ACC pays out for eye claims
Eleven people have been awarded compensation for medical misadventure after laser eye surgery in the past five years.
Nineteen claims have been made to the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) between July 1999 and last month by laser eye- surgery patients.
Of the 11 claims accepted, patients had variously suffered loss of vision, visual disturbances, damage to their eye by laser, an infection and/or pain.
The successful claims equate to about 0.05 per cent of an estimated 20,000 laser eye-surgery patients over that period.
A claim can be accepted by the ACC only if a doctor or other health professional was found to have made a medical error or that the injury was rare and severe -- a "medical mishap" that was not due to inadequate treatment.
However, a bill being considered by a parliamentary select committee proposes scrapping the need to find fault.
Laser eye surgery was introduced to New Zealand in the early 1990s. Seven clinics are now operating in the country, including two in Christchurch.
Fendalton Eye Clinic ophthalmologist David Kent said he had done about 10,000 laser procedures on about 5200 patients, and had two ACC claims against him. Both were for rare complications, not poor treatment.
Christchurch Hospital ophthalmologist Mark Elder said eye surgery should not be taken lightly. "It is not like shopping for a new blouse that if you don't like it you can give it to the Salvation Army or buy another one. If something goes really wrong it is harder to fix."
He said that serious or blinding complications were "very rare".
Christchurch optometrist Paul Limbert said he had examined more than 50 patients before and after laser eye treatment in the past three years and had seen a complication rate of less than 3 per cent. This included those who had "less than optimum" vision or "prolonged eye discomfort" after surgery.
This was less than complication rates as high as 10% reported in some international studies.
Britain's National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) released its findings on laser surgery this month after a year- long study.
Nice, an independent body that offers advice on health treatments, concluded laser eye surgery was effective for people with mild to moderate short-sightedness but there were concerns over its long- term safety.
It advised against offering the procedure, known as laser in situ keratomileusis (lasik), on the national health system.
Nice Professor Bruce Campbell said lasik offered improvement for those with moderate short or long- sightedness. As these could be easily corrected by glasses or contact lenses, any risk of damage through lasik surgery was "a real concern".
He said Nice would carry out further reviews into the long-term effects.
Posted by Admin at December 29, 2004 05:00 PM