Maryland Doctor Ordered to Pay $1.07M Over PA Patient’s Failed Laser Eye Surgery
01/18/2011 // West Palm Beach, Florida, US // Sandra Quinlan // Justice News Flash
Rockland, MD—The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ordered a Maryland doctor to pay $1.07 million to a former patient who claimed his vision was damaged after he underwent laser eye surgery about a decade ago. The lawsuit was initially filed in 2006, after another doctor evaluated the man and diagnosed his condition, according to information provided by the Associated Press/NBC Washington.
David Cantalupo, of Pennsylvania, filed a lawsuit against Dr. Mark Whitten after he underwent a swift laser eye surgery procedure and was left unable to see out of his left eye.
During the procedure, the Pennsylvania doctor reportedly thinned Cantalupo’s cornea by using a laser to shave a portion of his eye off. The goal of the surgery was to improve Cantalupo’s already hindered vision.
According to an attorney representing Cantalupo, the procedure cost $3,500 and left the former patient’s vision “very blurry, fuzzy.” The lawyer maintained, “If you had to look through that eye, it would be impossible,” noting that his client “sees double images.”
Cantalupo underwent the laser eye surgery procedure during a time period when Dr. Whitten would apparently travel from Maryland to Pittsburgh to perform 35 surgeries in a single day and then fly home.
Dr. Whitten’s website stated, “Prior to LASIK surgery, without his (Tiger Woods) glasses or contacts, he would not have been able to see the ball on the tee.” Dr. Whitten’s practice claims Tiger Woods had been a patient since 1999.
However, Cantalupo’s lawsuit accused Dr. Whitten of failing to warn his patient of the dangers associated with laser eye surgery. The doctor also apparently failed to collect “informed consent” before performing the procedure.
While a Pennsylvania jury initially ordered Whitten to pay $875,000 in damages, he appealed the ruling. Nevertheless, he lost the case for a second time, with the state Supreme Court ordering him to pay the $875,000, plus $156 per day.
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