The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will pay $925,000 to a man whose eyeball exploded during a routine outpatient cataract operation due to a misplaced local anesthetic, according to a Connecticut Post report.
The operation, which took place at West Haven Veterans Affairs Hospital on Nov. 1, 2007, blinded patient Jose Goncalves in his right eye when a third-year resident incorrectly administered an anesthetic.
According to the report, the resident allegedly incorrectly placed a needle with local anesthetic directly into the patient's eye instead of behind the eye, as is appropriate. Failing to recognize her error, the resident injected anesthetic so quickly that the patient's eye exploded.
Read the Connecticut Post report on the cataract surgery.
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The operation, which took place at West Haven Veterans Affairs Hospital on Nov. 1, 2007, blinded patient Jose Goncalves in his right eye when a third-year resident incorrectly administered an anesthetic.
According to the report, the resident allegedly incorrectly placed a needle with local anesthetic directly into the patient's eye instead of behind the eye, as is appropriate. Failing to recognize her error, the resident injected anesthetic so quickly that the patient's eye exploded.
Read the Connecticut Post report on the cataract surgery.
Related Articles on Anesthesia:
Wisconsin Surgery Center CRNA Defends Safety of Spinal Anesthesia
Patient Safety Tool: AANA's Conscious Sedation Brochure
ASA's Dr. John Dombrowski Discusses Pain Patch Benefits in Ladies' Home Journal