title: Ophthalmic malpractice lawsuits with large monetary awards.
abstract: Malpractice claims against ophthalmologists that were closed with patient indemnification of at least $250,000(18% of all eye claims closed with payments to patients) were analyzed for risk prevention. The incident of alleged malpractice occurred within 1 month of the initial physician-patient encounter in 43% of claims and on the initial encounter in 17%. Cataract was the most frequent problem for which these patients sought treatment. Eighty-four percent of these patients sustained injuries resulting in legal blindness or worse. The most frequent complication of treatment (25%) was failure or delay in diagnosis of detached retina, or negligent treatment resulting in a retinal detachment. The most frequent factors influencing the decision to seek a settlement included altered records, poor documentation, informed consent problems, failure to see the patient promptly, and failure to obtain or follow the advice of a consultant.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark 07090, USA.
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Kraushar
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Robb
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007345:Insurance Claim Review / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016365:Liability, Legal; D008297:Male; D008318:Malpractice / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009885:Ophthalmology / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014481:United States