$3 Million Malpractice Verdict for "Insufficient" Informed Consent
07/17/2006
GARDEN CITY, N.Y. -- Keith, Shapiro & Ford, a Garden City, N.Y.,-based law firm, received a $3 million verdict in a LASIK Malpractice Trial in Nassau County, N.Y., involving a LASIK surgery performed on January 7, 2000. The plaintiff suffered from post–LASIK ectasia, which was claimed to have resulted from pre-existing form fruste keratoconus as well as an insufficient residual stromal bed. It was also claimed that the informed consent was insufficient, notwithstanding an eight-page informed consent document, a video, a brochure and a general discussion of the risks with a referring optometrist.
The plaintiff, a 43-year old woman, is still wearing contact lenses but her treating optometrist testified that she is getting near to the point at which she will only have surgical options.
The defendant doctor was Eric D. Donnefeld. Donnenfeld, chosen as the 2005 National Cataract and Refractive Surgeon of the Year by the Journal Cataract and Refractive Surgery Today, is a National Medical Director of TLC, and , according to his Web site, has trained more surgeons to perform refractive surgery than any other doctor in New York.
The case took nine days to complete and the jury deliberated for approximately five hours. The total jury verdict was broken down as $1 million for past pain and suffering, $1 million for future pain and suffering, and $1 million for future medical expenses. There was never an offer on the case. The jury rejected the insufficient residual stromal bed theory but found a departure as to the diagnoses of form fruste keratoconus, and they also found the informed consent to be inadequate.
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