If you were injured or experienced complications during laser eye surgery, you may be wondering if there is anything you can do. How do you know whether you have a case and what happens during a laser eye surgery lawsuit? Laser eye surgery malpractice lawyers can help you to determine what, if any compensation you may be entitled to. 

Accepted Risk vs. Medical Malpractice

If you’re considering hiring a laser eye surgery lawsuit lawyer, you’ll first need to know whether or not your case qualifies as malpractice. Just like any surgery, there are risks that come with laser eye surgery including blindness, inflammation, infection, and other complications.

Typically the risks that come with LASIK surgery are minimal, but it’s still possible that your ophthalmologist or others involved in your surgery were liable for the injuries or complications you suffered. If a doctor performed your surgery improperly, they can be held liable under medical malpractice laws. In addition, they must discuss all risks with you during the consultation before your operation as well as prior to surgery so that you can give informed consent.

The Standard of Care

All surgeons, including ophthalmologists, are required to adhere to the medical standard of care when performing LASIK surgery. The standard of care refers to the level of caution that a reasonable physician in the same circumstances would provide when operating on their patient. It’s important to remember that standard of care isn’t universal and can vary depending on the location where your surgery was performed, so knowing the local standard of care is essential to determine whether you have a case.

Most LASIK malpractice suits are related to doctors missing contraindications, or pre-existing conditions the patient has that make LASIK unlikely to be successful or more likely to result in complications or permanent injury. For example, if you have a thin or conical cornea, your doctor should not perform surgery on you. If they do and you experience problems, it’s likely that your doctor committed malpractice.

In order for a laser eye surgery malpractice suit to result in a settlement, you must have sustained an injury during the process.

Hiring Laser Eye Surgery Malpractice Lawyers

If you’ve experienced complications after laser eye surgery and are unsure whether or not your ophthalmologist is liable, contacting an experienced lawyer is the best way to know for certain whether you have a case.

Legal consultations are usually free, so there is nothing to lose by meeting with a lawyer. Ideally, you should choose a local lawyer with experience in these types of cases.

Now that you know more about how laser eye surgery lawsuits work, find out more by downloading our personal injury recovery kit or contact us for a free consultation.

Updated content: Originally published Oct. 4, 2017