St. Clair County Chief Judge Andrew Gleeson granted dismissal in a suit alleging a patient underwent unnecessary surgery to correct an eye condition.
Gleeson granted the motion to dismiss for failure to file a healthcare affidavit after plaintiff Corinthian Monk failed to appear at the hearing.
Defendants Dr. Michael P. Jones and JFJ Eyecare Ltd., doing business as Quantum Vision Centers, filed the motion to dismiss on Jan. 9 through attorneys Michelle Drake and Kenneth Bean of Sandberg Phoenix & von Gontard PC in St. Louis.
They argued that Monk’s counsel stated in his affidavit that he was unable to obtain the healthcare professional consultation required before the expiration of the statute of limitations, so he filed the complaint without the required healthcare professional report.
The defendants argued in their motion that 90 days had passed since the complaint had been filed and Monk still had not filed the healthcare report.
Corinthian Monk filed the complaint on Sept. 22, alleging he sought treatment from the defendants for complaints of chronic blurred vision.
According to his complaint, Jones allegedly performed an unnecessary surgery in September 2015 after allegedly failing to properly diagnose and treat the plaintiff’s eye condition.
Monk alleged he presented no symptoms of cataracts and that his vision was correctable without signs of visually significant cataracts.
On Jan. 24, Alex Enyart of Eckert Enyart Attorneys at Law in Belleville, filed a motion to withdraw as counsel for Monk “in that he is no longer able to represent this plaintiff, in that your movant has accepted a position with the Office of General Counsel, Illinois Senate President.”
Gleeson granted the motion on Feb. 21 and ordered Monk to obtain new counsel and enter an appearance within 21 days.
Monk had sought a judgment of more than $75,000, plus costs.
St. Clair County Circuit Court case number 17-L-545