ARCHIVED - Mazarron pensioner awarded 370K after prescribed German medication turns him blind
The Mazarrón patient was administered a toxic dose that resulted in irreversible damage in one eye
A court in Totana has ordered the insurance company representing German pharmaceutical company Alamedics to pay 370,000 euros in compensation to a 61-year-old Mazarrón man who was left completely blind in one eye after being administered one of their drugs.
The pensioner was diagnosed with a detached retina back in October 2014 and was scheduled for a vitrectomy with cerclage in his right eye, a very common procedure that involves applying a band of silicone, similar to a belt, around the eyeball to correct the damage.
Although the outcome of the surgery later that month at the Santa Lucía Hospital in Cartagena was initially positive, within a short period the pensioner’s eye became inflamed and it was later discovered that he had suffered from irreversible optic atrophy which resulted in complete loss of vision.
A medical inspection report discovered that the patient had been administered perfluorooctane, a drug marketed under the trade name ‘Ala Octa’ during surgery.
The timing was incredibly unfortunate for the patient, as the product was withdrawn from the market in Spain in June 2015 as a result of several adverse incidents.
Alamedics tried to dodge responsibility but the medical experts called by the court could find no other likely cause for the man’s blindness.
"The rapidity in the appearance of the symptoms after the intervention should be highlighted (24 hours after the intervention, I could no longer see the light) and that led the different doctors to deduce that it was a consequence of the product used," the court concluded.
He was awarded 150,000 euros in damages plus interest on the penalty from the date of his operation in 2014, compensation which amounts to approximately 370,000 euros.
Image: Pixabay
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