Articles

VERDICTS & SETTLEMENTS
Negligence:  Auto Accident – Eye
March 05, 2001
Cite This Page: 15 VLW 1123

Type of Action – Automobile Accident.

Type of Injuries – Traumatic loss of functional vision in left eye, “10 o’clock to 3 o’clock” shaped laceration of her left eye with a detached retina and partial loss of iris; ruptured left eye globe described as a “crushed grape” injury; dual surgeries with only partial restoration of eye structure.

Name of Case – Confidential.

Court/Case Number – Circuit Court of the City of Richmond.

Name of Judge – Judge Robert L. Harris Sr.

Special Damages – Medical specials received to date $19,515; lost wages $4,162; and future medical specials and loss of earning contested.

Damages Awarded/Settled – Settled.

Amount - $1,137,500.

Attorney for Plaintiff – Jay Tronfeld, Richmond.

Plaintiff’s Experts – Dr. Chris Petras and Dr. Eleanor Ebert.

Other Useful Information – The plaintiff was a restrained driver on the entrance ramp from Hull Street to Belt Boulevard on Nov. 4, 1999, when she was struck in the car by the defendant.  The defendant received a charge of following too close, to which he pled guilty in the General District Court of the City of Richmond. The defendant further acknowledged his responsibility for this rear-end accident in his deposition.

The defense would have argued that this rear-end impact was at a low-speed; however, plaintiff’s left eye was a direct and proximate result of the impact.

The issue was raised by the plaintiff’s ophthalmologist in the prognosis that the plaintiff had the risk of developing sympathetic vision in the plaintiff’s uninjured eye.

The plaintiff had been treated prior to the accident for glaucoma, cataracts, and severe myopia in both eyes.  Although the defense raised these issues, the treating experts had stated that the loss of vision to the left eye was due to accident trauma.