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Seattle Loss of Vision Lawyers
Advocating for individuals who have suffered vision loss due to negligence
Losing your ability to see is one of the most severe injuries you can suffer due to an accident. Sight is essential for nearly everything you do. Your vision allows you to enjoy your family, your work, and everything around you. Partial or complete vision loss often requires significant adjustments to every part of your life.
At Smith McBroom Injury and Accident Lawyers, we understand how catastrophic losing your vision can be. We have more than 20 years of experience holding drivers, property owners, manufacturers, physicians, nursing homes, and others accountable when their negligence causes victims to lose their eyesight or suffer permanent visual impairment.
How can we help?
- What is vision loss?
- What are the different types of vision loss?
- What types of negligence cause vision loss?
- What are the symptoms of vision loss?
- How do Seattle doctors diagnose vision loss?
- What are the treatments for vision loss?
- How does vision loss affect a victim’s life?
- How much is my vision loss claim worth?
- Do you have a Seattle vision loss lawyer near me?
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What is vision loss?
Vision loss includes blurry vision, double vision, loss of peripheral vision, partial loss of vision, severe sensitivity to light, and complete blindness. This includes partial or full impairment of one eye or both eyes.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, sudden vision loss is an emergency that requires immediate medical care. Sudden vision loss can happen in seconds, minutes, or even over a few days. One or both eyes may be affected. You can lose all vision or vision in one part of your visual field, such as a loss of central vision.
What are the different types of vision loss?
Eye injury
The Cleveland Clinic states that an eye injury may be due to:
- A black eye. This type of injury may result from a blow to your eye and the surrounding tissues, causing bruising.
- Blunt eye trauma. Blunt trauma to a person’s eye can fracture the bones around the eye (orbital fracture).
- A blowout fracture can cause the muscles that support your eye to be damaged or trapped between bone fragments. When blunt force directly contacts your eyeball, it can dislocate, detach, tear, or break structures inside your eye (globe contusion or globe rupture).
- Eye burns. Exposure to radiation, chemicals, or extreme heat can cause a minor thermal burn. Household cleaning products or industrial chemicals can cause chemical burns. UV (ultraviolet) radiation can also cause severe eye damage.
- Eye scratches. A scratch on your cornea is known as a corneal abrasion. Small scratches or pieces of grit in your eye may not be serious. Deeper scratches can be quite serious.
- A foreign body in your eye. An example includes shattered glass from a car accident. Surgery may be necessary to remove the object and protect your eye from infections.
- Penetrating injuries. These involve objects, such as paintball and BB guns, sharp tools, darts, and fishhooks that can puncture your eye, cause bleeding, and damage the structure of your eye.
Blindness
The Cleveland Clinic identifies several types of blindness due to accidents or medical malpractice:
- Partial blindness. This type of blindness is known as low vision.
- Complete blindness. A person can’t see or detect light.
- Legal blindness. This is when the central vision is 20/200 in your best-seeing eye, even when corrected with glasses or contact lenses, or your field of vision or peripheral vision is severely reduced (less than 20 degrees).
Other types of blindness include congenital blindness and nutritional blindness.
What types of negligence cause vision loss?
At Smith McBroom Injury and Accident Lawyers, we understand the many ways negligent conduct can lead to serious eye injuries and permanent vision loss. We work to hold those responsible for vision loss accountable for the victim’s financial and personal damages.
Vision loss often results from traumatic injuries, such as head trauma, chemical burns, physical assault, sharp objects, electric shock, exposure to bright light, and penetrating objects. In some cases, medical events, such as a stroke or transient ischemic attack, may lead to partial or complete loss of vision. When these injuries or conditions result from someone failing to act with reasonable care, a legal claim may be appropriate.
Common types of accidents and negligent conduct that can cause vision loss include:
- Vehicle accidents. These include car, motorcycle, truck, pedestrian, and bicycle rider
- Defective products. Unsafe products can cause explosions or other events that damage a person’s eyes. Unsafe products may include tools, chemicals, and eyewear.
- Medical malpractice. Vision loss can occur due to an improper diagnosis, a delayed diagnosis, an improper surgery, or improper treatment. Vision loss may occur due to medical negligence during birth, where a provider fails to meet the applicable standard of care.
- Workplace accidents. Vision loss due to chemicals or machines may occur where you work. Welding, hammering, lawn mowing, and cutting can cause fine substances to fly into a worker’s eye.
- Premises liability accidents. These include slip and fall accidents and assaults where a property owner fails to provide reasonable security measures in light of foreseeable criminal activity.
- Recreational accidents. When equipment is defective, supervision is inadequate, or safety rules are ignored, recreational activities can result in serious eye trauma.
- Dog bites. Animal attacks or violent acts can result in severe facial injuries, penetrating trauma, and permanent vision damage.
There are also numerous causes of blindness due to medical reasons.
What are the symptoms of vision loss?
