Olean teen to get $2.2 million for injury
The family of a young woman from Allegany who was blinded in one eye after surgery by a former Olean doctor has accepted a $2.2 million dollar settlement. The teenager had sought treatment for a sty in her right eye. The procedure the doctor performed under local anesthesia left the teen blind in her right eye. Mr. Letro claimed that the doctor “was negligent in perforating the eyeball of the patient with a hypodermic syringe while attempting to administer a local injection of anesthesia in the child’s right upper eyelid.” Within three days of the operation the patient developed (a bacterial eye infection) which destroyed her vision. Despite surgical efforts at the Erie County Medical Center and the Millard Fillmore Hospital to save her sight, the child will remain permanently blind in her right eye.” The doctor has since had his license to practice in New York revoked by the State Health Department. The settlement was accepted as jury selection was about to begin in state Supreme Court in Little Valley.
