Which? attacks laser eye clinics' advice

Advice given by staff at laser eye clinics has been slated by a Consumers' Association survey.

The research, published in the Association's Which? magazine yesterday (February 3), revealed that outlets are not informing people about the health risks involved in operations to correct vision.

Researchers posing as myopic  patients phoned around clinics to ask about the risks and side-effects of laser surgery. 'Some clinics only told half the story, or gave advice that was simply wrong,' a spokesman for the Consumers' Association (CA) said this week. 

The champion of consumers' rights specifically mentioned three clinics - London's Accuvision, Manchester's Rosen Eye Centre, and an unspecified branch of Optimax - when it contacted optician with its embargoed report earlier this week.

'When Which? called Accuvision, a member of staff said there were not any side-effects apart from a little discomfort on the day which is not necessarily the case. He wrongly said everyone had dry eyes after surgery, and claimed Lasik would not make night vision problems worse - again, there is a chance this could happen.'

An employee at Rosen Eye Centre in Manchester said the clinic would not use laser surgery on anyone with a prescription worse than two dioptres.  Instead, she recommended a more risky lens implant operation, costing £5,500. When the researcher rang back, the clinic contradicted its initial advice and said it would treat prescriptions up to minus eight.

A member of staff at an Optimax branch told the researchers: 'The only risk is that there's a possibility you can get an infection if a little bit of dirt gets in your eye. But it's the worst case scenarioÉwe have to put it down, but it's never known to happen.'

A total of 15 clinics contacted claimed to follow guidelines laid down by The Royal College of Ophthalmologists, which say they should publish details of how often complications occur.  But nine out of 15 contacted provided no published information at all, and just three gave details of their own patients' complication and success rates.

Malcolm Coles, editor of Which?, said: 'Laser eye surgery is a great development but there are risks attached. People need to be fully informed of potential risks before making a decision. It's the Government's responsibility to enforce tougher standards so that this happens.

'We'd like to see all clinics publish details of their patients' complication rates and we want strict measures to deter clinics from giving misleading advice or unsuitable treatment.

'Until then, patients must protect themselves by asking for the surgeon's track record and whether there's anything
in their medical history that makes them unsuitable for laser treatment.'

Results issued in December by a parliamentary inquiry into the laser eye clinic sector called for stricter regulations and recommended that the Health Care Commission be given powers to clamp down on clinics or surgeons that fail to meet standards.