A patient of a TV eye doctor has told of the pain and anguish caused after a laser eye surgery procedure performed by the doc went wrong.
Dan Peedell, 38, endured more than 80 hospital visits following the operation by Professor Dan Reinstein and ended up needing a corneal transplant.
Reinstein regularly appears on ITV show This Morning and has performed the same procedure on celebs such as host Phillip Schofield as well as Carol Vorderman and Lorraine Kelly.
But after picking up a serious infection following his operation eight years ago, Dan is annoyed at how blase the doc is about the risks of the Lasik procedure when appearing on TV.
Speaking to the Sunday Mirror, he said: “This surgery was supposed to improve my life and eyesight but it made it worse.
“It is very hard watching Dan Reinstein on This Morning talking about how great surgery is when I am suffering daily.
“People need to know there are risks which he seems to gloss over on TV. ”
Dan had £6,300 surgery at Prof Reinstein’s Harley Street London Vision Clinic after rave reviews on the TV show.
Since the private corrective surgery on both eyes in 2012, the NHS has funded thousands of pounds of treatment to save his sight.
Dan, of Witney, Oxfordshire, says he has clocked up 12,000 miles in about 80 hospital visits. He also says his ordeal cost him a previous long-term relationship.
The problem was that an infection in his left eye flared up and after further work by another surgeon to try to fix it, he was referred to an NHS hospital for surgery.
But his condition worsened and he had a cornea transplant.
Seven years on, he says he lives in fear of the cornea being rejected and his sight worsening.
He has limited vision at night and struggles to drive because street lights dazzle him.
He can no longer swim, or play squash and five-a-side football.
He claims he was cut loose by the Harley Street clinic after two years of after-care, despite his complications.
Though his right eye is a success, his left eye has little chance of improving and could get worse.
He must have daily eye drops for life and wears a prescription contact lens in his left eye and glasses, which he didn’t before his op.
He said: “It’s a nightmare and if I had known this could have happened, I would never have gone ahead.
“I have been really depressed. I’ll never listen to celebrity endorsements again – or risk having laser eye surgery.”
Prof Reinstein’s lawyers said Mr Peedell was fully informed of the potential risks of the surgery and confirmed that he understood them before it went ahead.
They said: “Following the surgery, Mr Peedell suffered a fungal keratitis infection, which ended up requiring a corneal transplant.
“This was not a consequence of any negligence on the part of our client and we note that no such allegation has ever been made.
“The corneal transplant was carried out by the NHS and in these circumstances our client cannot make any comment in relation to the number of hospital and clinic visits he made.”
