Lens implants damaged our eyesight, dozens of patients claim

PATIENTS are suing a lens manufacturer over alleged deterioration in their eyesight.

Legal firms said they are representing more than 100 clients who have been left with worse sight after undergoing surgery with specific lenses made by the German company Oculentis.

One, Denise Di Battista, 68, said she had been left “partially blind” after having a lens implanted.

Mrs Di Battista, from Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, who has been an artist for 15 years, said she is “devastated” by the loss of sight in her right eye.

She said: “If I was looking through my right eye, at times, I would think I was almost blind. It affects my painting and that depresses me terribly.”

Mrs Di Battista had a lens replacement in both eyes in 2010.

She said: “I was very short-sighted and found it difficult to paint when taking my glasses on and off. I thought that if I had surgery it would correct the problem.

“Immediately after the surgery it was excellent, but after a while I started getting some mistiness in my right eye.”

Mrs Di Battista is thought to have suffered from “opacification” - a cloudiness in her vision, which lawyers claim is due to the lens.

Other patients say they have been affected in the same way.

Peter Todd, a partner at Hodge Jones & Allen, who represents Mrs Di Battista, said the firm was acting for dozens of people.

He added: “All claim to have suffered similar experiences after having the lens implanted.

“We intend to launch legal proceedings in due course and will seek to prove that the lens was faulty”