Eye Injury Compensation Claims
An eye injury can, if severe enough, result in a medical emergency because without quick treatment it could result in visual impairment or blindness. Such an injury can have a devastating impact on someone’s life so if you or someone you know has suffered an eye injury because of suspected sub-standard medical care (or because of someone else’s fault) you could be entitled to compensation.
Click here for information about our leading medical negligence team and Why you Should Choose Us to help you pursue eye injury compensation. If you want to talk to speak directly to our solicitors call us now on 0113 245 8549 or complete our contact form and our lawyers will call you back.
What is an Eye Injury?
An eye injury occurs when the eye itself and/or surrounding nerves or blood vessels are damaged, which can lead to deterioration in eyesight, loss of vision or even complete blindness. If this injury is caused by sub-standard treatment from a medical professional, an eye injury compensation claims may be brought against the responsible party.
How serious is an eye injury?
Injuries such as small scratches, cuts and bruises of the eyelid tend to heal on their own. However, corneal abrasions, acute hyphaemia and punctured eyeballs are serious injuries and require immediate medical attention.
Any of these injuries, if misdiagnosed or mistreated by a doctor, can be grounds for a medical negligence eye claim against the party responsible for the diagnosis/treatment.
How to make an Eye Injury Medical Negligence Claim?
When making eye injury claims it is usually necessary to prove a direct link between the negligent medical care and the eye injury. This can be difficult and complex in some cases, which is why it’s important to instruct experienced professionals to act on your behalf.
Our team of expert eye injury claim solicitors will talk you through each step of the process and explain the legal tests required to succeed with the claim. It will be necessary to demonstrate that an avoidable eye injury was caused because of poor medical treatment that has caused injury. Medical experts help us determine this.
What Types of Eye Injury Negligence Occur?
Our legal experts have acted for clients in a wide range of different eye injury compensation claims. We have a wealth of experience in advising clients and obtaining significant compensation for them and have set out below some of the different types of eye injuries that might occur:
- The failure to diagnose and treat retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) can be cause for an eye injury claim. This is a disease that occurs in premature babies (particularly those less than 32 weeks gestation with low birth weight and requiring help with their breathing on delivery) that can cause a loss of vision if it is not diagnosed and treated early. All new-born babies within the risk criteria mentioned should undergo regular eye screening examinations with a doctor to look for ROP.
- Visual impairment or Blindness because of a birth injury, specifically, lack of oxygen. This can lead to problems such as hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy and cerebral palsy (click here for our dedicated page on birth injuries and here for information about cerebral palsy) but also serious problems with vision that can impair sight or cause blindness.
- A delay in the diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma is often the cause of medical negligence eye claims. Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness, especially if left untreated. Increased intra ocular pressure can damage the optic nerve that transmits images through the eyes to your brain. If this pressure is not treated, glaucoma can cause permanent visual problems and, in severe cases, permanent blindness within a few years. Regular eye health care checks should identify glaucoma.
- Sub-standard cataract eye surgery or a delay in diagnosis and treatment. A cataract is where the lens within the eye becomes cloudy over time causing a reduction in vision. If there is a delay in diagnosis of this condition or problems with surgery this can result in eye injuries.
- Sub-standard laser eye surgery. When this surgery goes wrong, the effects can be devastating. A laser reshapes the front surface (cornea) of the eye so in order to try and improve focus. Laser eye surgery can correct short sightedness, long sightedness and astigmatism but, if the surgery is not performed properly, it can cause considerable problems with eyesight as well as side effects such as visual disturbance and double vision.
If you have suffered any of the injuries listed above, you maybe entitled to bring medical negligence eye claim against the party responsible.
How much compensation can you get for an eye injury?
An eye injury can cause different problems that may affect people in different ways. Eye injury compensation for sub-standard medical care causing an avoidable injury can be substantial.
The extent of any injury and the impact on a person’s vision together with a detailed assessment of how any injury detrimentally affects their life, will determine the amount of compensation they can receive for their eye injury claims. For example, whether that person is now unable to work and the level of care, support and specialist equipment they might need.
Eye Injury Case Studies
1. Example A – Adam
Adam suffered from a rare ophthalmic condition called dispersion glaucoma. He believed that he has received poor Hospital care that had caused his eye condition to worsen.
Our approach
We investigated the standard of medical care Adam had received. Our team of lawyers located an expert ophthalmologist and instructed him to report on whether Adam’s treating doctors had missed the opportunity to diagnose and treat Adam’s rare condition earlier. A key issue in the case was whether Adam had shown early signs of pigment dispersion and whether the Hospital should have regularly checked the pressure in his eyes which would have detected this. Our expert criticised the Hospital care and concluded that with better earlier treatment Adam’s eye condition would have been diagnosed and treated and he would have avoided the substantial reduction in his vision from this treatable condition.
