$245,000 Settlement for Negligently Performed LASIK Procedure

Partner Ronald P. Goldfaden recently settled a claim for a 41-year-old woman whose cornea was injured during a LASIK procedure. The evidence suggested that the injury occurred when the defendant ophthalmologist made a second pass with the keratome blade which is used to cut a flap on the cornea. Ordinarily, only one pass is made with the keratome. The plaintiff’s expert opined that the defendant failed to recognize that he had made a small cut with the first pass of the blade, and rather than aborting the procedure to allow time for the small cut to heal, he made a second pass, causing the corneal injury. The plaintiff’s injury has healed fairly well, though she still suffers with visual problems during night driving.