There is so much potential for profit in the LASIK industry that serious LasikTube
See videos of patients with LASIK complications and news reports (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, etc.) of widespread problems of LASIK:
LasikTube
LASIK-Flap.com
Documenting the history of the refractive surgery industry, from the cover-ups and conflicts of interest to the kickbacks and the medical studies showing how LASIK damages healthy eyes. LASIK-Flap.com has an active patient bulletin board and informative research forums.
Posted on the bulletin board by patients:
"If my doctor simply would have held a gun to my back and demanded I give him $5000 (and not perform Lasik on me), I gladly would have complied and would have been thankful later the experience was behind me".
"My lasik travesty then began in mid-2003, where, after a lengthy sales pitch and many lies, I was butchered."
Go to LASIK-Flap.com
Report your bad LASIK outcome to the FDA
If you are a patient with a bad outcome from LASIK, report your experience to the FDA using the MedWatch online reporting form.
An Inconvenient Truth - The LASIK Report
The LASIK Report is a comprehensive review of the medical literature on LASIK. The report concludes that LASIK is an inherently harmful procedure and should be abandoned. From the report:
"In 1998, when the first laser received FDA approval for LASIK, little was known about complications and long-term safety of the procedure. Early clinical trials did not thoroughly examine adverse effects of LASIK. Since that time, numerous medical studies have examined the risks of LASIK. It is now widely reported in ophthalmic medical journals that complications such as dry eye and visual disturbances in low light are common, and that creation of the corneal flap permanently compromises tensile strength and biomechanical integrity of the cornea."
Patient Satisfaction after LASIK
Most LASIK patients claim to be satisfied with their results. But is a "happy" patient a patient without side effects or complications?
A closer look at patient satisfaction after LASIK
Notable Quotes:
"Indeed, the long-term problems created by laser refractive surgery are not yet a major issue, but soon will be".
From: Refractive surgery: lessons to be learned.
Clin Experiment Ophthalmol. 2005 Apr;33(2):115-6.Mantry S, Shah S.
Lee T. Nordan, MD: "It has taken us more than half of this decade to learn the risk factors associated with a LASIK flap."
Cataract & Refractive Surgery Today, May 2006
"Unfortunately, because of long term complications of LASIK, such as keratectasia, this procedure is used more cautiously."
Karimian et al, J Refract Surg. 2007 Mar;23(3):312-5.
Thomas R. Quackenbush, Vision Educator: "A primary tenet of orthodox medicine has been never to perform surgery on healthy tissue. It appears this tenet has now changed. Obviously, many people have better acuity soon after these surgeries--but what about the long-term consequences?" Source: Relearning to See
Arthur B. Epstein, O.D.: “... many of us in the contact lens community have spent untold hours trying to help patients who have had their lives literally destroyed by LASIK.”
Review of Optometry, November 2006
The Cool Laser Beam Gently Sculpts Your Cornea..." or so the sales pitch goes.
An actual photo of a laser shot fired at a cornea. Looks more like a nuclear bomb, doesn't it? As it turns out, some people don't like the smell of burning flesh...
The latest hype: IntraLase, IntraLASIK, iLASIK, bladeless,
all laser, femtosecond laser LASIK
The LASIK industry hopes to improve the public perception of LASIK with marketing hype of the latest technology in LASIK flap creation. Don't be fooled by claims of improved safety -- this technology has created a whole new set of problems.
A Pain in the Eye that's Forever,
by Wendy Lyons Sunshine
From the Article: "When laser vision-correction surgery doesn't deliver the promised results, the impact can be profound. Ross is one of tens of thousands of patients whose lives have been turned upside down due to improper risk screening, malfunctioning machines, or shabby surgical techniques. Instead of the carefree new lifestyle these patients anticipated, they have received an involuntary lifetime admission ticket to their own personal laser light show. At best, they face glare, halos, starbursts, multiple images, or poor depth perception. At worst, they face chronic pain, corneal transplants -- even blindness in rare cases. For those already damaged, the road to rehabilitation is frustrating and slow, and sometimes the only good remedy is an entirely new pair of eyes. "
Happy LASIK patients are ecstatic, noted Dr. Arthur Epstein in the January 2002 issue of Review of Optometry. "But unsuccessful patients exist in a permanently altered waking nightmare from which there is presently no escape," he wrote. Epstein warned that LASIK is still experimental surgery, and in hindsight could ultimately prove to be a physician-induced health crisis. Despite voices of warning from Epstein and others, the money machine trudges onward.
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