Defense Verdict Reached in Case Claiming Prescribed Antibiotic Caused Blindness

​An Indiana jury returned a defense verdict resolving a malpractice lawsuit alleging that a prescribed antibiotic caused a patient to sustain permanent blindness, according to a report from the September 2016 Medical Malpractice Verdicts, Settlements & Experts(subscription required). The 22-year-old patient was seeing the defendant family physician for treatment of skin problems when the physician prescribed the antibiotic doxycycline. The drug "was known to produce intracranial hypertension in obese women of childbearing age," according to the report, and the patient was "part of this group." While the patient was taking the drug, she complained to the defendant of blurred vision and a severe headache. The physician diagnosed sinusitis and a tension headache but the patient's vision continued to worsen.