The son of a Kansas woman has filed what may be the first wrongful-death lawsuit involving an eye procedure, alleging her optometrist caused the injuries she suffered in a fall by failing to provide her with protective sunglasses after a pupil dilation.

The effects of a dilation –- which enables optometrists to view the inside of an eye -- can last up to six hours and, during that time, the eyes are sensitive to sunlight. Dr. Robert C. Nelson performed the procedure on Mildred Klaassen, 87, at his Wichita clinic on Feb. 19, 2007 and, according to the complaint, it had deadly consequences for her.

Without the “necessary dark sunglasses,” Klaassen tripped and fell outside the clinic, causing her to suffer a broken ankle and other injuries, the suit says. She did not die until five months later, but Calvin Klaassen alleges that

as a direct result of the negligence and malpractice of defendant Nelson, decedent Mildred V. Klaassen sustained severe and permanent injuries which caused and contributed to cause her death on July 20, 2007.

The suit also says no “other type of assistance” was given to Klaassen as she left the clinic and that Nelson deviated from the standard of care for optometry by “failing to use reasonable care to ensure safe premises for elderly patients with treatment-induced visual impairments.”

Calvin Klaassen is seeking at least $75,000 in damages from Nelson and the Wichita Family Vision Clinic -– in Kansas, noneconomic damages for medical malpractice are capped at $250,000.

The time that elapsed between his mother's fall and her death could present Klaassen with a causation problem in finding Nelson liable. Some patients, moreover, can experience “disabling photophobia” after a dilation procedure even with the use of sunglasses.

The complaint does not say whether Nelson gave Mildred Klaassen any eyedrops to relieve photophobia. But in the case of such an elderly patient, providing her with disposable sunglasses would have been a standard -– and by no means onerous -– post-dilation precaution for him to take.

By Matthew Heller
6/19/08