It’s always best to have a physician or ER doctor examine your eyes if you have any reason to believe you may have an eye injury. Immediate care is essential. Eye injury symptoms include:
- Pain. Examples include a stinging or burning sensation, or if your eye hurts when you’re in the light. Eye injuries often hurt because of the number of nerve endings in your eyeball. Any damage or exposure of these nerve endings can be quite painful.
- Swelling. Swelling can occur in the tissues around the eye and in the white part of your eye.
- Bleeding of the eye. Bleeding (a hemorrhage) can occur in different parts (surface, conjunctiva, sclera, cornea, iris, and retina) of the eye.
- Changes of vision. Examples include floating black spots, flashes of light, blurry vision, double vision, and slow movement of the eye.
- Changes in the appearance of an eye. Examples include the crossing of an eye, a pupil that looks too small or too large, difficulty moving the eye in a certain direction, a twitching eyelid, or one eye might seem to stick out of the socket a little or look more sunken in. Be sure to tell your doctor if you have reason to believe any chemicals entered your eye.
- Foreign objects. In many cases, a doctor will need to find and remove the object for you.
- Eye trauma or deformity. Unusual shapes, visible cuts, burns, and leaking fluids all indicate that you may have an eye injury.
How do Seattle doctors diagnose vision loss?
At Smith McBroom Injury and Accident Lawyers, we work with ophthalmologists who can diagnose your eye injury and explain how they reached their conclusions. Diagnostic tests for eye injuries include:
- Taking an oral history of the health of your eyes and what may have caused your eye discomfort or vision loss
- Trying to relieve any pain immediately
- Examining any differences between your eyes
- Looking for signs of trauma
- Looking for any bruises, swelling, bleeding, or wounds of your eye or the surrounding tissue
- Looking for foreign objects
- Examining if your pupils contract (get bigger or smaller) and how your eyes move
- Assessing your vision
- Using imaging tests (X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, and ultrasounds)
- Taking blood tests to measure inflammation and the number of platelets in your blood
- Conducting neurological testing
Diagnostic tests for vision loss include many of the same tests as for an eye injury, and the following tests to check your:
- Field of vision
- Eye muscle function
- Sensitivity to glare or contrast
- Color vision
- Night vision
- Depth perception
- Ability to read
The tests for blindness include:
- The Snellen test. This common vision test examines your ability to read smaller and smaller lines of print.
- Visual field test. This test examines what you can see to either side, above, or below – without moving your eye.
What are the treatments for vision loss?
The treatments for eye injuries and vision loss vary depending on the cause and other factors. The treatments may include:
- Medications, such as eye drops, injections, or tablets. Medications include pain medications and anti-infection medications.
- Surgery, depending on various factors, including the cause and severity of your eye injury.
Low vision treatments include:
- A prescription for glasses or contact lenses
- Large print and high contrast products
- Audio reading technology
- Occupational therapy
- Mobility therapy
- Learning independent living skills
- Vocational therapy
- Psychological counseling
- Support group connections
The treatments for blindness depend on the cause, severity, whether the blindness is treatable, and other factors.
Possible treatments may include:
- Anti-infective medications for blindness caused by infections
- Cataract surgery
- Corneal transplant
- Retinal surgery
- Vitamin supplements in applicable situations
Blindness is life-changing. Victims often need to work with blindness specialists who can help them learn Braille, assistive technology, and many other ways to function with their blindness. When accidents or negligence cause blindness, victims often need psychological counseling, support groups, and other types of emotional support.
How does vision loss affect a victim’s life?
Partial vision loss can affect your ability to work, read, drive, perform daily living tasks, recognize faces, have a social life, and do almost any activity you do.
Blindness can affect all aspects of your life. Victims usually need a lifetime of medical, psychological, and emotional help.
The Seattle Chapter of the Fighting Blindness Foundation helps many people with vision loss and blindness in the Seattle, Washington region.
How much is my vision loss claim worth?
At Smith McBroom Injury and Accident Lawyers, we work with your vision doctors, psychologists, and life planners to understand the treatments you need and all the ways your vision loss will affect your life. We also work with your employers and other experts to help place a value on your financial and personal damages.
Our Seattle vision loss attorneys may seek compensation for your past, current, and future damages, including:
- Medical bills
- Lost wages, business income, and benefits
- Physical pain and emotional suffering
- Property damage
- Loss of the use of your eyes
- The inability to enjoy life’s pleasures
- Loss of consortium (available to spouses and eligible partners)
Do you have a Seattle vision loss lawyer near me?
Yes. We meet new clients at our office, located at 16400 Southcenter Parkway, Suite 210, Seattle, Washington 98188. If your loss of vision prevents you from traveling, we can arrange to meet you in person or by using technology that allows us to talk with each other.
We can help you pursue the compensation you may be legally entitled to.
Contact our Seattle loss of vision lawyers today
At Smith McBroom Injury and Accident Lawyers, we understand how devastating losing your ability to see due to the negligence of another person is. We can work to maximize your recovery so you can live your best life possible. Please contact us to schedule a free consultation. We’re ready to help you fight for your future now.