MISSED SHOT? Did a Massachusetts anesthesiologist accidentally pierce the retinas of 5 cataract patients?

Did a misfiring anesthesiologist blind 5 cataract patients in one day at a busy ophthalmic surgery center in Massachusetts?

A shocking account in the Boston Globe describes how an anesthesiologist named Tzay Chiu, MD, may have pierced the eyeballs and retinas of 5 patients in one morning in May 2014 while trying to administer peribulbar and/or retrobulbar blocks at Cataract & Laser Center West in West Springfield. Four of the 5 patients, says the Globe, were left completely blind in their affected eyes, and the fifth was left with a crescent-shaped blind spot that severely limits his vision. Two of the patients have filed lawsuits and all 5 have hired lawyers.

Dr. Chiu, who could not be reached for comment, later signed a practice restriction agreement with the state medical board in which he agreed to no longer perform peribulbar or retrobulbar blocks (he reportedly can continue to practice while under investigation). Rebecca Capozzi, his lawyer, did not return a call from Outpatient Surgery.

Dr. Chiu had been assigned to the facility by D&G Associates, an anesthesiologist broker in Massachusetts. According to the Globe, the center believed Dr. Chiu was competent, based on 2 letters of reference from colleagues and on the word of the anesthesiologist usually assigned to the center who has disputed that account in a recent deposition.

All 5 surgeries took place in one morning, 4 of them during one 30-minute stretch. One patient tells the Globe he screamed when the needle was administered. Others describe hearing other patients yell as they were being given the shots. According to one, after she yelled in pain, Dr. Chiu said, "I'm bad, I'm bad."

Both the surgery center and D&G Associates declined to comment.

Jim Burger