SUE THE SURGEON?

Just had a look at the date stamp which Optical Expresses legal representatives now wish me to sign, one week after paying me??? It is dated the 28th Jan, one day after my post below :lol:

It seems somebody has made a boob, perhaps they totally forgot to include the gagging order in their haste to settle claims??

I think I will publish the full details of their offer AND maybe create a Facebook page called;

Optical Express Settled My Claim or
Optical Express Ruined MY Life then Settled My Claim

I'm sure Sasha won't mind me linking the FB page here once it is up.

Watch this space....

Thanks Danny

The funny thing is, I've just received communication from my lawyer asking me to sign a receipt of funds, which you guessed it, now includes a GAGGING ORDER. Very strange all this, because I already have the funds, yet a week later and one day after making my post below, I am asked to sign a gagging order :woohoo:

Horse, Stable, Bolt???

Methinks OE is monitoring this forum, in which case give my regards to Giles Turner the optom at Liverpool One, I did mention "legal action" during my initial consultation, only took 2.5 years to settle - and tell the lab techs to clean the equipment properly after every patient.

Danny, I wish you, along with everybody else, all the best in your legal battle. OE's insurers are obviously getting twitchy since Stephanie's case.

Nick wrote: Oh yeah, and thanks for not imposing a gagging order :woohoo:

Well done for getting somewhere with these cowboys, it may not be the amount you would have hoped for but it's something to ease the pain so to speak. My operation will be six years ago in a few months and my legal case going on for half that time.
I'm hopeful it will be sorted soon, not that i'm in any rush ,but it would be good to get it over as it's getting tedious now 3 years down the line.

If we get no firm offer from OE by mid March then it's off to court we go, it may mean another couple of years of dragging this thing through but then so be it.

I'm glad your eyes have improved and you can drive at night, something I find very difficult and sometimes impossible, its horrible and my eyes show no sign of getting any better, probably worse in fact.

Anyway, well done for completing and winning!

It appears Optical Express' legal representatives or insurance company are possibly running scared (who knows), probably in no small part due to Stephanie Holloway significant court award in Sept 2014, where the truth regarding OE’s business practises started to seep out.

Therefore, behind the scenes OE's legal firm are attempting to "clear up/close" a few ligation cases. One of which was me. For some reason I was not subject to any gagging order, subsequently I am able to post that, yes I did indeed settle for an all-inclusive figure of between £26000 and £24000! All inclusive means that lawyers’ fees need to be deducted from the final settlement amount, leaving me with £15,000 net.

I have been reliably informed that I should/could have received twice that amount, while I did try to push OE and the fact that the two law firms I engaged. I later chose to disengage the firm initially representing me due to lack of progress, followed by my local high street solicitors. Both who gave the distinct impression that neither were, shall we say, keen to take my claim to trial, on the basis "difficult to win, will need insurance cover, weak medico-legal report" the usual stuff.

One of the issues I faced was that once I had engaged the initial firm, it then proved difficult to change lawyers when I felt my claim was dragging and basically going nowhere. I approached at least half a dozen legal firms and was turned down based on two issues;
1) a medico-legal report based on altered and extremely biased Optical Express medical records (nope, medico expert didn’t ask me at any time what was actually said during my initial OE consultation)
2) the fact that I was already engaged by another law firm.

While the all-inclusive amount of £25000 might appear low for an morally unethical operation performed under unhygienic conditions at Optical Express's flag ship Liverpool One store two and half years ago, since this time, the sight in my operated eye has dramatically improved, probably due to the emergency operation to fix the retinal tears discovered a few months ago. Anyhow for distance I can indeed now see clearly, 20/20 in fact, am able to drive, day or night, so if David Moulsdale needs a chauffeur I can do it with no need for glasses.

Why after all this time everything came right, I don't know. However that does not excuse the fact that Optical Express should never have operated on me in the first place and doing so was based solely on lies and meeting sale performance targets, while patient's well being or interests played no part.

So thank you Optical Express, what happens with my eye-sight in the future remains unseen [excuse the pun], as informed by my solicitor, you cannot claim for something that may or may not happen.

Oh yeah, and thanks for not imposing a gagging order :woohoo:

My True Story:
www.opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk/ind...-ruined-my-life.html

I'm told that the approximate annual insurance premium for an ophthalmologist is £10-15,000, with no excess, but a surgeon working for OE or any other high street chain pays far more, plus excess.

Surgeons employed by Optical Express are paying insurance premiums of approximately £20,000 per year with Marsh Insurers.

This year Marsh increased the excess (per claim) from £20,000 to £40,000. And that was BEFORE Stephanie Holloway was awarded £560k when she won her claim against Optical Express and Dr Joanna McGraw.

Sweet memories

If Joanna McGraw leaves Optical Express I imagine it would be very difficult for her to find employment elsewhere, as I doubt any insurance company would risk indemnifying her now.

I know of one Optical Express surgeon who has SIX new claims against him, although he may not yet know this. Optical Express certainly will when the lawyers request the patient records, but will they tell him before the lawyers do?

Let's assume all six claims are successful, with minimum costs of £40k each, the surgeon will personally be liable for £240,000.

As long as surgeons continue to accept the Optical Express model of 'care', not seeing the patient until minutes before surgery, operating on unsuitable patients, lists of at least 22 patients a day, etc... then they are at risk of losing everything they own - and being unable to work in the industry again.

Stephanie won her case on lack of informed consent alone, and the details of her case were far from unique.

I provided Stephanie's legal team with the Patient Advisor Flow, essentially a training manual for Optical Express 'refractive technicians' (sales staff), which proved that her description of the sales process was true.

Nothing's changed, and I have since been sent a number of other documents, all of which will help support future legal claims.

No wonder Optical Express surgeons are getting nervous

I have experienced much the same as a number of other dissatisfied customers on your site. The bottom line for me is that I paid £3.5k to get vision lasting between 5-10 years. In reality, I had 6 months of pain and multiple return visits before seeing any improvement, which lasted about 6 months then quickly regressed to my original pre operative surgery. I have complained and got fobbed off as seems their usual response. I would like my money back and to let others know what an unprofessional outfit this bunch are....

I cannot believe that there isn't stricter regulation of this industry. Can you help with any advice please?
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admin: Pls email info@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk :kiss:

I think this makes sense. I have had a few exchanges with OE now and all have ended in their unwillingness to help or provide a refund. Who can I contact to advise me of what action I can take through the small claims court?
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admin: Pls email info@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

Well I finally had an independent consultation with an expert appointed by my solicitor. He has found that Optical Express should never have given me laser surgery. I had two procedures over two years by two different surgeons. The expert stated that both surgeons should have seen this and rejected me for surgery and the problems I have are typical of laser surgery that has been done on my kind of eyes, and my problems will get worse and I will have them for life.

I could not believe that a surgeon could think more of money than the outcome of someone's sight, yet I have encountered two of them. I will not go into the unethical things I also found out that these two surgeons did as the expert is sending his report to my solicitor.

So if anyone is reading this and thinking about having laser eye surgery with Optical Express please read my story on this site (Annie's story). Your sight is precious, so keep what sight you have and don't risk it.

Both OE and the surgeon's insurance have an excess of £20,000.

Has anyone found a solicitor who is prepared to cover this?

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admin: Advertising is not allowed so if anyone wants to recommend a solicitor please send details to info@opticalexpressruinedmylife.co.uk

I am now starting legal proceedings against OE after solicitors reviewed my case and decided they can represent me