For residents of New Mexico who need medical treatment, one of the most devastating results is that not only is their medical condition is not treated, but another issue is created by negligent care. This is the situation one woman finds herself in after she said she was left blind in one eye as a result of a physician error.
The woman filed a suit recently accusing her doctor of eliminating the sight in one of her eyes by injecting a steroid meant to go into her nasal tissue into her ophthalmic nerve instead.
The woman had already undergone multiple surgeries to her sinuses, which reduced the amount of soft tissue necessary to receive an injection of that nature. According to her suit, there were alternate, less dangerous treatments available, but she says the doctor did not consider them, nor did he apprise her of what they were. The injection that caused the blindness, according to the patient, was the fourth such procedure the doctor had performed on her.
Additionally, the suit accuses the doctor as well as his employer of not acting quickly enough to attempt to reverse the damage. As a result, she says, she now faces even more medical bills as a result of the injury to her eye. It will also affect her earning capacity, her ability to perform normal tasks, and her overall quality of life.
Whenever people are injured as a result of apparent medical mistakes, an experienced New Mexico medical malpractice attorney can help to explain what options are viable.
Source: Courthouse News Service, “Steroid Injection Blinded Kaiser Patient, She Says,” Barbara Wallace, Oct. 21, 2013
