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

Politics Daily ^ | 2/12/11 | Bonnie Goldstein

[Nachum]

In Washington, D.C., a culture that embraces regulatory oversight and rule-making and where bureaucracies are everywhere, no federal agency is more warren-like than the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates the safety and efficacy of food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and medical devices.

The health and well-being of every American depends on the FDA's rigorous collecting, sifting and interpreting of data to approve products ranging from those that cure nail fungus to devices that electronically zap the brain to relieve anxiety. FDA regulators are scientist bureaucrats who tirelessly navigate the tedious but essential world between reports and medicine in a poorly lit building with very narrow hallways. They do important work, but FDA scientists don't always get it right.

This is a story about one scientist haunted by what, he fears, was a bad decision. Between 1996 and 2000, the scientist, Dr. Morris Waxler, was chief of the FDA's Diagnostic and Surgical Devices Branch and in charge of approving the LASIK medical device to restore visual acuity. And now, Waxler thinks that the FDA's standards were not tough enough. In 2008, an FDA advisory panel was urged by unhappy patients to re-evaluate the long-term effects of LASIK surgery and around the same time, patients began contacting him personally to report bad outcomes, including blurred and double vision.

[familyop]

Thanks. I’ve wondered about that. ...getting my first prescription bifocals soon after relying on cheap reading glasses for too long.

[sickoflibs]

Yep, never be the chimp in space. I have dry eyes which ruled me out.

[irishtenor]

I went through LASIK in September and do not regret it at all.

[rbg81]

I had a nightmarish experience with laser eye surgery that was done by a quack. Luckily, I found an eye surgeon who really knew what he was doing and it got resolved. for a while I feared that I would lose my sight in one eye. Scariest 8 months of my life.

[Revolting cat!]

It did just great for me!

[apillar]

Lasik works for some people, but its not the panacea that the outfits that try to sell it make it out to be. Of the people I know who have had it, about 1/2 are happy with the procedure the rest feel they wasted a ton of money for little or no improvement. Also I know a few people who had their night vision destroyed by the procedure to such a point that they can't drive after dusk.

[b4its2late]

What don’t they regret saying?

[MissMack99]

Everyone I know who had LASIK eye surgery, about 5 people, love it and had no problems .

[b4its2late]

It works, but it’s short lived.

[wjcsux]

I have worked with lasers for many years. All of my work has been with Military applications such as target designators. The medical use of lasers has been phenominal. They are great for such complex medical procedures such as repairing torn retinas. That being said, I have a real aversion to shining a Class IV laser (very hazardous) into your eye for vanity sake because you don’t want to wear corrective lenses.

[Nik Naym]

Do Not Stare Into Laser Beam With Remaining Eye

[CORedneck]

I have been hesitant on doing Lasik. Even though glasses are a pain in the @$$, I will stay with them ! I wonder about the long term effects.

[Kirkwood]

Nope.

[hinckley buzzard]

I had lasik surgery done in Windsor Ontario before it was approved in the US. That would have been about 1998 or so. Don't recall the year exactly. I had very severe astigmatism, having worn bottle-bottom glasses since I was a young kid including bifocals as a teen. Since I had lasik at age fifty plus, I have had zero problems, with 20/20 and near 20/20 vision. No complaints from me.

My guess is, the early practitioners were especially careful-- I had my eyes measured by laser for a 3D picture a couple weeks apart about three different times before having the operation. I don't know if this is still standard practise. I wonder if the proliferation of clinics has led to carelessness in some cases.

[bboop]

My friend had Lasik, said she can read without glasses but stars are blurry. I must see stars.

I wear one contact for reading, one for distance, and it is fine. I love my contacts.

[wastedyears]

I’ve read that the Navy has their own type of laser eye surgery, that apparently takes a little while longer to recover from, but the results are better.

If I do have laser surgery, which I do want so I don’t have to worry about contacts and glasses, I’m hoping the Navy’s procedure becomes widespread.

[EDINVA]

I don’t know ONE person who’s had lasik and regrets it. Happy you had it done .. wish I could. Am just waiting for cataracts that (I hear) will have the same or similar effect.

[ReformedBeckite]

It works, but it’s short lived.

The eyeball is like the gut it keeps on growing, unfortunately like the gut it doesn't grow like we would want it too. I got mind done about 6 years ago, don't regret it, I was pretty blind figuratively speaking, still have to wear the cheaters for reading, that is something they don't tell you, but it is better then all the time.

[MacMattico]

My aunt, father, and mother-in-law all had it about 10 years ago and think it was great. My dad still had to wear reading glasses, but before it he was practically blind without glasses. After his surgery was the first time since the 1960’s he could get up and see without needing to put glasses on immediately. He was the only person I ever knew that had to wear contacts and glasses at the same time—the only other choice was those big, thick coke bottle glasses that he would never wear in public, but would wear when first getting up or going to bed. A month after his surgery, he was able to pass the vision test for renewing your driver’s license without corrective lenses for the first time in 40 years!