The Justice Department is suing eye care practice management company American Vision Partners and Phoenix-based Barnet Dulaney Perkins Eye Center over alleged discrimination against patients in wheelchairs, the department said April 18.
AVP provides management, training, technology and other assistance to Barnet Dulaney Perkins Eye Center and nearly 80 other facilities in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and Texas.
Barnet Dulaney Perkins allegedly required patients who need wheelchair transfer assistance to pay for third-party medical transport and transfer assistance as a condition for surgery, an Americans with Disabilities Act violation, the department said.
AVP and Barnet Dulaney Perkins also allegedly denied eye surgery outright to patients who needed transfer assistance, the department said. The lawsuit seeks to require both entities to adopt non-discriminatory policies and train its staff to provide transfer assistance to patients with wheelchairs.
The lawsuit also seeks unspecified monetary damages for those allegedly harmed, including those who were denied medical services and those who were forced to pay for third-party assistance, the department said.