A state optometrists association declared its support for an optometry chief placed on leave as part of an investigation at the Palo Alto VA.

NOTE from Larry Scott, VA Watchdog dot Org ... Click here for the original article about this fiasco at the Palo Alto VA which left seven veterans blinded.

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Optometrists association defends Palo Alto VA optometry chief

By Jessica Bernstein-Wax
Daily News Staff Writer

A state optometrists association Wednesday publicly declared its support for an optometry chief placed on administrative leave as part of an investigation at the Palo Alto veterans hospital.

The group's statement came in response to story Wednesday in The Daily News that reported VA Palo Alto Health Care System officials put Optometry Chief Curtis Keswick on paid administrative leave and assigned another optometrist to non-clinical duties while reviewing 381 eye patients' charts.

After a three-month probe, the facility concluded that 23 glaucoma patients experienced "progressive visual loss" while under care in the hospital's optometry department, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs confirmed. The VA informed seven of those patients that doctors might have botched their treatment, resulting in serious vision loss.

Reached by phone Monday, Keswick said he couldn't comment on the investigation because VA officials had barred him from doing so.

But Dr. Hilary Hawthorne, president of the California Optometric Association, said Wednesday her group stands behind Keswick.

"Dr. Keswick is a member of our organization," Hawthorne said in a statement. "I've known Curt for almost a decade as a compassionate and thorough optometrist. It's sad that this information was given to the media before he was given the opportunity to respond fully. We're hopeful that he'll be able to confront his unnamed accusers in public, to protect his rights and his reputation."

VA Palo Alto Health Care System policy requires optometrists to consult with ophthalmologists on glaucoma cases, department spokeswoman Katie Roberts said in a statement. However, the review indicated optometrists weren't always doing that.

"What we found is that for the optometrists caring for patients with glaucoma that it was fairly widespread that they weren't consistently referring patients to their ophthalmology colleagues," said Dr. Stephen Ezeji-Okoye, deputy chief of staff at the facility.

Of the seven patients contacted, two have filed lawsuits, the VA said. The department settled one claim for $87,000, and the other is still pending.

Those patients had problems ranging from partial vision loss to complete blindness in one eye, Ezeji-Okoye said.

"It was identified that there were treatment options available that potentially could have prevented their loss," he added. "We felt that they didn't get optimal treatment."

Ezeji-Okoye said VA officials are still weighing whether to discipline Keswick or the other optometrist.

"At this point we're in the process of determining exactly what the most appropriate actions will be," he said.

Keswick is a former president of the Santa Clara County Optometric Society and received the Optometrist of the Year award in 2000, according to his clinic Web site. He has served as the Palo Alto VA's optometry chief since 1995, the Web site states.

He is also an associate clinical professor at the University of California, Berkeley's optometry school, according to the university's Web site.

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TOPICS: veterans, veterans' benefits, VA, Department of Veterans' Affairs, Palo Alto, optometry, ophthalmology