Indiana Optometry Medical Malpractice Lawyers
Healthcare professionals recommend people have a comprehensive eye examination every one or two years, depending on age and risk factors. A comprehensive eye exam does more than just test vision. It often involves a review of your personal and family health history, an evaluation of your vision to detect possible nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism, an eye pressure test and an examination of the optic nerve, and an examination of the interior of your eye to identify other eye problems such as cataracts. If you require glasses to correct your vision, your eye exam can include additional testing.
Patients place their trust in the hands of their eye doctors to properly test, diagnose, and treat eye health issues they present. When eye care professionals like optometrists and ophthalmologists fail to diagnose diseases and conditions of the eye, a patient’s health and vision are at risk.
Detached Retina Injury
The retina is a thin layer of nerve cells located at the back of the eye. A detached retina occurs when that layer of cells peels away from the back of the eye. There are several reasons this may happen, age, trauma to the eye, and some medical conditions like diabetes are a few things that could cause a detached retina. Symptoms of a detached retina include:
- Flashes of light in one or both eyes
- Floaters- gray or black specks floating in your field of vision
- A heavy feeling in the eye
- A shadow that starts to appear in the peripheral vision and spreads towards the middle of your field of vision
- A sensation that a transparent curtain is coming down over the field of vision
A permanent loss of vision can result if a detached retina is not treated promptly. Treatment may vary based on the severity of the detachment or if the retina is torn.
Summary of a failure to diagnose detached retina claim
A patient sought treatment from two optometrists for visual disturbances including floaters, shadows, and flashes in his vision, as well as a bubble in the eye. The optometrists failed to order the appropriate tests to check his symptoms and failed to diagnose the man’s worsening retinal injury. The delay in diagnosis caused the man’s retina to detach requiring emergency surgery and causing permanent issues including blurred and double vision in the affected eye.
Your rights in an optometry medical malpractice claim
If you or someone you know has suffered a partial or permanent loss of vision or other serious personal injury due to optometry medical negligence, contact us. Our medical malpractice lawyers can discuss your claim and advise you of your legal rights and options.
