Claiming Medical Malpractice After a Visit to Your Ophthalmologist

All physicians are bound by a duty to protect their patients, even those who choose to practice a specialty.

An ophthalmologist is a physician who deals only with conditions related to vision in patients. His certifications allow him to treat eye conditions with medications or surgery. Just like with any other physician or medical specialist, an ophthalmologist can make an error. Sometimes the mistake is a minor one, corrected almost immediately, while others can be more severe and cause permanent injury to the eye. If a procedure performed by your ophthalmologist actually made your vision worse, contact a Missouri medical malpractice attorney.

The Risk of Laser Technology

Ophthalmology has seen many breakthroughs for treatment methods over the last decade, specifically with the use of laser technology to treat common eye problems. With these advances come an increased chance of risk to patients, either for a result which leaves the vision worse than before or in some cases blind. A torn retina is the most common issue known with these procedures, and if not treated in time can leave a patient blind permanently.

Devastating Losses

It can be difficult to try and explain just how devastating losing your vision is to a jury. While the concept may be understood they find it difficult to imagine it in a real world sense. A Missouri medical malpractice attorney has the arduous task of trying to demonstrate to the sighted all of the difficulties a suddenly blind plaintiff will now be facing.

A Missouri jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff along with an award in the amount of $1.1 million in a case involving the failure of an ophthalmologist to diagnose and treat a retinal repair before permanent blindness occurred. In a case where the blindness is only in one eye, it is important that a jury understand the handicap that puts on a plaintiff. Many people are unaware that a person requires correct vision in both eyes to properly gauge depth perception.

Loss of Depth Perception

Without depth perception a person loses the ability to do fine tasks such as align a hammer to a nail. Both skilled laborers and professionals rely on depth perception to perform their job correctly. The loss of earnings may need to be considered in a case where the plaintiff relied highly on depth perception to successfully perform their work.

The Four Criteria To Be Met

As with all medical malpractice litigation, a case against an ophthalmologist needs to meet four criteria before it can even be considered by the court. The first is to show the relationship between the physician and the plaintiff. This is usually not a hard thing to prove unless the case is against a consulting physician who never actually had any contact with the injured party. Next, proof that the doctor was negligent should be presented. This is where the testimony of a medical expert will be applied. He will need to demonstrate how the defendant physician did not follow a standard of care in your case. They do this by offering an opinion of how another physician would have acted when presented with a similar circumstance.

Next, he will have to show the third part of a medical malpractice claim, which is how the negligence of the physician is the cause of the injury to the plaintiff and not a symptom of the original medical issue. The last part is where the plaintiff’s attorney makes a case for how much in damages is deserved by the patient based on the amount of additional medical expenses and loss of wages they incurred.

Taking care of your vision is an important part of staying healthy and active, especially as we get older. If yours was compromised due to the negligence of your ophthalmologist, it is important to speak with Zevan and Davidson Law Firm at (314) 588-2700 about filing a claim to help you recover any damages.

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