A woman went blind after doctors did not recognize her disease for 4 years

Ophthalmologists, including senior professors, did not identify a known and dangerous eye disease for four consecutive years, which led to the patient’s blindness. This serious allegation is at the center of a lawsuit filed by attorneys Rafael Almog and Rotem Tzioni, against a general health fund named Jordana (pseudonym), a 44-year-old woman.According to the lawsuit, Jordana, a successful accountant, was diagnosed as a child with keratoconus, a disease that affects the cornea. Despite this, for years she functioned well and lived without a significant limitation. It was only later in her life that troubling symptoms began to appear: red and painful eyes, pressure in the eyes and visual disturbances.

Several years ago, she went to a private clinic, where it was suspected that she was suffering from uveitis – a dangerous inflammatory disease that can cause blindness, characterized by wild growth of blood vessels near the retina and damage to the uvea (grape) – a layer in the middle eye rich in blood vessels. Following the initial diagnosis, Jordana was referred to the uveitis department at Kaplan Hospital, which is operated by the General Health Insurance Fund. According to the claim, the doctors there did not refer her to OCT – A fundus mapping test, which allows you to locate problems in the retina and save your vision.

According to Attorney Almog Vezioni, the doctors at the clinic made it clear to her that “there is not much to be done” and were content with ointments and steroids, without referring to further in-depth tests. Thus, according to the claim, for about four years, Jordana returned for repeated examinations, both at the clinic and by specialists private, but none of the specialists diagnosed her disease and did not refer her to appropriate treatment over time, her vision in the left eye It deteriorated until Jordana could not see through it at all and later her right eye was also damaged.

Only when she was close to complete vision loss in her right eye as well, Jordana sought a private consultation with an ophthalmologist, and the latter diagnosed her condition and began treating her with injections. But as described in the lawsuit, the exact diagnosis was made late, and the damage to the eyes at that stage was already irreversible. Even the additional injections given to Jordana in order to stop the deterioration of her vision failed to prevent her complete blindness in both eyes.

“A disease that can be stopped – if it is recognized in time”

The lawsuit was accompanied by the opinion of Prof. Yitzhak Ben Sira, an expert in eye diseases, who defined Klalit’s medical care as “extremely negligent”. According to him, “the lack of medical up-to-dateness prevented the identification of an old-new disease that was discovered in the last decade, known as PDS (Pachychoroid Disease Spectrum)”. He also stated that these are several retinal diseases of varying degrees of severity, which also affect young people and are known to affect both eyes.

Prof. Ben Sira noted that the doctors who treated Jordana, including specialists and professors, did not mention the name of the disease in the medical records at all, even though it was well known in those years. The expert emphasized that the proper treatment of this disease, similar to uveitis, includes injections of medicine into the eye that is activated by streams of light. This treatment is given alongside close follow-up with imaging tests. According to him, “the growth of blood vessels under the retina can be stopped if it is recognized in time and the correct actions are taken.”

According to the expert, if Jordana had received adequate treatment for her left eye, her condition would have stabilized. Also, during regular follow-up and giving injections, the doctors would also recognize the outbreak of the disease in the right eye long before her vision was damaged. However, since the disease was not diagnosed until a late stage, the treatment given in the end was “too little too late”.

Attorney Almog and Tzioni emphasize that until her eyesight deteriorated, Jordana was a healthy, independent and active woman, took care of her four children with devotion and worked as a respected accountant. Today, she has to deal with complete blindness in both eyes, stopped working, and became completely dependent on the assistance of others.

In the lawsuit, which was filed recently, the lawyers ask the Magistrate’s Court in Tel Aviv to order the Klalit Health Fund to compensate it in the maximum amount within its authority (up to NIS 2.5 million). A statement of defense has not yet been filed.

Kaplan and Kopfh Klalit: “The statement of claim has been accepted and he will answer directly in court.”