Of the 524 firms on our 92 city lists in the United States, Schochor, Staton, Goldberg, and Cardea, P.A. scores highest on malpractice focus, published results, client reviews and experience, followed by Hastings Law Firm and The Law Offices of Dr. Michael M. Wilson MD, JD & Associates. Each firm keeps its best score from the cities it serves; open a city for its full list.
Best Lasik Malpractice Lawyers in the United States
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This spot goes to one firm for a year. It's shown first, above everyone below, and labeled Featured.
4.8181 Google reviewsRated 4.8 out of 5 on Google from 181 reviews
Best for: Birth injury and hospital negligence
In its published cases, Schochor, Staton, Goldberg, and Cardea, P.A. describes oxygen deprivation during delivery and Erb’s palsy; it also publishes verdicts involving deaths after hospital care.
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
4.6102 Google reviewsRated 4.6 out of 5 on Google from 102 reviews
Best for: Misdiagnosis and surgical injury claims
Among Hastings Law Firm's published results are a $19,750,000 failure-to-diagnose settlement and a $10,700,000 negligent-prescribing jury verdict. Because it focuses on malpractice and publishes those results, it tops this list.
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
5.0216 Google reviewsRated 5.0 out of 5 on Google from 216 reviews
Best for: Delayed diagnosis and anesthesia injuries
An alleged delayed diagnosis of HSV encephalitis is behind the $11.65 million result published by The Law Offices of Dr. Michael M. Wilson MD, JD & Associates. For negligent anesthesia care, it reports another result of $8 million.
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
4.724 Google reviewsRated 4.7 out of 5 on Google from 24 reviews
Best for: Misdiagnosis and surgical injury claims
A $12 million misdiagnosis result stands out among the cases published by The Law Offices of Cardaro & Peek, LLC. For negligent surgery, it lists a $7.9 million result; for breast cancer misdiagnosis, it lists $7.1 million.
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
4.7226 Google reviewsRated 4.7 out of 5 on Google from 226 reviews
Best for: Birth injury and delayed diagnosis
Among Wapner Newman Attorneys At Law's listed results are $8.4 million for brain injury after a delayed diagnosis and $7 million for birth trauma causing brain damage.
We order firms by how much of their work is medical malpractice, the results they publish, what their clients say, their experience, their standing with the regulator and the recognition they have earned, all from public records and the firms' own sites. How lists are made
Lasik malpractice lawyers by state
The rules change from one state to the next, so the lawyers near you are the ones to call.
If a provider's failure to meet the accepted standard of care caused your injury, you may have grounds for a LASIK malpractice claim. Disappointment alone doesn't establish malpractice. When reviewing the care, a lawyer examines what happened before and during surgery, including the provider's response afterward. Whether different care could have prevented your harm is another question.
Your care comes first, alongside gathering records. Contact an eye-care clinician if your vision worries you after surgery; a legal answer shouldn't delay care. Whether the problem involves screening or the procedure is something a lawyer in your state can assess separately, including concerns about the care afterward.
What LASIK malpractice means
To correct vision, LASIK uses a procedure called refractive eye surgery. If vision loss or another complication follows, malpractice may be a concern. Before surgery even happens, though, there may be a problem: the provider might have recommended operating when the patient wasn't a suitable candidate.
If the cornea, a part of the eye, is damaged, that damage can be central to a claim. A patient who suffered cornea damage after LASIK is described in Mazie Slater's published settlement account. According to his allegation, the ophthalmologist's negligence caused that damage.
Corneal injury alone doesn't establish malpractice, despite that case. Naming the complication won't be enough for a legal review. As the settlement account illustrates, the chart must help explain how the patient was injured and why the provider may bear responsibility for it.
Where an error may have occurred
Skipped steps and ignored red flags may fall short of the accepted standard of care, according to Morgan & Morgan's discussion of LASIK claims. Preventable errors also appear there. A reviewer can start with these possibilities, but they don't establish anything about your surgeon.
Screening before surgery
If candidate screening was poor, the decision to operate deserves scrutiny. Was proceeding with surgery appropriate? Have the lawyer examine the preoperative assessments, including how the recommendation for surgery followed from them. If you believe the provider overlooked something about your eyes or vision, explain it and what you told the provider.
Whether you were a suitable candidate isn't something another patient's story can establish. Put your assessment records first. Give the lawyer a clinician's written explanation (if you have one) when that clinician later told you surgery shouldn't have happened.
The procedure and the response afterward
The procedure notes need a review if you suspect a preventable error during surgery. When follow-up care worries you, the comparison changes. Explain which symptoms you reported, including when you reported them, so the lawyer can compare that information with the provider's response.
Our page on misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis explains a related area of malpractice if you think a later problem wasn't recognized. When speaking with the lawyer, explain whether you're concerned about the original surgery or the care afterward, including both if appropriate.
When explaining your symptoms, you may find other patients' descriptions helpful. Double vision, halos and glare appear in one comment in a discussion on r/Lasiksupport, alongside loss of contrast sensitivity and difficulty focusing. Patients reported these concerns. Neither a clinical checklist nor proof that LASIK caused any particular symptom can come from those reports.
At your appointment, plainly describe what's changed. If the change comes and goes, mention that; write down when it started and how it affects something you actually do. When you message the clinic, save what you send and keep the replies you get back.
A bad outcome isn't automatically malpractice
A claim requires more than being unhappy with how your vision turned out. What the provider did needs to be explained. When reviewing the claim, the lawyer should identify the accepted standard of care and connect any failure to meet it with the injury you're claiming.
