Optimax Patients

I am a Consultant anaesthetist and pre surgery my prescription was only -0.75/-1.75.

Like Mr Abs, I was also a patient of Dr Seethappa Madhusudan,

I had a couple of friends at work who had been reasonably happy with PRK and wrongly considered the main risk of dry eye as 'trivial', so I foolishly went ahead with bilateral PRK at Optimax's Manchester clinic in 2001.

I was then ignored by Optimax for 12 years whilst suffering with chronic dry eye. The only follow up advice I had was phone calls from Optimax optometrists telling me to use hypromellose drops.

The reality of dry eye is that it is disabling with unrelenting pain. Over 12 years I attended the local A&E countless times with painful corneal ulceration leading to scarring.

I had no problems before PRK, had perfect vision with glasses and no dry eye. (Funny how MGD just 'appears' after refractive surgery.)

It was only last year when I emailed my local MP to support the My Beautiful Eyes campaign for regulation of this industry, copied to Russell Ambrose, that I was contacted by Dr Malcolm Samuel.

At my wits end by this time I had already made an appointment at a private clinic, which Dr Samuel told me Optimax would fund.

I was put on doxycycline, along all the usual treatment for MGD / blepharitis (heat, lid hygiene etc). This helped for about 6 months but I am now back to square one.

I still have severe dry eye and blepharitis. I was back in eye casualty in March 2013 with another corneal ulcer (very painful) and also in November 2013 (see photo).

My eyes are permanently red and I have multiple scars from previous ulcers. Dr Samuel is now "available" for follow up appointments. However, I fully understand my condition and it's just a case of trying to mitigate blepharitis / dry eye in the usual way, combined with the occasional eye casualty visit with corneal ulceration.

Nothing more can be done.

Struggling at work in the operating theatre environment I have no doubt this will cut short my career as dry eye will get worse with age. Such a waste after so many years of hard work, studying and exams.

The take home message for potential eye surgery patients at Optimax (or elsewhere), is to be aware that dry eye is a common complication and should NOT be dismissed as a trivial one. It is NOT a case of just using a few eye drops as you might with contact lenses.

Imagine needles being stuck in your eyes, or having to lit the lid up with your fingers because it's stuck to the eye ball!

The quality of life for a dry eye sufferer will deteriorate considerably as the pain and irritation is continual, and the condition distracting. Before refractive surgery, you need to fully consider how disabling it will be to 'pause' your daily activities whilst applying eye drops just to gain maybe one hour's relief.

I fully appreciate that many of you have suffered more than I, but want to share my experiences becuase at the end of the day, we all want to avoid others making the same mistake we did.

In July 2010 I had Lasik wavefront at Ultralase in Chelmsford. There was a problem during the procedure as the surgeon had to replace the suction ring on my left eye 5 times before treatment.

My eyes never reached the goals they promised me, particularly my left, which is my dominant eye.
After countless revisits at my expense and much bulls**t they finally agreed to perform lasek on my left eye in Sept 2012.

The result is worse now than before. I have a kind of mono vision, which I declined as an option from the outset. My left eye has a very narrow depth of vision from about 2ft to 4ft in front of me, and I have double vision in the distance, and a constant feeling of gungy eye.

I was told in January 2013 that Ultralase had been taken over by Optimax, and that my lifetime guarantee would still be honored.

The last talk I had with them was that I was to be referred for an artificial lens, which I don't want. I was to have a meeting in London with the Medical Director Amir Hamid, this would have cost me a further £250 in lost wages and travel expense as he only visited London from Birmingham one day a week during the week.

I declined the appointment, mainly because I did not want an artificial lens, and while awaiting a call from them to discuss other options, I learned that the clinic had closed.

I contacted Optimax complaints department and spoke to a woman named Jane who informed me that I would not get any refund.

I wrote to "ReSolve" who are handling administration for Ultralase, asking for a refund of my money. They replied with a letter basically telling me that my claim was not valid.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Hi Sasha,

I just want to say a huge thanks for all your hard work helping to finally get my refund from Optimax. After hitting a wall trying to get some compensation for my deteriorating vision 6 years post op you've been amazing in fighting my corner!

Not sure I would have had the patience to keep challenging their arguments / obstructions. Good luck with all your efforts and I hope the government soon start to realise the severity of this issue.

Thanks again!!

Dan (York)
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admin: Thanks for the flowers Dan, they're gorgeous!

"There is no additional charge for having your second eye treated on a different day."
www.optimax.co.uk/treatments_explained/lasik_eye_surgery.aspx

But it would cost Optimax extra time/money which is why they don't offer to do one eye at a time unless asked!!!

Whoever sent this should have gone to Specsavers!

www.optimaxruinedmylife.com/page26.php

Ultralase patients seeking aftercare from Optimax should see their GP to ensure aftercare from the NHS if they need it, but do also go to your Optimax clinic checkups so they cannot claim later that your problems are due to non-attendance.

The aftercare I got from Optimax was, in my opinion, shocking and they kept ignoring my concerns that things were very wrong with my eyes. I was lied to, and my surgeon only bothered to see me on my 3rd post op checkup. Oh, and my eyes are trashed.

I called Ultralase today and was told by the woman who didn't sound very happy that I should go to my nearest Optimax clinic. She added - if there was one near me! I didn't like to ask her what if there isn't as I presumed she'd just lost her job!

I received a phone call from the main bookings line today they told me that as from today the St Albans Ultralase office was going into administration and that I would no longer be able to go there for my eye checks,I will now have to go to Finchley Road.
I asked why and was told that the most of the Ultralase offices were closing and that it was a decision of the owner.

Looks like Russell Ambrose is following hot on the heels of rival David Moulsdale with all but two of the remaining fourteen Ultralase branches put into administration yesterday.

The two remaining are Cardiff and Harley Street.

I'm sure Moulsdale will be able to give Russell tips on how to write off owed Inland Revenue taxes as well as telling him how to lose some of those damaged patients suing him

Yesterday's closures make this a joke:
5 December 2012: "Optimax rescue guarantees Ultralase's future"
www.thebusinessdesk.com/yorkshire/news/4...news_section=253059#

Let's hope he will keep his promise made back then: "I will ensure everyone is looked after in the future. "
www.optimax.co.uk/inside_optimax/ultralasestatement.aspx