The outcome
The case was put to the Hospital and they eventually conceded liability for the sub-standard medical care Adam had received. They agreed that with appropriate eye care from the outset (including measuring the pressure in Adam’s eyes) Adam would have received treatment that would have avoided his severe and permanent eye injury. The hospital offered Adam £200,000 but on our advice this was rejected and a counter offer of £600,000 was put forward and agreed as eye injury compensation for Adam.
Note: name changed to protect client confidentiality.
2. Example B – Charles
Charles was born prematurely by emergency caesarean section at a gestation age of just 25 weeks. He weighed just 600 grams at birth. Because of his prematurity Charles was deemed to be at risk of Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) and was initially examined for this. No signs of this were found but Charles’ doctors failed to re-assess him. Charles then developed ROP.
ROP was eventually diagnosed and Charles received emergency laser eye treatment but, despite this, he still lost the vision in his left eye.
Our approach
Charles’ eye injury claim was complex because of his prematurity and a separate diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy (click here for information about Cerebral Palsy). Our team of lawyers instructed leading medical experts in the fields of Ophthalmology, Paediatric Neurology, Occupational Therapy and Paediatrics.
On the basis of their conclusions, we put forward a medical negligence claim that Charles’ treating doctors should have known about the risk of him developing ROP and regularly checked for this following the original ROP assessment. Had this been done, ROP would have been detected and Charles would have received earlier tretment that would have spared in eyesight.
The Outcome
The hospital admitted liability for Charles’ substandard care that had caused his eye injury and apologised to him and his family. A large eye injury compensation settlement in damages was also paid by the NHS to cover the costs of Charles’ extensive care and therapy needs for the rest of his life as well as enabling his family to purchase a suitable single story property to accommodate Charles’ needs.
Note: name changed to protect client confidentiality.
3. Example C – Helen
Helen consulted an Optometrist because of problems she was experiencing with vision in her right eye. She was diagnosed as suffering from retinal detachment and was referred to her local hospital.
She was then diagnosed with malignant melanoma of the right choroid (a part of the eye). Helen had radiotherapy to try and treat this but unfortunately the vision in her right eye deteriorated and she ended up having to have the whole of her eye removed. She was concerned about poor care.
Our Approach
Helen instructed us to investigate. We obtained expert medical evidence from a Consultant Ophthalmologist who thought that Helen may have received excessive radiotherapy to her right eye which, she thought, had caused Helen’s eye and vision to markedly deteriorate.
This was again a very difficult and complex eye injury claim because we could only attempt to claim compensation for the fact that the excessive radiotherapy treatment had brought forward a deterioration in Helen’s right eye that would have happened anyway in due course because of her underlying problems with her sight.
The Outcome
The eye injury damages case was put to the Defendant. They accepted Helen had received too much radiotherapy treatment in her right eye and this had caused the deterioration of sight in her right eye but, they argued, this would have happened anyway, irrespective of the sub-standard medical care, in due course. Eye injury compensation of £20,000 was accordingly agreed between the parties.
Note: name changed to protect client confidentiality.
4. Example D – Diane
Diane was operated on by a Neurosurgeon for trigeminal neuralgia (sudden and severe facial pain). After surgery she complained about loss of vision. She was nevertheless discharged without further investigation into her visual problems and subsequently completely lost the vision in her right eye.
Our Approach
Diane contacted us and we investigated what had happened. We obtained expert medical evidence in the areas of Neurosurgery and Ophthalmology. It became apparent that some of Diane’s medical records, including X-rays, were missing, which our team of lawyers had to carefully follow up. Once these records had been obtained, the two experts concluded that Diane’s complaint about loss of vision following surgery should have been treated as a medical emergency. Had her treating doctors taken her complaints about loss of vision seriously, treatment could have been quickly provided and Diane’s sight in her right eye completely preserved.
The Outcome
The negligence claim was put to the Hospital who disputed liability. In the end, after a hard fought negotiation, Diane was awarded eye injury compensation for the loss of vision in her right eye.
Note: name changed to protect client confidentiality.
How to Contact Us?
Contact the team at Minton Morrill, if you, or your child, or someone you know has suffered an eye injury. We can help you to assess whether there is likely to be an eye injury claim for damage and ensure you are compensated if that injury is as a result of substandard medical care.
For more information or for a free confidential consultation, call one of our experts on 0113 245 8549 or use the contact form below.
