Defense Verdict in New York County

On March 15, 2005, Charles L. Bach obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a Manhattan plastic surgeon against whom plaintiff sought $2 million in damages.

Plaintiff, a 64-year-old woman, sought $2 million in damages arising from multiple plastic surgeries. Plaintiff underwent a facelift, a brow lift, bilateral blephoraplasties (eyelid surgeries) and bilateral canthoplasties (surgeries on the outer corners of the eyes) on August 11, 2000. Months after these surgeries, the plaintiff found that she could not close her eyelids completely. She subsequently underwent 6 additional procedures by some of the nation’s best known ocular plastic surgeons designed to improve eyelid closure and was left with lag ophthalmous confirmed on multiple examinations by experts in ocular plastic surgery and ophthalmology.

In a nearly 3 week trial, Charles Bach convinced a New York County jury that the defendant’s surgeries were performed according to the standard of care and that plaintiff suffered a rare but known complication of these procedures: lag ophthalmous or incomplete eyelid closure. Plaintiff claimed permanent corneal damage, vision impairment, inability to sleep and to concentrate interfering with her profession as a therapist.