Jacqui Stone 42 believes that the reason she lost her eye was due to an infection she believes was from her contact lens.
Mrs. Stone spent over 17 weeks in the hospital and had 22 operations on her eye but in the end, she had to have it removed due to doctors’ fears the fungal infection could enter her brain. Jacqui now has to wear a prosthetic eye because of her contact lens infection.
The 42-year-old teaching assistant from Essex purchased the Focus Dailies All-Day Comfort Lenses from a UK website last May to help her see the whiteboard better in the classroom. Jacqui had been wearing lenses sporadically for 20 years and told the Daily Mail that initially, she didn’t notice any difference with these.
After throwing the disposable lens away the next day she noticed her vision was blurred and she experience an increasing amount of pain in her left eye.
The pain was unmanageable and after two days she was admitted to hospital where they gave her eye drops and sent her home. The next day she came back suffering with excruciating pain because of the contact lens infection.
She was sent to a specialist hospital Moorfield Eye Hospital over the Jubilee weekend last year where her condition deteriorated. In June due to the pain she was there nearly daily.
It wasn’t till June 21st that she was provided with a diagnosis of Fungus Fusarium when she was referred to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. By that time the fungus had eaten through three layers of her eye and 70 nerves.
She received two corneal transplants as part of her 22 operations but the root of the fungus was too deep to save the eye.
Jacqui has been fitted with a prosthetic eye whilst her new one is being specially made. Mrs. Stone is now suing the manufacturers of the Focus Dailies – Alcon UK, and has also raised a clinical negligence claim against Broomfield Hospital and Moorfields Hospital.
Because of the fungus that she believes she contracted from the infected lens she is unable to take steroids for her condition because it may be dormant and the medication could reactivate it.
The providers of the Focus Dailies contacts, Alcon, did provide a comment to the story to the Daily Mail via a spokesman.
“Alcon was concerned to hear of this and conducted an investigation based on evidence provided but did not find any connection between the contact lens and the consumer’s unfortunate experience.”
What do I do if I have been affected?
1. Contact your GP and advise him of your condition.
2. Keep the box of Contact Lenses and any Receipts you have as proof of purchase.
Further reading
You can read the original story here.
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