Any lawyers out there?

[bluedragon4]

I had lasik in march and to make a really long story short I ended up with a cornea abrasion. It's beyond painfull when it tears. It tears when I wake up cause my eyelids pull the scab(abrasion) from my eye. feels like nails being driven in my head. I have to wear a contact over it as a bandage. I had my eye scraped once but the cells still didn't reform right.i even tape my eye closed at night and can barely ever sleep. My problem is in August the lasik center told me I had a bacterial eye infection. I went to another eye doctor in Oct and found out what was wrong with me. The lasik center misslead me about what was wrong with me and than told me I should be going else where cause they don't deal with that. they all got very rude to me.I paid for 3 years of service.I had one doctor tell me my eyelashes were disgusting. He said it so nasty it made me feel funny. But it was never my eyelashes. I told them what the other doctor found and they tried to blow me off but I pushed it. the doctor said to just let it be but i felt he was brushing me off.I told him this isn't something that will heal on it's own.The doctor gave me some contacts and told me to use them to cover the abrasion(which he refered to as a "dry patch").He never said how long to wear them and I told him they were not sleeping contacts and he said you can still sleep in them.I got lasik for a reason cause contacts were hurting my eyes. I can't use any air conditioning or fans cause it bothers my eye. I wear sunglasses all the time. I got my file from the center and they had found the abrasion on my eye in august but never told me. They had circled that area of my eye on the chart everytime i was there but never told me. I only found out cause I saw that other doctor at a different office.the usual lasik doctor told me i need to see the surgeon.he tried to talk me out of believeing this was from lasik but it so obviously is. So they wasted more of my time with these visits and now i find out only the surgeon can help me.I finally saw the surgeon last week and told him what the center has put me through.he didn't say anything but i could tell he seemed surprised. A lot has happened and I cant write it all but saturday my eye tore again and i almost felt like shoving a knife in my chest it hurt so bad. The pain is so debilitating I lost my second job and have become depressed.it's messed me up finacially,emotinaly,and physically.I can't sleep cause i'm terrified my eye will rip when it opens in the morning. I called the next day after it tore again (saturday)begging for numbing drops and was rudely told the doctor has refused your request. he also refused my request for focus night and day contacts as a bandage and said the ones they use are good enough.she told me i should take my contact out and clean it every night and put it back in. i told her that is not what the surgeon would want cause i am not to remove the contact for at least a week after it tears let alone everynight. she agreed with me. huh?she could have caused me more damage.Than the nurse told me I have to come back as soon as possible to have it rechecked but the surgeon won't be there.to her as soon as possible was 3 days when they were opened when i called. I told her only the surgeon can help me so what will the other doctors do for me? they lied to me all along and can't even touch my eye.i got mad and told her i needed a lawyer. I have about 100 pages written to keep track of all the oddness and lies the center told me. she told me to talk to the lasik center head tomorrow when I come for my visit. at this point i feel like that won't do any good since really the head surgeon has already seen me and i made it known to him what has happened.my question is-I understand I signed a lot of papers before surgery releasing the center from blame if something happens but I am so mad about the after care it's all i think about. I don't know if i should get a lawyer or if it's a waste of time. I really feel they wronged me and don't even wanna be bothered with me at this point.i'm beyond pissed over this.sorry so long.

 

[inlovewithanton]

I don't believe any of those papers you signed released the doctors from blame, they were simply forms giving them permission to do the surgury, so you couldnt come back later and say it was something done against your will. Thats what they should have been anyways.

The first thing you should do is sieze your medical records. Don't let them tell you anything different than this - Those records are yours, and if you request them they have to be provided in a timely manner. If they refuse, get a lawyer and have him file a motion for a judge to subpoena the records.

You should get a lawyer anyways and start Mal-Practice proceedings, and don't stop until their liscence to practice has been completely revoked.
If you don't know any lawyers personally, call your State's Bar association, (they'll be in the phone book), and they can give you a referral. If you have any questions or there's anything else I can help with, let me know. Doctor's like that need to be run out of town.

