Seattle Post-Intelligencer
July 9, 2001
FROM THE ARTICLE: Tammy Cronk, a 37-year-old Bellevue health-care consultant, decided earlier this year to get laser eye surgery so she could -- as the ads for this popular procedure tout -- "throw away those glasses!" Today, after undergoing Lasik surgery in January, Cronk has poor depth perception, wears sunglasses at night for glare from lights, sees triple images in her left eye, uses a walking stick to negotiate around objects and no longer can drive her car.
ABC Primetime
June 28, 2001
In a hidden-camera investigation, ABC NEWS PrimeTime discovers that some doctors are willing to perform Lasik surgery even on high-risk patients, who can suffer serious damage to their vision as a result.
USA Today
June 28, 2001
Lasik Risks Understated
FROM THE ARTICLE: Laser eye surgery is being touted in advertisements as a quick, virtually risk-free procedure that can end patients' need for glasses. But with more than 1 million patients expected to undergo the procedure this year, thousands are learning what the ads don't say: The surgery can cause life-altering complications that sometimes can't be fixed. Problems include double or triple vision so severe patients can't watch TV or read, light distortions so blinding they can't drive at night and eyes so dry that goggles must be worn outside.
Arizona Daily Star
June 11, 2001
Surgeons mute their Claims of Success as Lawsuits Mount
and Authorities Clamp Down
FROM THE ARTICLE: The first signs that something is going wrong with the hottest elective surgery in the United States - LASIK eye surgery - are emerging here and nationwide. A "gold-rush mentality" developing around the quick, pay-up-front surgery to correct nearsightedness and farsightedness is being blamed for a jump in medical malpractice lawsuits filed by dissatisfied - in some cases, devastated - LASIK patients, now estimated at 5 percent of all cases.
Fort Wayne Sentinal
May 11, 2001
LASIK SURGERY: Sterility standards vary at LASIK surgical centers
FROM THE ARTICLE: "LASIK surgical centers can differ widely in degree of sterilization. Many surgeons do not wear gloves. Some wear the same surgical scrubs all day. Others change into a new sterile gown for each patient."
Fort Wayne Sentinal
May 11, 2001
LASIK SURGERY: LASIK care practices bounce patients between eye specialists
FROM THE ARTICLE: "Shuttling patients back and forth between eye doctors is no way to practice ophthalmology, said Dr. Mark Renshaw..."It's not impossible for a busy surgeon to be involved in care," said Renshaw, who performs LASIK. "To never see the patient until they're on the table -- I think that's shortchanging care.
Fort Wayne Sentinal
May 11, 2001
LASIK SURGERY: Eye Catching Ads Stir Concern
FROM THE ARTICLE: "My training was devoted to taking care of human beings," said Dr. Jon Walker... "These organized marketing campaigns emphasize how much you can make. That struck me as unusual. "I don't think things tend to correct themselves until someone gets their brains sued out." ...Dr. Dunbar Hoskins Jr., editor in chief of American Academy of Ophthalmology's Eye Net magazine, wrote "LASIK Advertising is Testing Our Professionalism" in a column published last summer. Hoskins suggested some doctors are putting financial greed before their patients' interests.
Fort Wayne Sentinal
May 11, 2001
LASIK SURGERY: Are you Considering Lasik?
FROM THE ARTICLE: Time is on your side: The American Academy of Ophthalmology reports that LASIK is "too new to know if there are any long-term effects beyond five years after surgery." Many leading LASIK experts say they foresee no problems, and that waiting to have the surgery should have no additional benefit. ...Patients whose pupils dilate beyond the diameter of the laser's treatment zone have poorer vision during dim light or at night. "No one knew that in '96 and '97. By '99, it was the standard of care," Harmon said.
Fort Wayne Sentinal
May 11, 2001
LASIK SURGERY: Lower Costs, Higher Expectations
FROM THE ARTICLE: "Last August, the Federal Trade Commission issued a consumer alert after reviewing an increasing number of patient complaints about LASIK complications. Patients also reported that LASIK advertising did not fully disclose the risk of the popular surgery."
