Babies who are born early may suffer from a debilitating eye condition called retinopathy of prematurity. Some families have accused doctors of retinopathy of prematurity malpractice because their children have suffered unnecessary blindness that could have been prevented with proper diagnosis and treatment.

What is Retinopathy of Prematurity?

Retinopathy of prematurity is an eye condition that affects primarily infants who are born prematurely. This condition occurs in babies who are born before 31 weeks of gestation, and the risk is higher the younger and smaller the baby is.

Retinopathy of prematurity, or ROP, can result in blindness if it is not properly taken care of. The eyes fully develop within the last 12 weeks of pregnancy, so when a baby is born too early, the eye often has not fully matured yet.

When a baby is developing in the womb, blood vessels grow at the back of the eye on the retina. By the time a baby has developed full-term in the womb, most of these blood vessels have fully developed. Some blood vessels continue to grow up to a month after birth.

When a baby is born with retinopathy of prematurity, the blood vessels in the back of the eye have not developed correctly or enough. These abnormal blood vessels can result in a scarring of the retina. When this happens, retinal detachment can happen.

Visual impairment and blindness can be the result of retinal detachment.

Retinopathy of Prematurity Malpractice

Doctors check newborns for ROP and are especially careful to look for this in premature newborns. When a baby has ROP, doctors should refer families to see a specialist and suggest further care for the infant.

However, when doctors do not take care to refer the families of babies suffering form ROP, retinopathy of prematurity malpractice may take place.

A study published in the journal Transactions of the American Ophthalmological Society looked at 13 retinopathy of maturity malpractice cases. The researchers found that in eight of the 13 cases, there was a failure of neonatology workers to refer the infant or follow up.

They also found that in two 0f 13 retinopathy of maturity malpractice cases, there was a failure to adequately supervise resident care. In six of 13 cases, there was an ophthalmologic failure to follow up, and there was a failure to properly diagnose and manage in nine of 13 of the retinopathy of maturity malpractice cases.

Alarmingly, in 12 of 13 of the cases, negligent error was found by at least one party. Because of what the researchers found, retinopathy of maturity malpractice was judged to be present in 9 out of the 13 cases.