$800,000 - Surgeon Held Liable For Failure to Inform

A Nassau County ophthalmologist was found liable last week for failing to inform a patient of the risks associated with any surgical procedure on the cornea that corrects nearsightedness.

The Jury in Nassau Supreme Court awarded $800,000 to the plaintiff, Carl Davis, 48, who suffered a "massive over-correction" of vision in his left eye, which went from a condition of extreme nearsightedness to one of extreme farsightedness. The entire award was for pain and suffering.

According to the plaintiff's attorneys, Peter Rosenberg of Rosenberg, Minc, Falkoff & Wolff, LLP, , the claim against Dr. Norman O. Stahl of Garden City was not for malpractice, but for failing to inform the patient that the surgery performed - radial keratotomy - was an "experimental procedure" at the time with possible unknown complications and risk. He said, the plaintiff now has no functional vision in his left eye.

The defendant was represented by Clifford Bartlett of Bartlett, McDonough, Bastone & Monaghan of Mineola Justice Thomas A. Adams presided over the trial