Glaucoma due to eye injury?

[mellocreme]

What is the name of your state? Illinois

Hello,

I was involved in a car accident in 2000 and had a piece of metal lodged in my eye. The other parties insurance paid me for my totaled car and for my medical bills after my eye healed and everything was ok. I just visited an opthamologist for my check up and he is concerned because I have alot of pressure built up that is most likely going to lead to glaucoma. It is the same eye that was injured and the Dr. did say it could be from the injury because sometimes it takes years to show up.

So my question is, is the insurance still liable? I did settle already but who was to know I would get glaucoma and besides who actually leaves a claim open 5 years after the fact? I am looking at surgery in the future if the it gets worse. Thanks for the advice.

Was the claim against the other driver officially closed? Did you sign a release? It sounds like you already cashed the check!

It seems by what you wrote that this is case closed and settled? If that is in fact true....then you can not go back and ask for more money.

Part of the damages that you settled for should have included future pain and suffering etc.

Never settle until MMI (maximum medical improvement) has been reached and future possible problems addressed by a physician.

You are pretty much out of luck unless this case is still OPEN.

Did you have a lawyer represent you from the beginning? Just curious!

[mellocreme]

No, I never had a lawyer. They paid me for my totaled car right away and then they waited until my Opthamologist (a different one) gave me the clear about 3 months later to pay for my medical bills. My eye was in good shape as I could see perfectly and was pain free. Who would have thought such an injury can cause glaucoma down the line? I had no idea up until the new opthamologist told me. They paid 3x more for my car then they did with my eye injury. I kind of figured I was out of luck but I was just double checking since the glaucoma sometimes doesn't show up for years. Thanks!

I think this is the case. However.....check back to this thread as someone may disagree with me and offer you more information.

There are many opinions here... Keep watching.

Good luck to you!

[rmet4nzkx]

It is true that glaucoma can be caused by trauma to the eye even years later. Take your medical records and the release papers you signed for your settlement to a personal injury attorney along with the latest opinion. Did the doctor who cleared you following the injury explain this possibility to you? Did you seek their opinion independently or did the insurance company send you there? An attorney can explain both the Statute of limitations as well as the discovery aand other rules. It is possible that if the SOL has run for your insurance claim but the doctor failed to inform you of this possibility in the form of informed consent, that you could have a cause of action against the doctor. Hopefully this is treatable.
Here is a link confirming this known complication.
[url]http://www.glaucoma.org/learn/traumatic_glauc.html[/url]

[mellocreme]

Originally Posted by rmet4nzkx

It is true that glaucoma can be caused by trauma to the eye even years later. Take your medical records and the release papers you signed for your settlement to a personal injury attorney along with the latest opinion. Did the doctor who cleared you following the injury explain this possibility to you? Did you seek their opinion independently or did the insurance company send you there? An attorney can explain both the Statute of limitations as well as the discovery aand other rules. It is possible that if the SOL has run for your insurance claim but the doctor failed to inform you of this possibility in the form of informed consent, that you could have a cause of action against the doctor. Hopefully this is treatable.
Here is a link confirming this known complication.
[url]http://www.glaucoma.org/learn/traumatic_glauc.html[/url]

Thanks for replying!

The Dr. I was sent to was referred by the emergency room Dr. who treated me. They got the metal out of my eye in the ER but they wanted me to follow up with an opthamologist for awhile. The opthamologist never informed me of glaucoma being a possibility. I will definetly read up on the link you provided. Hopefully since we caught it early enough that I won't need surgery.

[rmet4nzkx]

Originally Posted by mellocreme

Thanks for replying!

The Dr. I was sent to was referred by the emergency room Dr. who treated me. They got the metal out of my eye in the ER but they wanted me to follow up with an opthamologist for awhile. The opthamologist never informed me of glaucoma being a possibility. I will definetly read up on the link you provided. Hopefully since we caught it early enough that I won't need surgery.

You are welcome, do check with a personal injury attorney to see what your options are.

[ashu12]

Hello,
Well everyone knows that the eye is very important part of our body .So it needs to be too much care .There are various types of diseases happens in eye obviously lots of medicatios are for this .Glaucoma surgery and post-trauma surgery are also the part of these .I heard that Healon's medication is well working for this purpose and giving pitty good results for this purpose but its side effects are the main issue.I saw this in various companies one of them i want to share with you.

[url]www.drugdelivery.ca/s31024-s-Healon.aspx[/url]

[rmet4nzkx]

Originally Posted by ashu12

Hello,
Well everyone knows that the eye is very important part of our body .So it needs to be too much care .There are various types of diseases happens in eye obviously lots of medicatios are for this .Glaucoma surgery and post-trauma surgery are also the part of these .[URL=http://www.drugdelivery.ca/s31024-s-Healon.aspx]Healon's medication [/URL] are pitty good for this purpose but its side effects are the main issue.

Is English your second language, did you not read the terms of service which explain that you cannot advertize here? Please remove your post, the OP has already been appropriately referred to an attorney.

[stephenk]

you are out of luck. Once you settled with the carrier you were required to sign a release of all claims, known or unknown. You can't get a second bite of the apple.

[InsuranceLadyAZ]

I respectfully disagree. I think the claim against the doctor for malpractice would be a separate claim and therefore not subject to the release that was signed.

[stephenk]

What malpractice claim? The poster was asking only about going back against the other driver's insurance company to renew his claim for injury.

Plus, where did you see anything about malpractice?

[rmet4nzkx]

Originally Posted by stephenk

What malpractice claim? The poster was asking only about going back against the other driver's insurance company to renew his claim for injury.

Plus, where did you see anything about malpractice?

Op has a possible malpractice claim against the Opthlamologist who failed to inform them that Glaucoma is a very possible outcome for the eye injury even years later, thus op accepted the settlement in good faith and the belief that there was no further injury and without any future clause re treatment to the eye. Since it was an Opthlamologist, it was within their scope of practice to provide this information.

[stephenk]

that isn't malpractice in the context being posted here. The doctor wasn't a retained expert but a treating doctor. Not telling him that glaucoma may result from the injury didn't medically hurt the poster. Unless the doctor was hired to provide an opinion for the poster's claim against the carrier, there is no malpractice.

Finally, unless the poster's current doctor is willing to say that in his medical opinion the glaucoma is solely the result of the prior eye injury, there is nothing for the poster to do.