On November 29, 2023, a New York Supreme Court Queens County medical malpractice jury returned its verdict in the amount of $7 million in favor of plaintiffs Peter Wang and his wife, Tien Yun “Joyce” Mei, in a medical malpractice lawsuit against a Queens ophthalmologist. The jury’s compensatory damages verdict compensates the plaintiffs for the severe injuries and losses sustained due to the ophthalmologist’s failure to diagnose and treat an eye infection appropriately.
Peter Wang, who suffered irreversible damage to his left eye resulting in blindness and subsequent surgical removal, initially sought medical attention from the defendant ophthalmologist for sudden visual impairment, pain, and redness in his eye on February 27, 2019. Despite the severity of his condition, the defendant ophthalmologist misdiagnosed Wang’s eye condition and prescribed steroid eye drops, neglecting the need for urgent referral to a vitreoretinal specialist. The plaintiffs alleged that the defendant’s misdiagnosis and the delay in proper treatment led to the unnecessary loss of Mr. Wang’s eye and a near-fatal spread of the infection.
The New York medical malpractice jury awarded Mr. Wang $5 million for his pain and suffering, and an additional $2 million to his wife for her loss of consortium claim.
Ophthalmic Trauma
Ophthalmic trauma is a common cause of vision loss around the world responsible for an estimated 19 million cases of monocular blindness, representing a significant cause of loss of productivity and decreased quality of life.
A study published in 2020 regarding the causes and outcomes of malpractice litigation in ophthalmic trauma that reviewed ophthalmology litigation in the United States between 1930 and 2014 reported: “Forty-four ophthalmic trauma cases were included. Of these cases, 90.9% of ophthalmic trauma plaintiffs were male compared to 54.8% of plaintiffs in ophthalmology as a whole (P=<0.001); 34.1% of cases involved minor plaintiffs compared to 6.4% in ophthalmology as a whole (P=<0.001). Cases involving minors were more likely to be resolved in favor of the plaintiff than cases involving adult plaintiffs (53.3% vs 37.9%); however, this was not found to statistically significant (P=0.35). Overall, 54.5% of cases were resolved in favor of defendants; 40.9% of cases were resolved via jury trial with 50.0% resulting in payments to plaintiffs compared to the 29.6% rate of plaintiff verdicts in ophthalmology as a whole. Open globe injuries represented 61.4% of cases; 55.6% of these cases had intraocular foreign bodies and 37.0% developed endophthalmitis. Most cases (63.6%) alleged insufficient intervention. Of these cases, 31.8% of cases involved surgical or procedural claims, and 4.5% involved medical claims only,” concluding: “Males and minors were overrepresented among plaintiffs in ocular trauma litigation. Most cases involved open globe injuries, often complicated by retained intraocular foreign bodies and endophthalmitis.”
If you or a family member suffered serious injury or other harm that may be due to ophthalmologist malpractice in the United States, you should promptly find a medical malpractice attorney in your state who may investigate your ophthalmology medical malpractice claim for you and represent you or your family member in an ophthalmologist medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
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