• 12
  • July
    2011

Medical malpractice cases almost always involve profound and painful suffering because of an unacceptable medical error. That is certainly the case for a 60-year-old man who lost an eye in a terrible example of a grievous medical mistake.

The man went to a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospital to have a routine cataract surgery. Before the actual procedure began, a third year resident prepared some anesthetic in a syringe. She brought the needle to the patient's eye.

The proper procedure was to inject the anesthetic behind the eye. Unfortunately, in this instance, the resident injected the anesthetic directly into the patient's eyeball.

In addition, she injected the anesthetic very quickly. The effect of the sudden infusion of fluid directly into the patient's eyeball was that the eyeball actually exploded.

The patient sued the VA for medical malpractice. His lawsuit claimed that he suffered excruciating pain when the anesthetic was injected into his eye, and that the pain lasted for months after the incident.

The suit also pointed out the increased risk of blindness for the patient, since he now has only one working eye. His depth perception has been adversely affected by losing one eye, so he has been unable to return to his profession as a roofer.

The iris of the affected eye is missing, and the eyelid droops.

Miami medical malpractice attorneys will tell you that many malpractice cases hinge on subtle actions by health care providers, actions that require specialized medical experts in order to prove that the conduct was negligent. This is not one of those cases.

The case was recently settled for $925,000 in damages.

Source: ctpost.com "VA pays $925,000 in Bridgeport exploding eyeball suit" 6/27/2011