Michigan lasik malpractice lawyers and Michigan eye surgery malractice lawyers representing injured patients in Michigan medical malpractice cases.

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Lasik and Eye Surgery Malpractice Cases

Michigan Lasik surgery malpractice lawyers and Michigan eye surgery malpractice lawyers represent clients who have suffered injuries to their eyes and vision from eye surgeries. There are risks and complications associated with any eye surgery procedure, but often patients suffer permanent damage to their eyes due to the negligent performace of the procedure by the opthamologist, the failure to timely treat complications after the surgery, and the failure to properly determine whether a patient was a suitable candidate for the procedure before operating.

The fact that a patients signs an Informed Consent Form before the surgery acknowleding an understanding of the potential risks before the surgery does not relieve an eye surgeon from liability if there was negligence committed during or after the procedure. Another type of error that occurs during a procedure is a malfunction of the equipment or machine and this often gives rise to a medical malpractice claim.

LASIK surgery can possibly cause blindness, loss of vision, or loss of best corrected vision. Possible causes of these problems can be due to infection, surgical error, laser malfunction, and failure to provide appropriate follow-up care and medication. Frequently, the patient is unable to have vision corrected as desired and may no longer be a candidate for contact lenses

There are numeral visual side effects that are caused by this procedure, including:

Corneal Haze – Corneal haze results from the superficial cornea's healing reaction after contact with a laser. Corneal haze may vary from patient to patient and many patients may note difficult with vision during nighttime or in dim light.

Decreased Night or Low-Light Vision - Some patients may experience difficulty seeing at night, like with corneal haze but this complication is often characterized by symptoms such as glare, halos and starbursts that are seen around objects.

Loss of Contrast Sensitivity - Refractive surgery techniques are designed to change the eye's focus and reduce or eliminate the need for glasses or contact lenses. However, there are other factors in the eye, which may affect vision quality, that are unrelated to eye focus. These factors can cause the quality of vision to vary greatly, even when a patient has 20/20 or better acuity. Contrast sensitivity measurement is the best method of quantifying the actual quality of a patient’s vision.

Severe Dry Eye - All patients should be aware that dry eye is a potential complication of LASIK. Additionally, patients who seek LASIK who have suffered from dry eye before, are bothered by contact lenses, are going through menopause or taking birth control pills should be certain to explore the increased potential for post surgical dry eyes with their doctor. Intraocular Pressure elevation - An increase in the intraocular pressure due to post-treatment medications. Usually resolved by drug therapy or discontinuation of post-treatment medications.

Over correction - Initially the eye is over-corrected since the cornea has a tendency to regress to its original state of refractive error. The regression may stabilize after 1-3 months. If you are permanently over-corrected, you may need glasses for reading and any close up work.Under correction - In some, but not all cases, re-treatment may be considered. It must be understood that re-treatment is not always possible, is not always advisable as it can result in an even worse outcome and may not correct the problems being experienced.

Loss Of Best Corrected Vision - In this situation the patient is unable to see as well with glasses or conventional contact lenses after the surgery as he or she could see with glasses before the surgery. Sometimes specially designed contact lenses can be fit to help remedy this situation.

Double Vision - Two images appear when looking through one eye at a time. May also occur when both eyes do not align properly. Glare - Headlight glare when driving at night. Glare is caused by light scatter which can occur with any loss of corneal transparency.

Night (darkness) Myopia - This is a tendency for eyes to become more nearsighted in darkness, leading to blurry vision. Halos and starbursts - This occurs when the pupil enlarges beyond the treated area at night or from surgically induced corneal distortion. Direct light sources (street lights, car headlights, etc.) become distorted in a variety of ways. Vision Blurring - This is when images appear blurrier after the refractive surgery than before.

Many complications can occur during the surgery. These include reaction to anesthesia or medication, which could also cause potential complications due to anesthesia and medications which may involve other parts of your body.

