Articles Posted in Ophthalmology Errors

Deborah DeFranko was diagnosed by ophthalmologist Dr. Taylor Poole as having cataracts. Dr. Poole performed cataract surgery on DeFranko’s eyes over the course of one month.

During the cataract procedures, Dr. Poole placed Toric lenses in both eyes.

A Toric lense is a contact lense that is shaped in a way to conform to the shape of the patient’s eyes. In a cataract surgery, Toric lenses are implanted to replace the clouded lenses of the patient’s lens. Sometimes a Toric lens may correct astigmatism during cataract surgery.
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On Aug. 31, 2010, 58-year-old Romil Pityou went to the Gerstein Eye Institute in Chicago with complaints of pain, redness and decreased vision in his right eye. He was treated by the defendant Melvyn A. Gerstein, M.D., an ophthalmologist. Over the next three weeks, he continued to undergo treatment by Dr. Gerstein. Two days after his last visit to the Gerstein Eye Institute, he went to a hospital emergency room where he was referred to a cornea/retina specialist who diagnosed him with endophthalmitis, which is an infection of the inner eye.

Pityou filed a lawsuit against Gerstein Eye Institute and Dr. Gerstein, maintaining that both were negligent by choosing not to properly treat his corneal infection. Without treatment, the delay caused him to suffer endophthalmitis, blindness of the right eye and a shrunken eyeball. He was fitted with a prosthetic shell.

The defendants contended that their treatment of the corneal ulcer was proper and within the standard of care. The defendants said the plaintiff’s eye corneal infection was not related to the corneal ulcer and that the endophthalmitis was likely caused by bacteria that was introduced to the eye during a prior cataract surgery.

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