 

[RicanDAB]

Bluedragon4,

I could almost feel the pain you are going through and I am so sorry that you are going through this. I once had a corneal abrasion and I know that is one motherf****ing painful experience (sorry, there is no other way to describe it). First off, I really hope you feel better soon!

Second, getting a lawyer to review your potential case is very important. Like inloveiwthanton said, get a copy of your medical records. Under HIPAA regulations you are entitled to get a complete copy of your file normally within 30 days of the request, but also be aware that the records office may charge you a small fee for photocopying (these rights to your privacy and records should have been provided to you in written form by law when you sought medical consultation). I am sure when you signed all your paperwork that there was another document outlining the risks with LASIK surgery. This is an important document for the lawyer to see as it will help determine along with your records whether or not your eye injury is beyond the risks that you assumed with this type of procedure.

As stated before, you may call your local bar association for referral to an attorney that can help you (but do try to avoid looking up a lawyer in the phone book, which I understand is a bad place to start). Also, a site that I have used is in the past is www.legalmatch.com, which I believe is still free to use. You post your case and lawyers will be able to see your case and respond to you if they are interested.

I hope this helps -- keep us updated, and good luck to you!

 

[OrionNorthFL]

Sometimes, waivers can be invalidated if the doctor (or whoever) violated a statutorily imposed duty when causing your injury.

Otherwise, waivers are pretty tight. You can expect if you press charges that the defense will issue a motion to dismiss because the existence of signed waiver. BUT, I think if you get a good lawyer (if you have no money, get one that will work on a contingency basis of no more than 30%), they should be able to find a way to recover for you.

 

[Zeremonie]

Get a lawyer. You have a good mal-practice law suit. You can sue for the doctor's negligence in many regards, and pain and suffering. You may have signed a lot of documents before surgery but it is highly unlikely you signed away your right to sue, and even if you did, it is highly questionable that any such contract provision would be upheld.

 

[bluedragon4]

I did get my medical records and that's how I found out they had found the spot on my left eye in August and said nothing to me.When I saw that two weeks ago it really made me mad.I have never seen a lawyer before and it all seems very overwelming. Today I want to type up key points from my journal before I go back to the center today in case I have to talk to the head of the center.I'm just afraid if i get a lawyer and lose that I will owe all kinds of fees and I can not afford that.I'm beyond lawyer clueless.

RicanDAB-How long did it take you to get rid of your abrasion?

 

[RicanDAB]

RicanDAB-How long did it take you to get rid of your abrasion?

This happened 15 years ago -- if I remember correctly it was about a week before the pain completely subsided (and perhaps that all depends whether yours is worse or better than mine was). The pain however became less and less with every day starting with the first day. I was on antibiotic drops for a little while and I know I was advised to not wear contacts for at least 3 months. Even to this day during an eye exam they can still see a healed scar, but it has not affected my vision thankfully.

I was told by the opthamologist that eye tissue is the fastest healing tissue in the body (!!!) Do you have redness? That sucks too ... That starts to go away thankfully before the pain does.

CORRECTION: I had to come back and edit my post ... I just remembered it was a corneal ULCER that I had, not an abrasion. It was a literal hole in my cornea as opposed to a scratch. So much pain! But it was still about a week like I said before.

 

[PabloZed]

A lawyer will jump at the chance to take your case so don't settle for some scheister who will try to just make a quick buck. You can even research attorneys in your area online by searching for medical malpractice attorneys and your paticular city or state. Most of such claims are also handled on a percentage fee basis meaning you don't pay anything (make sure this is the case) and the attorney's fee is a percentage of any judgment. Its not a big deal once you get the attorney because he or she will do all the work.

Good luck and look for an attorney quickly because there is a time limit on when you can sue.

 

[bluedragon4]

This happened 15 years ago -- if I remember correctly it was about a week before the pain completely subsided (and perhaps that all depends whether yours is worse or better than mine was). The pain however became less and less with every day starting with the first day. I was on antibiotic drops for a little while and I know I was advised to not wear contacts for at least 3 months. Even to this day during an eye exam they can still see a healed scar, but it has not affected my vision thankfully.

