Ophthalmic Negligence Claims

You’ll normally have three years to make a claim, either from the date of your negligent care or from the point where it was discovered that negligent treatment was responsible for your injuries. However, there are some exceptions to this rule:

• If you suffered negligent care before you turned 18, you can make a claim up until your 21st birthday. Claims for children under 18 must be handled by an adult. These cases are subject to different time limits as growth can impact on your child’s injuries which means working out how much compensation you need can take time.
• If you need to claim on behalf of someone who doesn’t have mental capacity, the three-year time limit doesn’t apply. This changes if the person who experienced negligence regains mental capacity, where they will then have three years from this date to make a claim.

We urge you to contact us as soon as possible so that we can start looking at the evidence and building your case without delay. If you have any concerns about the time limits for claiming compensation, we’ll be able to talk through your options in a free initial consultation.

The eye is a delicate organ and, even though most ophthalmic procedures succeed, mistakes from surgeons or doctors can have severe repercussions. Poor technique may cause preventable damage to parts of your eye, such as the:

• Cornea
• Iris
• Lens capsule
• Retina

You might have received substandard care before or after the procedure, in the form of a failure to give you:

• Antibiotics that would have prevented an eye infection
• A full pre-operation assessment to identify any potential risks
• The right kind of artificial lens after a cataract operation

After taking your case on, we’ll make a full investigation into the eye treatment you received, working out what went wrong and how your injuries could have been avoided. We’ll call on the expertise of independent medical experts to provide evidence for your claim, as well as calculating the effect that the negligence has had on your life.

Damage to your eyesight can be life-changing, making ordinary tasks much more difficult to complete without support. Some of the complications often associated with ophthalmic negligence include:

• Blindness
• Difficulties seeing in the dark
• Over-correction or under-correction of the patient’s vision
• Ptosis (eyelid drooping)

Covering the front of the eye, the cornea focuses light and protects the eye. Although a strong and durable part of the eye, the cornea can easily be damaged during treatment, with effects including:

• Scarring
• Infection
• Corneal haze (long term mistiness of vision)

If you have suffered following an ophthalmic treatment and would like to claim compensation, please contact us for a free initial consultation.

A timely diagnosis can make a big difference when it comes to successfully treating an eye condition. If treatment is delayed, your situation could deteriorate quickly, with long term effects. Our solicitors have experience helping people claim compensation after the misdiagnosis of:

• Bacterial eye infections: these are sometimes mistaken for conjunctivitis
• Detached retinas: the longer a detached retina is left undiagnosed, the harder it becomes to reattach
• Glaucoma: damage caused by glaucoma is permanent, so it’s vital that doctors and ophthalmologists can diagnose its symptoms quickly
• Giant Cell Arteritis (also known as temporal arteritis): inflammation of blood vessels in the head – urgent treatment is usually needed to prevent total and permanent loss of vision in the affected eye

We could help you make a compensation claim if you feel you received substandard eye treatment.