Cataract patients to sue over faulty IOLs

Solicitors acting for the group of elderly cataract patients whose  sight has been 'ruined' by faulty lenses have confirmed they are to sue the US manufacturers.

optician reported on April 8 that Preston-based law firm solicitors Birchall Blackburn was preparing a case against Ophthalmic Innovations International (OII) for 25 patients.

Now the legal team have issued a statement saying that the group has risen in number to 34 patients, and will take their  fight to the USA.  

A spokesman for the solicitors said: 'Hundreds of mainly elderly cataract sufferers have been left with damaged vision after the intraocular lenses - part of a free batch accepted by the NHS - were used in operations in the UK and abroad.

'Scores of people have already undergone unpleasant corrective surgery but many are too frail to cope with the anaesthetic and have been condemned to an unclear future.'

Patients were fitted with a lens imported from America by OII (UK), made by American company Ophthalmic Innovations International. These lenses were damaged by their packaging, resulting in an adverse reaction in the patients that were treated. Several were left with cloudy vision and had to undergo corrective surgery.

Enquiries revealed, stated Birchall Blackburn, that OII (UK) obtained a contract of supply from the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (PASA) claiming it had insurance when it did not.

'Astonishingly PASA never asked for proof and later admitted that when the suppliers claimed they had insurance it was not checked at that time,' said the legal firm.

'This has forced the victims to launch their damages claim in America but means the level of compensation could reach £100,000 where the UK figure would have been at most £5,000.'

One patient, Grace Williams, 81, from Bolton-le-Sands, was left with such poor vision following the surgery that she fell over and broke her elbow, and the law firm has said that doctors have told 85-year-old Rose Mills, now resident in a Lancaster nursing home, that her body is not strong enough to withstand an anaesthetic.

A spokeswoman for the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency, reiterated its statement: 'We're cooperating with lawyers who are dealing with the case. We do require our suppliers to have insurance.'

david.challinor@rbi.co.uk