JEDDAH: Mohammed Al-Yami, 21, received Lasik eye surgery in Saudi Arabia in 2005, a common procedure that frees people from eyeglasses or contact lenses.

But after the surgery, Al-Yami’s vision got worse. A clinic in the US later diagnosed him with corneal surface distortion that cannot be corrected with eyeglasses.

For three years, Al-Yami — a straight-A student who underwent Lasik surgery to qualify for enrollment in King Khaled Military Academy — and his father have been trying to file their complaint against Sulaiman Habib Medical Hospital in Riyadh.

The Al-Yamis claim that instead of correcting the patient’s corneal distortion, the hospital made it worse, requiring him to wear special contact lenses and shutting out his chances of military training in the Kingdom. Instead, he went to the US on a scholarship to study mechanical engineering.

“These contact lenses can be put on only for eight hours,” said Al-Yami by phone from Chicago. “I have found more support and sympathy from people here than I have I received in the Kingdom. Our complaints are locked up in drawers there and there is no one to punish the guilty.”

Al-Yami, from the southwestern city of Jizan, relocated to Riyadh after high school to undergo the eye surgery, an out-of-pocket expense of SR11,000. When his vision didn’t improve, doctors prescribed drops for eye dryness and assured that a second procedure would correct his vision. But that surgery — apparently a much more complicated and costly procedure — never took place.

The Al-Yamis are angry that their medical malpractice complaint against the hospital has bounced from desk to desk for three years despite the Ministry of Health having ordered a full investigation.

Al-Yami also claims that the hospital lied about his age on the forms. Lasik surgery cannot be done on patients under the age of 20, and Al-Yami claims the hospital altered his age (he was 18 at the time) on the paperwork.

“I signed the paper without reading it in full,” he said. “I recognized later while going through the report that they altered the age.”

A source, who did not want to be named and who is on the legal committee in charge of investigating medical malpractice complaints, said investigators are waiting for a letter from Al-Yami giving his father power of attorney since he is studying in the US.

Meanwhile, Al-Yami has thought on several occasions to drop out of college, thanks to the limitations of his eyesight. “I can’t sleep well, and when I remove the contact lenses I can’t see anything,” he said. “How can I proceed with a normal life or studies?”

In addition to the eight-hour limit in the use of the lenses before they must be removed for a period of time, the lenses themselves only last three months before they need to be replaced. And they cost over $1,000.