​Stephanie Freeman (Partner-New York, NY) secured summary judgment in the New York Supreme Court, Suffolk County, for Wilson Elser’s clients, a hospital and its ophthalmologist employee, in a medical malpractice action arising from cataract and vision correction surgeries.   The plaintiff underwent cataract and vision correction surgery that failed to improve her vision, followed by revision surgery that left her with complications.  But, as demonstrated by the submission Stephanie prepared and the accompanying expert affirmation supporting the care rendered, the clients’ care and treatment rendered fully conformed to the applicable standard of care. As the defense expert acknowledged, a corrective lens predicted to be the appropriate strength for a patient can sometimes prove to be the wrong strength despite proper care. Similarly, complications can arise during surgery in the absence of negligence ‒ and that is what occurred here.

The plaintiff’s expert nevertheless argued that the clients had erroneously selected the lens because it ultimately proved to be the wrong strength. Stephanie successfully exposed the hindsight inherent in that argument: the fact that an outcome was unsuccessful does not establish that the care was negligent. The court agreed, granting summary judgment to Wilson Elser’s physician client and hospital, and dismissing the complaint.

The plaintiff appealed both the summary judgment order and the resulting judgment. Judy Selmeci (|Partner-New York, NY) and Julia Audibert (Associate-New York, NY) prepared the appellate brief, continuing to emphasize that the plaintiff had failed to identify any departure from the standard of care. Patrick Lawless (Partner-New York, NY) handled the oral argument, where the appellate team’s arguments were well received. The Appellate Division dismissed the appeal from the summary judgment order and affirmed the judgment, leaving the victory for Wilson Elser’s clients intact.