Risk Management
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Digest Vol 28 No 2 2018
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Infection is a risk of all surgeries. Endophthalmitis is a particularly worrisome type of infection because it can lead to severe vision loss, blindness, and loss of the eye. Some types of complications are hard for patients to understand. They are familiar with infections, however, and realize that they can occur after surgery. This common knowledge makes it harder for plaintiffs in endophthalmitis claims to allege lack of informed consent.
In order to prove that their outcome was caused by malpractice and not the result of a known complication, plaintiffs must show that some aspect of the health care team’s treatment was below the standard of care.
OMIC published the results of its first analysis of endophthalmitis malpractice claims in 2006. At that
time, endophthalmitis claims made from 1987 to 2005 accounted for 6% of OMIC claims and 5% of indemnity payments. (read more…)
