PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

On Wednesday, December 5, 2007, a jury returned a verdict against G. Peyton Neatrour, M.D., and his professional corporation Beach Eye Care, Inc. (d/b/a/ Neatrour Eye Institute (“NEI”)), for having performed LASIK eye surgery on Rosalind Martinez in December 2002 and May 2003.

Ms. Martinez alleged that she was an improper candidate for either surgery, and was not properly informed of the risks related to her specific condition. In December 2002, her preoperative corneal topographies were irregular. Indeed, the labels printed out by Dr. Neatrour’s own software warned “SUSPECT KERATOCONUS” and “CORNEAL DISTORTION.” In addition, Ms. Martinez alleged she suffered from preoperative dry eye, which was not treated.

After delegating all of the preoperative screening to his staff, and never examining the patient’s eyes himself, he went ahead and performed LASIK surgery.

When Ms. Martinez returned complaining of poor visual acuity and postoperative blurriness, Dr. Neatrour’s optometrist recommended waiting before considering any further surgery. However, Dr. Neatrour forged ahead and performed corrective surgery on her right eye anyway, which only worsened the patient’s cornea condition, postLASIK ectasia.

After 20 visits to NEI, the patient saw Dr. Neatrour for just the third and final time in March 2005. At that time, Dr. Neatrour confirmed that the patient had developed postLASIK ectasia and keratoconus. Still, he offered to perform further corrective surgery on the patient’s left eye, which was clearly contraindicated. Thus, rather than screening unsuitable candidates for LASIK surgery, Ms. Martinez’s lawyer argued in summation that in this case “NEI” did not stand for Neatrour Eye Institute, but rather “Any Eye, Any Time.”

As a result of her visual injuries Ms. Martinez, who is employed as a medical assistant, was stripped of her responsibilities assisting with suturing, after she accidentally cut a patient. She was taking courses to become a surgical nurse, but had to drop out. And, Dr. Neatrour and others have advised that she now requires a corneal transplant.

After eight days of trial, the jury returned a unanimous verdict against Dr. Neatrour, and awarded Ms. Martinez $200,000.

Earlier this year, Dr. Neatrour settled another LASIK medical malpractice lawsuit with Mary Carrier for an undisclosed amount.

Ms. Martinez was represented by Todd J. Krouner and Dominique Ferrera from Chappaqua, New York, and local counsel, Thomas Shuttleworth of Shuttleworth, Ruloff, Swain, Haddad & Morecock, P.C. of Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Dr. Neatrour and Beach Eye Care were represented by John Redmond and Rodney Dillman of Hancock, Daniel, Johnson & Nagle, P.C. of Virginia Beach, Virginia.