In order or a victim of medical malpractice to have a claim against the negligent medical professional it must be shown that the level of care provided fell below the standard of care.

But what do you think?  I would love to hear from you!  Leave a comment or I also welcome your phone call on my toll-free cell at 1-866-889-6882 or you can drop me an e-mail at jfisher@fishermalpracticelaw.com.  You are always welcome to request my FREE book, The Seven Deadly Mistakes of Malpractice Victims, at the home page of my website at www.protectingpatientrights.com.