Compensation for eye infection caused by lenses ?

Austinhead

MrsBartolozzi wrote: »

The reason I stopped wearing them and changed to dailies was because I was told to remove them for 24 hours every week to give my eyes a rest, apparently new advice was to wear them less (this was maybe 3 years ago).

were you never told to examine your eyes and any discomfort found was to be dealt with immediately?

My OH also wears these lenses and he was told he could wear them for the full 30 days without a rest. I was only told to take them out overnight after 4 days/nights, never told to give my eyes 24 hours rest.

Looking back, yes, i does seem silly that I didn't leave them out for the night - and trust me, i wish I had done that. However, I had taken the lenses out, and cleaned them, I knew there was nothing on the lens when I put it back in my eye. I suffer from hayfever which can give the feeling of having something in your eye so assumed it was just that, which is why I kept them in.

Minxybella: ..I think it's a sign of the times that the OP is even thinking of making a compensation claim....

I have been struggling with this, which is why i haven't done anything yet, but after listening to consultants it's clear that there is a serious risk with these lenses, and I feel angry and upset that I was not told of them. I didn't trip over a crack in the pavement and cut my knee, i have a permanent reminder which would require major surgery to fix.

SkintMamma

I had the exact same thing happen almost 20 years ago, so I really sympathise. It's not good! I think mine was cause by me being a bit lazy with cleaning. It was long before they days of extended wear lenses though, mine were the type that you removed every night, and they lasted around 12 months.

Anyway, I had pretty bad ulcer, spent a week in hospital and had months of trips to the eye clinic before it started to improve. I think it took around 2-3 years before my eye was back to normal. But it's absolutely fine now. I have been wearing lenses again for years, and have never had any more problems (but I do make sure they get cleaned religously). I can no longer see the scar, but it's apparently still there, as my optician mentions it every time I have a check.

Hope it improves soon

SkintMamma x

Tarja

The problem with extended wear contacts is that they reduce the amount of oxygen that gets to the surface of the eye and the corneal lining thins. Even removing the lens can cause an ulcer and if the lens dries it can tear the eye surface

There is a new treatment that can lightly lazer the surface smoother, but this can cause eye dryness so is rarely chosen due to risks of further damage.

There is a 3 year window for legal claims in personal injury. You would probably be able to get half a hours free advice from a solicitor. The Citizens Advice Bureau can put you in touch with one. It maybe difficult establishing a chain of causation, but a solicitor would be able to advise.

debtfreein4years

I would be interested to know if the OP signed anything at their optitions with regards to the care of their contact lenses. All my recent optitions (since about 2000) have made me sign a contact lens agreement saying that they have told me about all the risks associated with wearing basically absolving them of all blame if anything did go wrong.

I think its partly down to the op for putting the lenses back in when they felt uncomy but it would need to be proven that the optition didnt tell them all that they needed to know if they were to get awarded compensation and would get very costly if a no win no fee solicitor wasnt willing to take the case on.

funguy

All lenses carry an element of risk but the longer lenses are worn, the higher the risk. Opticians are not like GPs - they make sure your eyes are healthy at the start, offer a choice of products which suit and then check u again 6 months later....its just like shopping in a high street shop...
Im sure you will have signed something or the optician will say that they told u something verbally. Also there will have been some cautions on the packaging/box/leaflet. I really doubt any compensation claim will ever be possible.
Also the doctor would not be expected to notice a retained lens which given the story sounds like was not in the usual position. He/she did the correct thing and referred u to the hospital.

Im afraid you dont really have a case!

Tozer

There is no causal link here. If there has been any negligence by the original optician it is in not warning the OP.

However, that did not CAUSE the damage. Therefore, any claim for negligence will fail.

sarahg1969

Tozer wrote: »

There is no causal link here. If there has been any negligence by the original optician it is in not warning the OP.

However, that did not CAUSE the damage. Therefore, any claim for negligence will fail.

It would appear so from reading the original post, but, to be fair, we don't really know the full facts.

There's nothing to be lost by the OP at least contacting a local solicitor who specialises in medical negligence, and seeing what they have to say. They may well dismiss the idea of a claim immediately, but they may suggest obtaining a straightforward medical report based on the OP's records, although this will of course cost several hundred pounds.

moonrakerz

wannaberichbtch wrote: »

The public view opticians in a similar way to a visit to their GP, and rely on their diagnosis and advise. Unfortunately many opticians operate in the same way as any other high street retailer with attitude to maximising profits, sometimes to the detriment of their clients.

I strongly disagree with this generalisation.

I have recently started wearing contact lenses, I found my optician (Specsavers )to be very good, even down to saying that if I needed to get reading glasses, the cheapest place was the local factory shop. All the risks/drawbacks were explained and plenty of documentation was supplied.

If people ignore what they are told and don't read the leaflets you can hardly blame the optician when it all goes pear-shaped !

woodvale_2

Without knowing all the facts of this case it is hard to establish if this would be a case worth taking on for a Solicitor. You really must have a thorough consultation with an expert in this field. I can recommend someone if you want to pm me.

A few points to consider, just setting aside the fact that you have suffered a nasty injury that you quite obviously didn't deserve, was there blame or negligence in the duty of care that the optician provided ? Was any deficiency in care a direct result of your injury?

If we decide that yes there was deficiency in care or negligence that was party to your injury then the next consideration is the symptomatic period (length of injury until normal service resumed). This amongst other things dictates the level of compensation due to you. Depending on the potential success of the claim and the symptomatic period the Solicitor would then need to calculate the issue of costs and whether it is worth it from his/her commercial point of view. The case would probably be funded by a conditional fee agreement.

A medical report will also need to be funded by the solicitor although this cost is also recoverable form the other side. The report would need to be favourable to the claim.

The opticians would no doubt utilise their public liability insurers who would then possibly appoint their own Solicitors to defend the claim. These people will be highly skilled in dealing with such claims and would certainly have encountered this type of allegation against their optician clients before.

As you might be able to tell I do work in this field as a Paralegal but my specialist area relates to road traffic accidents not med neg.

The whole process is quite adversarial and stressful and you would need to be prepared to accept the criticisms about your own eye care and responsibility that you would no doubt get from the other side. If you can cope with this mentally, can see it through and not let it take over your life like some poor folks do then I think it is most certainly worth exploring.

I hope this helps but more importantly I hope you make a full recovery asap.

Best of luck.

Austinhead

I don't remember signing anything at the time, I had my previous lenses from specsavers but at the time I wanted extended wear they didn't sell them, so I went to another high street optician. I'm not saying that I didn't sign anything, just that I don't remember.

Thanks for the info woodvale, i'll PM you.