Injuries may occur due to defective equipment or failure to properly maintain or adjust the laser resulting in irregular cuts, damaging the stromal bed or forcing the procedure to be stopped before completion. The laser is controlled by a computer. Its malfunction during the operation will certainly impact upon your result.

While refractive surgery has become a highly automated procedure, it takes place at the hand of and under the supervision of a surgeon. The training and experience of the surgeon is essential for a successful surgery. Surgeons do make mistakes.

Many complications also occur after the surgery, including:

Flap Melt - The flap begins to disintegrate and may require surgical intervention.

Flap Dislocation - This is a condition in which the corneal flap becomes dislodged and no longer properly aligns with the corneal bed. This is treated with surgical intervention.

Flap Wrinkles - A major or minor flap dislocation produces flap wrinkles. This is treated with surgical intervention.

Flap Striae - Fine folds noted in the flap are termed flap striae. There are various types of striae and treatment depends upon the type and the patient's symptoms. The treatment and cause of striae is currently somewhat controversial. If vision is threatened, then surgical intervention is indicated.

Central Island - This is a condition in which an island of corneal tissue remains in the visual axis following Excimer laser treatment. This is less common with the new generation of lasers that have been modified with programs to prevent this complication. This can cause undercorrection and visual blurring or distortion. Most central islands disappear spontaneously post-operatively without additional treatment.

Free Flap - Occurs when the microkeratome creates a flap without a hinge because the microkeratome blade fails to stop and cuts through the hinge. This is more likely to occur with the ACS type microkeratome and is quite uncommon. The flap will need to be replaced carefully, and reoriented to its original position after the laser treatment is completed.

Lost Flap - Could create serious healing and vision problems. Physical loss of the flap following an incident of a free or dislocated flap.

Incomplete Flap - Creation of an incomplete flap is usually due to a microkeratome malfunction. The procedure will usually need to be aborted and rescheduled at a later date.

Buttonhole Flap - Improperly produced flap where the top of the flap is removed causing a buttonhole like defect. Can cause subsequent healing and/or visual problems.

Corneal Abrasion - A disturbance in the top layer of the cornea (epithelium) caused by the normal action of the microkeratome moving across the cornea. Some corneas are more susceptible to corneal abrasion.

Decentered Ablation - This complication is uncommon in the newer generation lasers. Corneal healing difficulties can produce a pseudo-decentered ablation especially with PRK. Usually caused by either poor patient fixation on the laser fixation light, poor patient head positioning, or poor centering of the laser beam by the surgeon.

Infection - A great risk in the first 24-72 hours after surgery. Antibiotic eye drops may be given to try to prevent this complication. Appropriate and thorough follow-up care is essential.

Post-treatment Discomfort - You may have some discomfort during the procedure, if any.. Patients having LASIK can expect some watering of the eyes the day of surgery, and some irritation for a day or two following the procedure. These symptoms are frequently controlled using eyedrops or oral pain medication.

Sands of the Sahara - Diffuse lamellar keratitis (DLK) is a concentration of white blood cells on the surfaces of the corneal flap made before ablation by the laser. The cells accumulate in a tiny pattern, resembling sand dunes, that the microkeratome creates during the operation. It is essential that there be fast, aggressive treatment for Sands of Sahara. This condition may result from microscopic substances on the microkeratome blade, such as oil from the blade motor or tiny particles remaining from the blade manufacturing process (or resulting from improper sterilization), may be inflaming the corneal tissue. Another cause may be tiny bacterial toxins not always removed when blades are sterilized. It is also possible that debris in the tear film is to blame.

While Lasik surgery has been promoted as a great way to "get rid of your glasses," the possible complications have been kept under the radar. If you have suffered injuries due to a Lasik or other eye surgery procedure, you should contact or office immediately to speak with a Michigan Lasik Malpractice lawyer.

Do I have a Lasik or eye surgery malpractice case?

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