James M. Poe, P.C., Wins $875,000 Medical Malpractice Verdict

    ATLANTA, GA, May 18, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Atlanta law firm of James M. Poe, P.C., recently obtained an $875,000 verdict in the State Court of Dekalb County on behalf of a patient who suffered injuries during Lasik surgery.

The jury returned the medical malpractice verdict on April 22, 2016. (Docket No. 13A49426-6).

The patient, who works as a controller for an engineering firm, had undergone the Lasik surgery to improve her vision. According to the complaint filed on her behalf, the wrong prescription was entered into the computer and went undetected before the surgery despite the purported use of a safety-check system.

As a result, the patient's right eye received treatment in the wrong portion of the eye. Instead of improving her vision, the procedure worsened it, almost doubling her original astigmatism, according to the complaint.

When the patient's vision was markedly worse in a routine follow-up conducted on the day after the original procedure, the error was immediately discovered, the lawsuit alleged.

However, according to the lawsuit, the patient was not told about the error. Instead she was told she was having a "typical" reaction to Lasik surgery and simply needed a minor additional trim.

The defendant surgeon proceeded with a second operation the next day, which involved ablation of almost four times the tissue that had been removed during the original surgery.

At trial, expert witnesses testified that the decision to conduct immediate surgery before the eye had "settled" from the original procedure resulted in the patient developing a significant irregular astigmatism, which could not be treated.

Another surgeon subsequently removed the additional regular astigmatism resulting from the surgery. The surgeon testified that he was unable to treat the remaining irregular astigmatism, leaving the patient with lifelong problems, including difficulties when encountering glare, bright lights and fluorescent lights and when viewing information on computer screens - a significant part of her daily job.

Due to her injuries, the patient claimed, she has been forced to reduce her working hours to three days per week, with a concomitant loss in income, and she has been forced to accept a different lifestyle, limiting her activities to avoid exposure to bright sunshine or artificial lighting.

About James M. Poe, P.C.

The law firm of James M. Poe, P.C., represents clients in cases involving medical negligence, motor vehicle collisions, products liability, premises liability and other personal injury matters. The firm serves clients throughout Atlanta and surrounding communities in Fulton, Cobb, Gwinnett, Douglas and DeKalb County. For more information, call (678) 501-6860 or submit the firm's online contact form.

# # #