Standard of care: In your circumstances, what care should the provider have given? Whether surgery should have been recommended might be the focus. A skipped step might matter instead.
Causation: Was your injury caused by the alleged failure? When a symptom appears after surgery, that establishes timing; it doesn't, by itself, explain what caused it.
Harm: Which records show the effects of the injury you're claiming? Alongside your description of daily difficulties, give the lawyer the clinical findings that describe your current condition.
How they'd investigate each issue is worth asking the lawyer. If a medical opinion may be needed to connect the alleged error with your condition, the review should say so and explain what else remains uncertain. Even if a lawyer initially shows interest, that doesn't establish malpractice.
When the concern is consent
You may also worry about what you heard before agreeing to have surgery. Keep written risk information together with the consent form. When writing down what you remember hearing, distinguish the words you recall from those you can point to in a message or document.
For that related issue, see our informed consent page. Whether the discussion before surgery raises a separate legal concern is something a lawyer in your state can assess. If you signed a form, don't drop your questions; the lawyer needs to review that signature as part of what happened.
One published LASIK settlement
Settlement reported by Mazie Slater in a LASIK case involving cornea damage and alleged ophthalmologist negligence
According to Mazie Slater's account, the patient settled his lawsuit by accepting a settlement. Because it's a firm's published result from one case, it doesn't show a typical payout or predict another patient's result. Reading a settlement account as a court finding of the provider's negligence would also be a mistake.
Your situation's value isn't established by that reported amount. Because a published result can't answer questions about your care, ask a lawyer how the documented injury and evidence of responsibility affect their assessment.
What to do next
Prepare for a LASIK case review
1
Address your medical concerns
When you contact an eye-care clinician about the changes you're experiencing, ask what the findings mean and what care they recommend. Keep any assessment in writing. What's documented is something the lawyer will need to see.
2
Request the records
When requesting the procedure notes, include the preoperative assessments and consent documents. Include the follow-up records in your request. Rather than relying on a treatment summary, keep your request and copies of all the records you receive.
3
Build a dated account
Build your timeline from the recommendation for surgery, adding the procedure date before the first change you noticed. Use messages or appointment records to check dates. If dates are estimates, mark them.
4
Describe the effect on your life
Rather than guessing a diagnosis, describe the specific difficulties. When saving bills and documents about effects you want assessed, distinguish what a clinician has confirmed from what you suspect so the lawyer can review them.
5
Ask a lawyer about the deadline
Find a lawyer where you received care, in that state. Before every medical question is resolved, you can ask about the filing deadline; give the lawyer your surgery date and explain when you became concerned.
LASIK malpractice deadlines differ by state
For LASIK malpractice claims, no nationwide statute of limitations applies. Deadlines vary from state to state. Once you find your jurisdiction on our state pages, ask a lawyer there how its rules apply to the dates in your case.
Seeking legal help isn't necessarily when the clock starts running. When you give the lawyer your surgery date, include the dates of later care and the date you first noticed something was wrong. Which dates count under state law is for the lawyer to determine.
Questions to ask during a consultation
When contacting the firm, say directly that you want possible LASIK negligence assessed. Ask further questions if it says it handles vision-damage claims. Whether the firm has handled a case like yours isn't clear from that statement alone.
Does your experience include LASIK candidate-screening claims or claims involving injuries to the cornea?
Before deciding whether to investigate, which records would you need?
If you investigate, how would you connect the alleged error to my injury?
What would you need to learn before determining which filing deadline might apply to me?
For fees and case-review costs, what's your approach?
If the lawyer needs more records, ask which ones are missing while writing down the answers. Ask the firm's reason if it declines. Being concerned about the deadline isn't the same as being unable to connect the care you received with the injury you're claiming.
If a provider's failure to meet the accepted standard of care caused harm, you may be able to bring a claim over that care. A claim needs more than disappointment. According to Morgan & Morgan, skipped steps and ignored red flags may warrant review, as may errors that could have been prevented. When a lawyer in your state reviews your records, they can explain how the law applies.
What is the regret rate for LASIK?
A verified regret-rate figure isn't available to give you. Because patient-support forum posts describe individual experiences, they can't measure how often patients regret having LASIK. Neither a documented injury nor malpractice is the same as regret. Ask an eye-care clinician about your condition if your result leaves you unhappy. If specific care concerns you, bring that concern to a lawyer.
Why are some doctors against LASIK?
We can't give you a supported general account explaining why doctors may oppose LASIK. When a doctor advises one patient against surgery, that doesn't mean they oppose LASIK itself. Ask for a written reason if a clinician advises you not to have LASIK. Whether recommending surgery made sense for your circumstances is what a malpractice review examines.
How common is a failed LASIK surgery?
Without a verified failure-rate figure to give you, we also need to clarify what “failed” means. If someone uses that word, they might mean dissatisfaction with vision or documented injury. A settlement involving cornea damage appears in Mazie Slater's report. Before drawing conclusions from another patient's outcome, ask your clinician to describe your findings precisely; that single case can't tell you how often such damage happens.
What can you never do again after LASIK?
No activity is established here as something every LASIK patient must permanently avoid. Because a forum reply doesn't clear you to try an activity, ask your treating clinician which restrictions your eyes and recovery require. When preparing for a legal review, keep written instructions and describe lasting limitations that your clinician has documented.
What happens 20 years after LASIK?
We can't cite a supported long-term study that predicts what vision will be like 20 years after LASIK. Your outlook can't come from one patient's story. If you suspect an earlier treatment error, ask a lawyer about timing separately from asking an eye-care clinician about your current findings and future care. Your legal filing deadline isn't determined by a question about long-term medical care.
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