£150,000 compensation payout following faulty laser eye correction surgery

Faulty laser eye correction surgery leads to compensation

Irwin Mitchell Solictors were instructed to act for a 45 year old lady who suffered severe deterioration in his eye sight after she underwent laser eye correction surgery.

Our client suffered from hyperopia (far sightedness) with astigmatism throughout her life; she wore glasses from infancy until she was 30 when she wore gas permeable contact lenses. When she was 40 she went to the Corneal Laser Centre in Leeds for consideration of Lasik eye correction surgery.

She was advised that she was a suitable candidate for the treatment but the doctors had failed to examine her adequately, in particular, her corneas. They failed to consider her past medical history and heed the significance of symptoms which rendered her unsuitable for laser eye surgery. In fact, the client was suffering from Fuchs Endothelial Dystrophy, which is contraindicated for laser eye surgery. Nevertheless, she was offered Lasik surgery in both eyes but was not informed of the specific risks posed by the surgery in her case.

Following the surgery she suffered severe deterioration in her visual acuity. She was unable to read normal sized print and her florist’s business was severely affected. She required corneal transplants and further treatment was also reported to be necessary in the future.

Court proceedings were issued against the owners of the Centre, the contact lens optician and the ophthalmic surgeon who performed the faulty surgery. The surgeon subsequently admitted liability and agreed to pay our client £150,000 in compensation.

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