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The provincial court in Malaga has ordered a private hospital to pay compensation of 173,599 euros to a patient who started to lose his sight years after a surgery that was supposed to alleviate his myopia. According to the ruling, the man, 54, was not made fully aware of the risks that the surgery posed. In 2017, he was declared severely disabled, 17 years after the two procedures, despite the guarantee that he would not have to wear glasses or contact lenses after the operation.
According to the court ruling, the hospital omitted the fact that the surgery could lead to corneal ectasia - a condition characterised by the progressive thinning of the cornea. Among other symptoms, it usually causes myopia, astigmatism or loss of visual acuity.
The patient underwent the first Lasik surgery in July 2000 and the second one in November 2000. At first, they seemed to have gone well. However, years later, he started to notice that his vision was diminishing. El Defensor del Paciente, the patient ombudsman that represented him in court, stated that "he began to lose vision at an alarming rate". When he complained to the health centre, they referred him to another ophthalmology clinic to seek answers to his sight loss.
In a 2008 report, the patient's ombudsman noted that the loss of bilateral visual acuity was attributed to possible corneal ectasia,"without any solution being provided from that moment on". The court said that, at the time of the interventions, the risk of corneal ectasia was already known to the medical community and should have been communicated to the patient. Furthermore, it stressed that informed consent cannot be limited to mentioning general or serious risks, but must detail all possible specific complications and therapeutic alternatives available to ensure that the patient can make an informed decision.
According to the patient, the consequences he suffers are irreparable and at no time was he informed of the possibility of suffering from such a condition. He also said that the hospital had not carried out adequate follow-up to assess the outcome of the surgery.
"This case highlights how a lack of adequate information can have devastating consequences for patients. It is essential that medical professionals comply with their legal and ethical obligation to provide complete and comprehensible information about the risks inherent in any medical intervention," said Carmen Flores, president of the patient ombudsman's office. "This is the only way to protect the patient's right to make a fully informed decision about their health," she added.
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