I was told by the opthamologist that eye tissue is the fastest healing tissue in the body (!!!) Do you have redness? That sucks too ... That starts to go away thankfully before the pain does.

CORRECTION: I had to come back and edit my post ... I just remembered it was a corneal ULCER that I had, not an abrasion. It was a literal hole in my cornea as opposed to a scratch. So much pain! But it was still about a week like I said before.

That is something different. I could have my eye scraped 10 times! They use a Q-tip and rub the abrasion off and you gotta pray the cells return normal or you get to do it again. For me I believe they will actually have to poke my eyes with needles. No joke. But no pain can be worse that what I am going through so bring on the needles! I ned this fixed cause it's been since the surgery in march. I could really see how people would kill themselves over chronic pain!

 

[looseliam]

When my father had lasik they gave him these special eye drops to keep things lubricated and to keep the cornea from healing into the eyelid when you sleep.

Perhaps you can get some of these so you can ditch the contacts.

 

[Riverrick]

How about getting a second opinion? Right now you need appropriate medical care from someone who is interested in helping you.

If you have health insurance, then find an ophthalmologist who is on your plan. Yes, its possible this may not be covered but that won't matter for a few months. In the meantime, you can be getting the care you need. And sometimes they end up covering things like this because they don't know any better.

Get another opinion. I don't like the way this corneal abrasion isn't healing for you.

By the way, when you're not seeing the surgeon who the heck are you seeing?

 

[bluedragon4]

How about getting a second opinion? Right now you need appropriate medical care from someone who is interested in helping you.

If you have health insurance, then find an ophthalmologist who is on your plan. Yes, its possible this may not be covered but that won't matter for a few months. In the meantime, you can be getting the care you need. And sometimes they end up covering things like this because they don't know any better.

Get another opinion. I don't like the way this corneal abrasion isn't healing for you.

By the way, when you're not seeing the surgeon who the heck are you seeing?

they have eye doctors you see. But they can't do anything to you. Only the surgeon can help you. Now the center's big boss has jumped in and she was mighty unhappy with my treatment. I have gotten calls from her everyday.She's bending over backwards to help me and the lasik center is gonna pay a corneal specialist to treat me. so she says. I'm not super trusting right now. I wrote out seven pages of shit the center fucked up on and how they treated me and i am giving that to her this week. turns out a lawyer is not an option now that the center is stepping up. but i hope i get some money returned to me for all the pain and suffering and loss wages i went through. sounds like they will return a bit of my money. I did pay over $3,000.00! It cost a lot cause I got the waterfront custom lasik(probably something made up) and 3 years of service and the option to have corrections for free. My anxiety is jumping through the roof! I don't even know what to ask back in compensation?how do you put a price on pain and misery? but my last visit was the oddest of all. everyone scrambled when i got there and they all knew they were up shit creek. i'm almost positive the one doctor who was treating me(actually not treating me) is gonna get let go. he apologized to me and talked some shit to me when we were alone about how the center treats people like shit. i'm sure the big head boss was listening at the door cause she came in right after!God, I hope no one from the center goes on this site! They had one little gay Dr running around about 6 months ago. he was really quennie and at one point I thought he was gonna put his hand on my knee! but this whole thing has really fucked me up! The oddest thing is I can see. it's the abrasion and the after care that is all fucked up. I just want to see the specialist and never have to return to the center. the pain is crazy! and I think the center should pay me for pain and suffering since they knew I had this and not only kept it from me but lied to me to my face with what was wrong with me. how could they be so stupid to lie to me but circle in my chart on every visit that i had an abrasion?!I have copies of my charts that they copied for me! is that not fucked up?

 

[Riverrick]

Yea, its fucked up. At the very least, they've done a poor job of communicating with you.

Since this isn't a lawsuit but still a business transaction, I'm not sure they will pay for pain and suffering. I would think the most they could do without admitting malpractice is to refund your money since you are dissatisfied.

I like the idea of them sending you to a corneal specialist, the sooner the better. Sorry to hear how much pain you are in and how your life has fallen apart from this. Keep us posted.