The human eye is an intricate, complex organ that is a crucial part of a typical person’s life. When an eye becomes injured or diseased, the person affected may be at risk for permanent vision loss. In Hawaii and elsewhere, it seems that such injuries have all too often occurred because of surgical mistakes made during cataracts surgeries.
Any patient undergoing a surgical procedure involving anesthesia risks complications. However, one never assumes that problems will arise due to preventable medical errors. Recent reports indicate many patients have been injured due to the administration of incorrect doses of anesthesia prior to surgery. Other injury reports include wrong lens implantation and surgeries being performed on the wrong patients.
A center devoted to patient safety has been promoting tools to help surgeons avoid preventable mistakes during eye surgeries. No patient should have to suffer permanent vision loss due to errors that could have been avoided. For instance, most surgeons understand that the least amount of anesthesia possible should be administered to a patient to avoid surgery complications.
The law in Hawaii allows a medical patient who has been injured by surgical mistakes to seek compensation for damages by filing a medical malpractice claim in court. A first logical step to take in the process would be to discuss the situation with an experienced personal injury attorney in the area. Once an attorney has investigated a claim, he or she is often able to enlist the aid of various experts whose testimonies can help substantiate the cause of an injury.
Source: wwlp.com, “Patient safety center report targets cataract surgery “never events”“, Katie Lannan, May 12, 2016