Fort Wayne Sentinal
May 11, 2001
LASIK SURGERY: Long-term uncertainties
No one can say if surgically altering the eye will have effects down the road.
FROM THE ARTICLE: "We are actually ruining the optics of the eye when we perform LASIK," Holladay said. "That's fine when the pupil is small, but as it gets larger, such as in nighttime conditions, this becomes a problem. For the last five years, I have been preaching that we should not be doing this."
St. Petersburg Times
April 1, 2001
Options limited when LASIK doesn't work
FROM THE ARTICLE: "LASIK eye surgery is safe and mostly successful, the industry maintains, with complications affecting fewer than 5 percent of patients. But as the number of Americans opting for LASIK nears 1-million a year, more people are learning a frustrating lesson: If something does go wrong, your doctor may be able to do little about it."
KUSA TV Denver
March 16, 2001
Lasik Glare: The Issue of Pupil Size
FROM THE ARTICLE: Those ads were pretty convincing; 'World Class Surgeon,' 'FDA' approved laser, etc. So, Joe hopped on an airplane to head from Denver to California, where he thought he was tapping into the of the , so he could ditch his glasses for good.
Cox News Service
March 6, 2001
Consumers Learning Risks Behind Rosy Picture of Lasik Ads
FROM THE ARTICLE: "I am not sorry I had it done," says one California patient, who complained of having dry eyes afterwards. "I just wish I had been better informed prior to surgery." "Why are all of the possible complications of LASIK not disclosed by the doctors?" asks another.
The Times-Picayune
February 16, 2001
People begin looking at LASIK with critical eye Procedure prompts complaints, suits
FROM THE ARTICLE: "Peer behind the celebrity endorsements and relentless advertising and see another side of LASIK eye surgery. Here are malpractice suits, price wars, complaints to the Food and Drug Administration, and patients so angry that they are posting their stories on Web sites."
VARIETY
February 15th, 2001
A closer look at LASIK:
Price isn't the only factor to consider when it comes to this popular eye surgery...
FROM THE ARTICLE: "Low prices can be viewed as a bait and switch by patients, said Dr. Gary Schwartz, assistant clinical professor of ophthalmology at the University of Minnesota and a partner at Associated Eye Care in St. Paul. "The low price gets people in the door, but a significant number of people don't qualify for that price."
Courier Times, Philadelphia PA
February 13, 2000
LASIK Surgery Catches on, but not without Detractors
FROM THE ARTICLE: "We've collected LASIK horror stories through our Web site (www.surgicaleyes.org). For many, it's as if someone took their glasses, smeared them with Vaseline, put scratches on them, put them back on their face and said, 'That'll be $5,000.' Refractive surgery was presented to me as a substitute for contacts or glasses, which it's not," says Link.
The Star-Ledger, Newark
February 11, 2000
Better eyesight for most, but a few are seeing red:
It seems LASIK surgery isn't Foolproof
FROM THE ARTICLE: The angriest post-LASIK "survivors," as some call themselves, say statistics are meaningless when you are one of the individuals with bad outcomes. Critics also accuse researchers, most of whom operate their own LASIK centers, of underreporting the complications.
MSNBC.com
February 8, 2000
Risks of Lasik Often Overlooked:
Thousands experience side effects from laser eye surgery
FROM THE ARTICLE: The major complications are difficulty with night vision, improvements that don’t last and eyesight that is worse than before the surgery. Experts admit they don’t even know what the complication rate is from laser vision correction. The guess is 5 percent or less, but there have been no big studies to try to find out.
KIRO-7 Eyewitness News
February 7, 2001
Complications possible from laser eye surgery
FROM THE ARTICLE: "It's like putting saran wrap over your eyes, then smearing the saran wrap with Vaseline," says Colleen Kline. Kline had Lasik 3 years ago, and found out afterwards her doctor loaded the wrong information into the computer and overcorrected her eyes. "I was working at a 43 thousand dollar a year job, I'm now on Social Security disability. I don't drive."
