By Dan Kane
The News & Observer
RALEIGH, NC — A former inmate who went blind at the Federal Medical Center in Butner will receive $5,200 a month for life as part of a $2.6 million settlement of his lawsuit claiming that he received negligent care, his attorney said.
Vannara Nhar, 29, who now lives in Lowell, Mass., will receive $300,000 to go toward a home for him and the family members who take care of him.
“He’s ecstatic,” said his attorney, Gregory Kash of Raleigh. “His family’s going to live with him and they are going to help him with his needs.”
Nhar was sentenced to federal prison in 2011 for selling two stolen weapons to an undercover officer. At that time, he had near perfect vision.
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The lawsuit claimed prison medical staff knew Nhar has an eye disease known as Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrom, or VKHS. It can cause eye inflammation that triggers glaucoma and is more common in Asians. The News & Observer reported the case in 2016.
If left unchecked, the glaucoma can cause pressure to build up in the eyes that damages the optic nerves. That harm can be avoided through early diagnosis and treatment with corticosteroids such as prednisone.
Nhar claimed he began alerting medical staff early on that his vision was worsening. Kash said a series of emails Nhar sent to medical staff documented the deterioration over time, but his pleas for help didn’t lead to the specialized treatment he needed.
According to the lawsuit, by the time Nhar saw a surgeon his eyesight was so bad that surgery was scheduled the next day. It didn’t halt the vision loss. The surgeon recommended follow-up surgery, but Nhar never received it. He left the prison on Oct. 23, 2013, legally blind and unable to see beyond fingers held a foot in front of his face.
Kash said federal attorneys sought to strike down the case by citing an expert’s opinion that Nhar would have lost his vision within seven years regardless of the medical staff’s treatment. Kash said he countered with the doctor who trained that expert, who said with proper care, Nhar would have had good eyesight for the rest of his life..
Federal court papers show the case was settled last month. Kash said it was handled by a federal mediator.
Don Connolly, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of North Carolina, confirmed the settlement, but would only say it happened after “extensive mediation.”
Roughly $1.5 million of the settlement will go into annuities to produce the monthly payments. Kash said the remaining $800,000 will pay court costs, outstanding medical bills and his attorney fees.