Much has been said about the wonders of LASIK and PRK since its inception in the early 1990s. Refractive eye procedures give new sight to folks who were previously harnessed with glasses or contacts and a lifetime of worsening vision. My personal and clearly not peer reviewed experience is that I have a lot of acquaintances who have had refractive surgery, and I don’t know anyone that is overall “unhappy” with their outcome. However, the FDA’s finding is that 5 percent of LASIK users are not satisfied. Recently, a show aired on TBS called “10 Items or Less,” which shows a main character’s plan to open a LASIK station in the back of a grocery store. The ensuing comical drama between the main character, Leslie, and another character, Yolanda, who wants to use the space for her fabulous tube top shop gets a laugh. However, it caused me to wonder, is there any correlation between the small number of unhappy LASIK customers and the fact that refractive eye care has popped up in some unlikely places over the years?
You can walk into just about any mall across the country and get a massage or facial or teeth whitening; should LASIK be just as available?
According to the FDA, the success rate (and customer satisfaction rate) for LASIK and other refractive surgeries is 95 percent when patients use medical professionals who have had the proper training in order to offer these elective procedures. Do consumers really believe that eyesight correction could be offered in the back of discount stores or in mall atriums? When it comes to the assessment of who is, and who isn’t a good candidate for a refractive procedure, I want my loved one in an environment well suited for objectivity.
So while the FDA is calling for a review of LASIK results and side effects, properly trained and accredited LASIK surgeons are giving many of their clients and customers the benefit of perfect or improved vision. The small percentage that find their results are less than desired may want to rethink the option of having the procedure done at rock-bottom prices, out of the back of trucks, or in a “two eyes for the price of one” discount sale.
I’m confident that everyone in the eye care industry agrees with Local Eye Site that we should carefully monitor the models used for the administration of refractive surgery. The “10 Items or Less” episode showed Yolanda bursting into the LASIK office and interrupting Leslie’s own procedure, which resulted in Leslie losing his eyesight for a short time. It’s comedy, sure, but they make a point. Some patients just aren’t good candidates for the procedure, and those folks may experience a higher rate of the side effects reported by the FDA. We should be sure that we are continuing to offer refractive surgical procedures to patients who can benefit from them and not the other way around.
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