Eye Surgery Mistakes: Legal Options After Blindness and Vision Loss
When patients undergo eye surgery to correct vision issues, it’s reasonable for them to expect their vision will be better than it was before surgery. Sadly, surgical errors can damage vision and lead to other life-changing consequences.
Patients who have suffered harm during eye surgery due to a medical professional’s negligence may have a strong case for a medical malpractice lawsuit. At Younker Hyde Macfarlane, PLLC, our medical malpractice attorneys help hold negligent doctors liable while recovering the maximum settlement for injuries and other damages.
If you are looking for a medical malpractice lawyer in Utah, specifically Salt Lake City, we welcome you to schedule a consultation with the attorneys of Younker Hyde Macfarlane.
Eye Surgery Mistakes and Vision Problems
No surgery is without risk but ophthalmologists are expected to perform eye surgeries at a reasonable standard of care. However, making careless mistakes is negligent and can cause significant harm to patients, sometimes causing vision loss or blindness.
- LASIK: LASIK surgery is used to correct refractive errors and make vision clearer. Surgical errors can result in problems like corneal ecstacia, a condition where the cornea bulges, as well as retinal detachment. Vision may become blurrier than it was before surgery.
- Cataract surgery: Cataract surgery involves the removal of the eye’s natural, clouded lens and replacing it with an artificial lens. Errors in placement of the new lens can cause blurry vision and bleeding. Errors in using surgical tools can also cause retinal detachment and blindness.
- Retinal procedures: Retinal procedures are often performed to correct problems with the retina, the light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye. Errors during retinal surgery can cause a retinal tear, double vision, severe bleeding in the eye, blindness, and in rare instances the loss of an eye.
Types of Eye Surgery Mistakes
When mistakes are made during eye surgery, it can cause serious harm to the patient’s vision, sometimes resulting in vision loss or blindness. Some possible eye surgery mistakes include:
- Leaving instruments in the patient’s eye
- Performing surgery on the wrong eye
- Failure to follow-up with patient after surgery
- Misdiagnosing a condition leading to providing an unnecessary treatment
- Failure to sanitize surgical or exam equipment
- Failure to address complications that arise during or after surgery
When Are Mistakes Considered Medical Malpractice?
It’s important to understand that vision problems after eye surgery can occur at no fault of an ophthalmologist but simply as a known complication of surgery. For example, during cataract surgery blood may collect between the cornea and iris and affect vision. Although this can occur without any surgical errors, this could be caused by an error if the blood vessel was negligently damaged during surgery.
With this in mind, it can be complicated determining whether vision loss or blindness after eye surgery was an unfortunate complication of surgery or caused by a negligent surgical error. Speaking with a medical malpractice attorney can clear up the confusion. A medical malpractice attorney can gather evidence and speak with other medical professionals to determine whether medical malpractice occurred.
Schedule a Consultation at Younker Hyde Macfarlane
If you have been injured by a medical professional’s negligence during eye surgery, you may be entitled to compensation through a medical malpractice claim. To discuss your case and learn more about your legal options, we encourage you to schedule a consultation with our Utah medical malpractice attorneys.