Optometrist Malpractice in Georgia: Your Legal Rights
Optometrists play a critical role in eye health, performing eye exams, prescribing corrective lenses, diagnosing eye diseases, and in Georgia, treating certain conditions with medication. When an optometrist fails to meet the accepted standard of care and causes harm to a patient, it constitutes malpractice. Vision loss or impairment from optometric negligence can profoundly affect every aspect of a person’s life — their ability to work, drive, read, and live independently.
Common Forms of Optometrist Malpractice
- Failure to diagnose glaucoma: Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness. An optometrist who fails to perform routine intraocular pressure testing, fails to recognize elevated pressure, or fails to refer for further evaluation breaches the standard of care
- Failure to detect retinal detachment: Missing the signs of retinal detachment during an exam can result in permanent vision loss if treatment is delayed
- Failure to diagnose diabetic retinopathy: Optometrists must identify signs of diabetic eye disease during routine exams and refer patients for appropriate treatment
- Missed diagnosis of ocular tumors: Failure to identify melanoma, retinoblastoma, or other ocular tumors during examination
- Incorrect prescription: Prescribing wrong corrective lens power, causing headaches, dizziness, falls, and impaired vision
- Contact lens complications: Improper fitting or failure to monitor for complications like corneal ulcers, infections, and hypoxia
- Failure to refer: Not referring patients to ophthalmologists or other specialists when symptoms indicate conditions beyond optometric scope
Georgia Legal Requirements
Optometrists in Georgia are licensed under O.C.G.A. Title 43, Chapter 30. Malpractice claims follow the same framework as other medical malpractice:
O.C.G.A. § 9-3-71: Two-year statute of limitations, five-year statute of repose.
O.C.G.A. § 9-11-9.1: Expert affidavit required from a qualified eye care professional.
O.C.G.A. § 51-1-27: Standard of care is that exercised by the optometric profession under similar conditions.
Compensation Available
Under O.C.G.A. § 51-12-4, compensation includes medical expenses for corrective treatment and ongoing eye care, lost wages and reduced earning capacity (vision loss can eliminate entire career paths), pain and suffering from vision impairment, loss of enjoyment of life, costs of adaptive equipment and services for vision impairment, and wrongful death damages under O.C.G.A. § 51-4-2 if failure to diagnose led to fatal conditions.
The Devastating Impact of Vision Loss
Vision loss from missed diagnoses is particularly tragic because many of the conditions optometrists fail to catch are highly treatable when detected early. Glaucoma, caught early, can be managed with eye drops. Retinal detachment, treated promptly, often has good outcomes. Diabetic retinopathy can be managed with laser treatment and injections. When these conditions are missed and vision is permanently lost, the impact on the patient’s independence, employment, and quality of life is devastating.
Contact the Wetherington Law Firm
If you suffered vision loss or other harm due to optometrist negligence in Georgia, contact us for a free consultation. We work on contingency — you pay nothing unless we win.
Call now: (404) 888-1111 | Free consultation