A medical malpractice lawsuit was being tried in Pike Countythis week, ironically at the same time tort reform was being debatedin a special session of the state Legislature in Jackson.
Dr. Kent Kebert, a McComb ophthalmologist, is in his secondday of the civil trial in Pike County Circuit Court at Magnoliatoday. Bill Krapac of McComb filed the suit against Kebert andthe Kebert Eye Clinic.
Krapac, 70, says Kebert failed to diagnose a condition whichleft him blind in one eye and partially blind in the other.
The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount for compensatory andpunitive damages. Tort reform advocates are seeking a limit onpunitive damages.
On Wednesday, Krapac's attorney Tina Nicholson of Jacksonsaid Krapac went to Kebert from 1988-1999 with increasingly serioussymptoms. She said Kebert should have recognized the signs ofglaucoma elevated pressure in the eyeball which can leadto blindness.
Dr. David Tasker of San Antonio, who was certified as an expertin the field of ophthalmology, reviewed Krapac's medicalrecords for the jury and claimed Kebert was negligent.
"I feel if treatment had been rendered in a slightly moreaggressive way, he would have sight today," Tasker said.
However, he acknowledged, "It's a thief in the night.Most glaucoma has no symptoms whatsoever."
Tasker said Kebert should have checked for eye damage as earlyas 1988 when tests showed raised pressure in the eye. In 1989when Krapac complained of headaches, Kebert should have examinedthe fluid drainage holes in his eyes, Tasker said.
In December 1999 when Krapac experienced a blockage in thevein of his left eye, Kebert should have taken emergency measures,Tasker said. By January pressure had jumped dramatically.
Kebert prescribed eye drops an inadequate type, Taskerclaimed then sent Krapac to a Jackson doctor for lasersurgery, which Tasker said is the wrong procedure for a blockage.
Tasker said Kebert should have prescribed a "first-line"pill and, if that didn't work within hours, sent Krapac toa glaucoma specialist immediately.
"I think useful vision could have been restored,"Tasker said.
Krapac lost vision in the left eye and later went to TulaneMedical Center for tunnel vision in his right eye. Nicholson saidhe's likely to be blind in that eye within five years.
The defense has yet to put on its case, but defense attorneyD. Collier Graham of Jackson said in opening remarks that Nicholsonhas it all wrong.
Graham said Krapac didn't develop glaucoma until afterthe blockage occurred in 1999. The type of glaucoma he developedwas a relatively unusual form known as neovascular glaucoma "a special acute type of glaucoma that occurs or can occurafter a central retinal vein occlusion (blockage)," Grahamsaid.
"There is nothing medical science can do to prevent acentral retinal vein occlusion from happening," Graham said."Almost 40 percent of the time they go real bad and you loseyour sight no matter what you do."
As soon as the blockage occurred, Kebert put Krapac on medicine,followed by a stronger medicine and then laser surgery.
"Dr. Kebert was more diligent, had him come back moreoften, than was recommended," Graham said.
"Dr. Kebert conscientiously followed this man and treatedthe symptoms that he saw."
The trial before Judge Keith Starrett is expected to last intoFriday.
