Sixteen people whose eyes were allegedly damaged by Ortho-K (OK)
contact lenses are to be funded 100,000 yuan (US$12,100) from the
China Consumer's Association to help them sue dealers and,
possibly, manufacturers.
It
follows complaints by the users, all of whom are students aged
between nine and 22 years old from 11 provinces and municipalities,
that their eyes hurt after wearing Ortho-K contact lenses.
They claimed the lenses caused bacterial infection and eye diseases
such as cornea ulcer.
Some almost lost their eyesight as a result. In one case dating
from July 1999, a high school student in northeast China’s
Heilongjiang Province began to use OK lens which cost her 3,000
yuan (US$363).
But three months later, Zhao Ling’s eyes became red and swollen
which doctors diagnosed as damage to the cornea of her right eye.
Despite an immediate operation she still lost sight in that
eye.
Four victims have already launched legal proceedings against the
dealers and manufacturers of the lenses while the other 12 are
planning to do so, according to the China Consumers’
Association.
The money the association provided will come from a special legal
aid fund, which it set up last March. This is the first time the
fund has been used. The main sources of the fund are donations from
enterprises and individuals.
OK
lenses are a non-invasive method of correcting nearsightedness.
Non-invasive treatment means it does not involve surgery or the use
of hypodermic needles.
An
invisible glass has a special reverse geometrical design, which
corrects errors of refraction by changing the radian - the angle at
the center of the cornea.
The medical institutions involved in such services must be well
equipped with necessary instruments, and with procedures strictly
standardized.
However, most institutions do not meet that requirement. In recent
years, OK lenses have been put into wide clinical use in China.
Currently there are up to 20,000 wearers of OK lenses, mostly
students.
This has dismayed experts who pointed out that the clinical use of
the OK lens was still in its preliminary stage and should be given
proper attention.
(China Daily 07/23/2001)