According to the 2014 report for the National Health Interview Survey, 22.5 million adults in the United States aged 18 and older reported that they experienced vision loss. Of these 22.5 million, 9.5 million men and 13.0 million women reported that they experienced significant loss of vision.
According to the 2014 report for the National Health Interview Survey, 22.5 million adults in the United States aged 18 and older reported that they experienced vision loss. Of these 22.5 million, 9.5 million men and 13.0 million women reported that they experienced significant loss of vision.
The report revealed that 16.2 million adults who experienced vision loss were aged between 18 and 64 while 6.3 million were 65 years and older. According to the CDC, 3.4 million people aged 40 and older are either blind or visually impaired.
Blindness, loss of vision or eye damage can be caused by a number of factors, including medical negligence and accidental injury to one or both eyes. Loss of sight and damage to the eyes can have devastating consequences on a person’s life as well as the family’s.
It can be even more traumatic when a patient is the survivor of a successful surgery, only to find that they are blind as a result of circumstances surrounding the operation, such as anesthesia errors or optic nerve damage caused by oxygen-rich blood.
Causes of Loss of Sight
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimates that there will be approximately 4,000,000 cases of blindness by 2050 in the United States. Loss of sight can have a variety of causes, such as:
- Automobile accidents – When an accident causes blunt force trauma to a person’s face and head, it can lead to severe eye nerve damage or damage to the eye itself.
- Non-sterile eye medication – Once it is contaminated, any non-sterile eye mediation can become a breeding ground for bacteria. This in turn can cause damage to an otherwise perfectly healthy eye.
- LASIK surgery – Although LASIK surgery has come a long way since its beginning, there is still a great potential for causing harm to the eye.
- Hospital/Physician negligence – When a physician recommends an eye examination for cataracts, glaucoma, or diabetes, but fails to provide timely diagnostic testing, it means that it is a case of medical negligence. This means that the patient has the right to file a lawsuit for compensation.
- During surgery, if there is deprivation of oxygen-rich blood in the optic nerve due to a vein blockage, it can cause the blood to back up. This in turn causes bleeding, swelling, and damage to the retina.
You should keep in mind that there are risks in any eye surgery and a surgeon or operating room personnel may make mistakes which damage the eye and result in blindness or loss of vision.
A Long History of Winning
If you or a loved one has experienced loss of vision or is blind as a result of medical negligence, you should immediately see the help of the reliable and experienced attorneys at Rosenberg, Minc, Falloff, & Wolff of RMFW Law at 212-344-1000.
We know how to win cases. Give us a call. We will know how to start out this lawsuit and we will work with you throughout this legal journey.
