‘Suave Qureshi gave me hope ...I believed him’
CASE ONE
JOE GUERIN, 79, a retired accounts manager from Dublin, was told by specialists at the renowned Massachusetts Eye Hospital in Boston that there was no hope for his failing vision when he visited them in 2012. His AMD was too advanced for even pioneering stem cell treatment.
So he was ‘surprised’ in August 2015 when Mr Qureshi told him he could improve vision in his good eye by 40 per cent by implanting iolAMD lenses. But after paying £11,000 per eye, and after six visits to the clinic, he feels his vision is no better than before the procedure.
Mr Guerin cannot use his phone or iPad, and relies on voice activation.
He says: ‘I fell hook, line and sinker. He was very suave, very convincing. I was full of hope. It has become very debilitating and I’m out of pocket.’
CASE TWO
DANISH pensioner Astrid Bergmann, 71, thought she had found ‘heaven’ after reading about LEH in a magazine.
In spite of her specialist in Copenhagen warning the procedure was ‘experimental’, she borrowed £22,000 from her retirement savings, flew to London and had iolAMD lenses implanted in October 2015.
Despite Mr Qureshi saying that her vision could improve ‘by 30 per cent, and possibly more’ based on the 500 implants he said he had already carried out, her vision has continued to deteriorate.
She says: ‘I can’t see, I can’t read. I need my husband’s help to do anything. It’s really bad.’
In December 2015, Mr Qureshi offered to exchange the lenses for the newer EyeMax implants. The operation took place five months later, and it still did not work.
Mrs Bergmann is now almost completely blind.
‘In the last meeting I was asked, “Why are you here? We can’t help you. But you’re welcome to see another doctor elsewhere.” I am not rich. We may have to take out a second mortgage on our home.’
CASE THREE
RETIRED psychiatric nurse Malcolm Marrett was one of the first patients to receive the EyeMax lens, for which he paid £7,500 per eye, a ‘special discount’ rate for signing up for surgery on the same day, in November 2015.
Mr Marrett, 67, from Exmouth, Devon, had very limited vision in his left eye and deteriorating vision in his right. He now needs glasses ‘like never before’ – and uses three different strengths just to go to the supermarket.
He says: ‘When you think you’re going blind, it’s absolutely terrifying.
‘I would have paid anything to be able to see but I’ve spent £15,000, and that’s very upsetting. I can’t recognise faces. I ignore people I know, I say hello to people I haven’t met before. I can’t tell you how many sleepless nights I’ve had over this.’
CASE FOUR
FORMER Mayor of Westminster Harvey Marshall went to see Mr Qureshi in 2015 and was told he could have ‘40 per cent better vision’ with a lens implant. Speaking to Radio 4’s You And Yours programme last year, Mr Marshall, a chartered surveyor, said he took a ‘deep gulp’ and paid £25,000 for the operation ‘because eyesight is precious’. But the lens slipped in one eye, and affected his vision in the other. The hospital admitted it had only one size of lens, which were too small. Mr Marshall, 76, said the hospital offered him £8,000 compensation ‘provided you don’t speak to people’. He initially rejected this but when the MoS tried to contact Mr Marshall by email, his wife Hazel replied: ‘He is not able to talk to you owing to a confidentiality agreement.’