Iris_cornea_adnexa_-_biomicroscope.jpg

During a LASIK procedure, a surgery creates a corneal flap before a laser reshapes the cornea to improve a patient's vision.

(File photo/Eric Wiessner/Wiki Media Commons)

Moments before a laser was to shoot into Nathan Hoffman's eyes, an employee at the LASIK Vision Institute in Lake Oswego handed him a consent and liability-waiver form to sign.

Problem was, he didn't have his glasses and the font was small. The whole reason he was at the clinic in the first place was that he had vision problems without them.

Nonetheless, Hoffman signed the form.

That's all according to a lawsuit he filed last week in Multnomah County Circuit Court. It says that Hoffman, a 45-year-old Northeast Portland resident, ended up being a dissatisfied customer, claiming in his lawsuit that the surgeon botched the surgery in one of his eyes on May 10, 2014. That left him with a depth-perception problem that has required two subsequent surgeries at the Casey Eye Institute to try to correct.

The form Hoffman signed stated, among other provisions, that he couldn't sue LASIK Vision Institute for more than the cost of the surgery, $2,500. Hoffman's lawsuit describes LASIK Vision Institute's form and the act of handing it to him when he didn't have his glasses as "unconscionable."

The suit claims that the LASIK Vision Institute violated Oregon's Unlawful Trade Practices Act.

A message seeking comment for this story -- left for LASIK Vision Institute's management earlier this week -- wasn't returned.

Hoffman told the Oregonian/OregonLive that he regrets signing the form, but a staff person told him he'd have to sign it if he wanted to meet with the doctor and ask questions just before he got the surgery, so he ended up signing it.

Hoffman's suit seeks $7,500, but also reserves the right to seek punitive damages.

Portland attorney Karen R. Thompson is representing Hoffman.

-- Aimee Green

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