High street optician Optical Express has lost a battle to have a website that strongly criticised its record in laser eye surgery closed down over what it claimed were defamatory attacks funded by a commercial rival.
The company's lawyers tried to have the domain space of the site, Optical Express Ruined My Life, removed, but the bid was thrown out by the company that registered the campaign site's name. Nominet, the internet registry company, said Optical Express's main charge – that the website had been set up and funded by its main competitor, Optimax – was "extremely serious" and not proven.
Optical Express Ruined My Life (OERML) was set up in April 2012 by Sasha Rodoy, a campaigner seeking tighter regulation of laser eye surgery with the support of Labour MP John McDonnell. Rodoy had previously run a website called Optimax Ruined My Life, until she came to a confidential settlement with the firm.
Dismissing Optical Express's claim, an expert panel formed by Nominet said allegations made by the company had been designed to "impugn the honesty and integrity" of Rodoy, who was named as the respondent in the case.
It said the substance of the allegation was "that the OERML website is not, as it appears, a bona fide protest site operated by the respondent as part of her campaign against what she perceives as deficiencies in the way refractive eye surgery is practised and regulated.
"Instead the complainant alleges that the OERML website and/or the respondent are being covertly funded by its bitter competitor Optimax, and this is part of a covert campaign intended to damage the complainant and, presumably, to benefit Optimax."
But it added: "The panel is unable to reach a finding that either the OERML website or the respondent are covertly funded by Optimax.
"If the complainant wishes to pursue an allegation of that nature, it should do so in a forum more suitable for determining serious and disputed allegations of integrity and dishonesty against someone who, on the face of matters, appears to be pursuing a bona fide protest campaign."
Rodoy welcomed the decision and said she had set up the website after being inundated by complaints about the firm, which has 93 stores and 54 consultation centres and is the UK's largest practitioner of laser eye surgery.
One complainant, the Observer has learned, is Ken Cocking, 75, founder, with his sons, of the West Cornwall Pasty Company, which the family sold in 2007 for £40m.
Cocking, who has asked solicitor Geoffrey Simpson-Scott of law firm Colemans to act for him, says Optical Express failed to notice that he was suffering from glaucoma (which is now advanced) in the weeks and months after it replaced lenses in his eyes. He told the Observer that his life was "ruined, utterly ruined".
He said: "I told them that my sight was terrible after the operations and they told me that there was no problem. If they had spotted my condition, I may have been caught early."
A spokesman for Optical Express said it was "extremely disappointed" by Nominet's rejection of its case and was unable to comment on Cocking's claims.
The spokesman added: "We believe we had a very strong case. We are now actively considering our options with regard to pursuing our challenge via other avenues.
"While we cannot comment on the specifics of individual patient cases due to confidentiality regulations, in a case such as this we would provide ongoing clinical care and do everything in our power to achieve a positive outcome for the patient.
"Laser eye surgery vastly improves the day-to-day lives of hundreds of thousands of patients in the UK each year. In a recent survey of over 97,000 Optical Express patients, more than 99% said they would recommend Optical Express to family and friends.
"This is demonstrated by the thousands of thank-you cards, emails and tweets we receive from grateful patients every year.
"However, all surgical procedures carry a risk of complication. Due to Optical Express's strict guidelines our complication rate is very low – 0.7% in a recent analysis of almost 27,000 laser eye surgery procedures carried out by our surgeons.
"Those patients are managed by a team of clinical experts that provide skilled and compassionate care, with 96% of them proceeding to achieve 20/20 vision or better as a result."
The company, which owed more than £30m to RBS, had a request for a further loan rejected. The largely state-owned bank threatened to seize the firm and sell it to recoup its debts until founder David Moulsdale, who is now chairman, agreed to buy the group's outstanding debts.
