The Associated Press

FRANKFORT - The Kentucky Court of Appeals has overturned a million-dollar medical malpractice verdict in Lexington because it says the trial judge was ethically obliged to take herself off the case.

The suit against Dr. Thomas Abell resulted in a $1.7 million verdict for Tonya Oliver, whose vision was permanently impaired by what the jury deemed a botched series of Lasik surgeries in 1997 and 1998.

It was the largest sum ever awarded in a Lasik malpractice case.

The court of appeals took no issue with the award, but said that Fayette Circuit Judge Rebecca Overstreet "knowingly failed to disclose the facts" that her husband, Jerry Wright, works in the Herren & Adams law firm that represented Oliver.

She should have recused herself or had Abell and all other parties sign waivers allowing her to preside despite her relationship, the three-member appeals court panel said in two separate but concurring opinions by Judges Wilfrid Schroder and David C. Buckingham released Friday.

Schroder noted that when Abell raised the ethical issue immediately after the trial, Overstreet also denied the doctor the ability to fully explore the depth of her husband's affiliation with Herren & Adams.

Instead, she allowed Oliver's attorney Thomas Herren and his partner, Charles Adams, to explain that Wright had a minor role in the firm and was essentially "an independent contractor" who rented an office in their building and whose practice centered on cases unrelated to theirs.

But Abell's attorney suggested that the award would naturally benefit Wright by giving the firm a higher profile.

The appeals court noted that despite the apparently distant business relationship between Herren & Adams and Wright, the three attorneys advertised themselves as a trio of lawyers.

Throughout the November 2001 trial, Abell, who operates a large Lasik surgery center, denied wrongdoing.