Is LASIK Eye Surgery Safe? FDA Scientist Regrets Saying 'Yes'

The point here is that the companies under-reported adverse events. Look at the list of doctors that participated in studies for a company and how their businesses profited as a result. Doctors were told not to report events until after submissions to FDA - vision accuracy was always excellent because method were used to create great results - that could never be reproduced when the procedure went viral. Participating doctors lied about their stock ownership in companies. i can go on and on....Eye doctors themselves never get the procedure. Look it up on the FA's website - a transcript of a hearing on the procedure quotes doctors as saying they couldn't get the LASIK procedure because their livelihood depends upon eyesight. Unlike yours and mine. It's an awful procedure - a flap in created on your cornea and it doesn't heal - it doesn't heal - there's always a flap.

E-mail from a physician:

Don't Get Lasik - From an MD

Dear All,

I am a physician (not an eye doctor or eye surgeon, but I do have an MD). With every fiber in my body, I wholeheartedly recommend AGAINST getting lasik surgery. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

1) Lasik surgery is 100% elective - there is no medical indication for it

2) Worst case scenario for undergoing lasik - blindness

3) Worst case scenario for not undergoing lasik - continuing to wear glasses or contacts

4) While eye surgeons say that the risk for complications is low, there is NO ACCEPTABLE RISK if what you're gambling is your vision

5) Even if a lasik surgery is considered "successful," you still may have terrible night vision, dry eyes, and halos/starbursts. Even if these never go away (and even those that perform Lasik surgery say it might not ever go away), it is still considered "successful." You are taking a serious risk gambling for this. If you get permanent halos or permanent dryness, you will wish like hell you never got this procedure. It is not worth seeing halos of the rest of your life to be able to say "yeah but I never have to wear glasses." In fact, some say that if you're seeing halos, it can be corrected with glasses or lenses - that was the whole point of getting lasik in the first place! Just the chance of seeing halos forever (which in some people mean they can't drive at night anymore) by itself is enough of a reason to not get lasik.

6) Out of all the organs in your body that are not essential for life (like your heart and brain), your eyes are arguably the most important. DO NOT let them get butchered, leave your precious eyes the way they are and just wear glasses like millions of other people have been doing for years. Don't like glasses? Wear contacts - they don't mutilate your eyes like lasik does.

7) Sometimes people with lasik eventually revert back to their old vision - but that does not mean that the side effects of lasik also go away. So that means they have their normal (sub-optimal) vision back but they could still have the dryness, halos, and starbursts. Totally worthless.

8) If you get lasik, you'll still need reading glasses after 40-45

9) You can get stylish prescription sunglasses that don't even look like regular glasses if you still want to look "cool"

Do NOT get lasik surgery, there are other options that are more effective and infinitely safer. Please please please do not ever let anyone touch your eyes with a laser beam.

As a Lasik surgeon and physian, I find this article to be poorly written and misleading. There is no "Lasik device" which has FDA approval, rather, the excimer laser is the device that was approved in 1995. This laser is used in corneal refractive surgery (PRK as well as Lasik), and also is used to treat corneal surface disorders. Like all medical procedures that have been developed over the decades, complications are inevitable, however, improvements have been made in Lasik with regards to the technology, complications management, preoperative diagnostic testing, and patient selection for the procedure. Overall, just as with any other medical procedure, the worldwide body of knowledge has increased dramatically in the last fifteen years, and results have consequently improved. Obviously, without the intial approval of the FDA, none of this would have been possible.

The fact of the matter is that patients with serious side effects from Lasik are a very small (but vocal) minority. Millions of patients have had their uncorrected vision restored and their lives altered dramatically by this procedure. While there were some unfortunate advertising claims and fly-by-night providers in the early stages of Lasik, most if not all physicians performing this procedure now are ethical, competent, and highly skilled surgeons who strive to only do this procedure on patients who are good candidates and fully informed about the potential complications as well as the expected excellent outcomes of Lasik. To imply that approval of this miraculous operation and technology was a mistake is not only unfortunate, it is simply untrue.

Laserking@aol.com

i had surgery done in '06. i was born with monovision. instead of enhancing what i had, the doctor for whatever reason reversed the far and near sighted eyes. what a horrible mess. the new "near sighted" eye reverted back to far sightedness causing me to have about 20- 100 close up vision. when i confronted the "doctor" he said i would have to wait 2 months to re-evaluate the situation and 6 months to do surgery if needed. if needed????????, i was blind and my job was on the line. after daily cussing and screaming at these bozos they redid my eyes in 6 weeks. helped for 2 years and my eyes are now regressing. ever try to pass an eye exam at the DMV with monovision at age 58?? their equipment is set for the same distance with each eye. when i tell them my eyes work as a team i just get blank stares. i do what i always do and squeeze the heck out of the "bad" eye to pass. the whole experiance sucked.

I had the surgery a year ago, and after a few months noticed I had a floater. I pay little attention to the floater, hardly ever notice it is there. My eye sight seems to be ok for now.

T. Edwards
Virginia

I just had Lasik last week, after kicking the idea around for years. I'm 56 and was tired of the glasses, headaches, and eye strain every day.
It's wonderful! Yes, I'm wearing 1.5 readers to read, but not wearing glasses to drive or watch TV, etc. Get it done by a qualified Ophthalmologist who does more than just a Lasik gig. Also, listen and follow their directions closely.

Have a cousin who went blind following this procedure. His blindness cannot be corrected with glasses or anything else.

I had Lasik done about 12 years ago and went from almost blind to 20/15 vision, overnight. I'm still about 20/30 with no enhancements. It was like a miracle. It did accelerate my need for reading glasses, which was a great trade off from having to wear glasses all the time. I had a bit of dry eye for awhile, still do, occasionally, but I would have Lasik done again in a heartbeat. Tiger Woods had it done for crying out loud, and what are his eyes worth? A billion dollars (well, maybe not anymore, but at the time they were). I did have one friend who had a bad experience, but that was because his surgeon did not read his notes and reversed his eyes, ie., he did the left eye correction to the right eye and vice versa.

I had LASIK done in 2006 and I am so grateful for it. I haven't had any problems. I also suffered from dry eye before LASIK due to contacts. I had plugs put in my tear ducts that can help with this. The eye Dr. put them in in less than a minute. It helds retain moisture in the eyeballs.

That is an option for people who complain about dry eyes. I'm suprised eye doctors aren't recommending this fast and safe procedure.

I had LASIK in 2008 and still love it. I was very myopic since about age 10. I can wake up and read my alarm clock now, and I am so thankfully everyday. My eyes were dry from wearing contacts all the time so dry eye does not bother me. My eyes are more light sensitive. But it is worth it to be able to see all the time and not wake up to feel for my glasses. It was the best $3000 I have ever spent.