U.S. Department
of Justice
U.S. v. Barnet Dulaney Perkins Eye Center, PC
On December 20, 2021, the United States sued Barnet Dulaney Perkins Eye Center, PC (BDP), an optometry and ophthalmology provider with 24 facilities, for violating Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act by refusing to transfer certain patients with disabilities from wheelchairs onto surgical and exam tables and instead requiring these patients to hire third-party medical support personnel to transport them to and from BDP facilities and to provide transfer assistance at the facilities.
On April 18, 2022, the United States filed an Amended Complaint to add Medical Management Resources Group, L.L.C., d/b/a American Vision Partners Holdings, L.L.C. (AVP) (collectively, Defendants) as a co-defendant. AVP partners with nearly 80 eye care facilities in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and Texas including: Southwestern Eye Center, M & M Eye Institute, Retinol Consultants of Arizona, Abrams Eye Institute, Southwest Eye Institute, Aiello Eye Institute, Havasu Eye Center, Visage Aesthetics and Plastic Surgery and Moretsky Cassidy Vision Correction. The Amended Complaint also added allegations that AVP and BDP have also denied eye surgery outright to patients who need transfer assistance.
On January 17, 2023, the United States filed its proposed Consent Decree to resolve allegations that Barnet Dulaney Perkins Eye Center PC and Medical Management Resources Group, L.L.C., d/b/a American Vision Partners Holdings, L.L.C. (collectively, Defendants) violate Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The lawsuit alleges that Defendants' eye care practices discriminate against patients who, because of their disabilities, need assistance transferring from their wheelchairs for eye surgery. The U.S alleges that Defendants required patients with disabilities who needed transfer assistance to use and pay for third party medical transport and transfer assistance as a condition of surgery, in violation of the ADA. Additionally, the U.S. also alleges that Defendants denied eye surgery outright to some patients who needed transfer assistance. This discriminatory practice delayed needed medical care and resulted in significant harms to individuals who need eye surgery. Under the consent decree, Defendants will change their anti-discrimination and transfer assistance policies to provide for transfer assistance at their facilities. They will also train staff on the new policy requirements and on safe transfer techniques and pay $950,000 to patients and prospective patients who were harmed by its policies and a civil penalty of $50,000.