Exposing the LASIK Scam

Broken Eyes · **Joined:** Sat Nov 26, 2005 1:23 pm **Posts:** 2080

http://www.crstoday.com/PDF%20Articles/ ... edpage.php

Is LASIK Good Enough?
By Stephen G. Slade, MD, Chief Medical Editor

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Why don't more people have LASIK? We ophthalmologists believe in it. More of us, percentage-wise, have undergone laser vision correction than any other population subgroup. Why, then, is elective refractive surgery's penetration only 1% to 2% in the general population? We all want the answer.

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Perhaps we have caused potential patients' fear and hesitation through endless debates on LASIK versus PRK, some poor results, and negative marketing.

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For my part, I am studying Generation Y. I am hiring 20-somethings as counselors and requesting their feedback on my Web site and office. More than that, however, I like the idea of a fresh start with a new technique.

BooHooHoo... not enough patients are having LASIK. I feel just awful for them. :cry:

sadeyes · **Joined:** Tue Jan 09, 2007 8:59 pm **Posts:** 94

Wow, Broken Eyes, Im right with ya.. I've heard a lot about Dr. Slade and the many lawsuits I've heard with his name involved. Maybe that is the reason, I don't know why.. however, I actually am glad to see that they feel enough people are not taking the Lasik plunge. I sure wish I had not. I'm hoping my big mouth is helping... So many who were going to , that now are not when they see what CAN happen (like me) and they say wow, no thank you.. And thanks for telling me "your" story.

I've called Dr. Slade's office a few times myself and even though one lady can be informative there,,,, they do not follow through on anything.

Thanks for the interesting reading!

Sadeyes :)

Scientist · **Joined:** Sat Nov 26, 2005 1:06 am **Posts:** 621

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We ophthalmologists believe in it.

Stephen Slade, you know better.

Ophthalmologists who are self-deluded and don't keep up with medical literature may still belive in LASIK, but in my opinion, no competent surgeon could possibly think that LASIK is even remotely OK.

Most surgeons who have had LASIK had it before the bulk of the literature on complications was published. How many LASIK surgeons have had LASIK on their own eyes in the past year???

Probably zero.

I think that Dr. Stephen Slade likes the idea of a fresh start with a new technique because he knows that the bloom is definitely off the rose with LASIK. Stephen Slade should know that there is likely an evolutionary balance reached between sufficient corneal tissue to stave off ectasia and a cornea thin enough for visual clarity.

Likely there will never be a safe and effective way to remove corneal tissue to correct for refractive error.

LASIK is NOT good enough, Dr. Stephen Slade, and any other permanent, medically unnecessary 'vision experiments' you and your colleagues perform on healthy eyes are likely not to be good enough.

Broken Eyes · **Joined:** Sat Nov 26, 2005 1:23 pm **Posts:** 2080

http://www.crstoday.com/PDF%20Articles/ ... 707_13.php

Cataract & Refractive Surgery Today
July, 2007

LASIK HITS ITS LIMIT

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Mr. Bailey believes that, to some extent, LASIK's explosion in volume about 10 years ago was to due to the reduction in cataract surgery reimbursement. Some ophthalmologists stopped performing cataract surgery or significantly reduced their number of cataract procedures in order to pursue an elective refractive procedure. "Just as the increase LASIK volume was in some part driven by the need to improve practice profitability, so will the elective intraocular procedures, whether ophthalmologists choose to implant a toric or multifocal IOL," Dr. Bailey stated. "LASIK has been used very broadly, and, despite advertising and the introduction of custom LASIK technology, the market appears to no longer be growing. I believe surgeons, in some instances, have pushed LASIK to its limits, and now they need to consider and select the right technology for the appropriate candidate."

Dr. Bailey mentioned in this article is David Bailey, President and CEO of STAAR Surgical Company

Broken Eyes · **Joined:** Sat Nov 26, 2005 1:23 pm **Posts:** 2080

One patient's story about agressive sales tactics of LASIK providers:

http://lasikflap.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1627

Broken Eyes · **Joined:** Sat Nov 26, 2005 1:23 pm **Posts:** 2080

FDA warns about "slick" LASIK marketing:

http://www.fda.gov/cdrh/LASIK/risks.htm

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Be cautious about "slick" advertising and/or deals that sound "too good to be true." Remember, they usually are. There is a lot of competition resulting in a great deal of advertising and bidding for your business.

kaleyedoscope · **Joined:** Sat Mar 04, 2006 8:13 pm **Posts:** 168

http://www.crstoday.com/PDF%20Articles/ ... 907_18.php

Daniel Durrie MD quote:

"For the past 2 years, ophthalmologists have been discussing consumers' relatively flat interest in refractive surgery. During this time, many refractive surgeons focused their marketing efforts on baby boomers, the population of 40- to 60-year-olds who have relatively high levels of disposable income. Instead, we should be targeting the children of the baby-boom generation?the so-called Generation Y."

"Generation Y, also known as the "MTV generation," is a marketer's dream: large, educated, and affluent. This population consists of 70 million 18- to 28-year-olds1 who collectively earn roughly $211 billion per year.2 Globally, seven out of 10 of these individuals intend to earn a degree, and one out of eight plan to study for a PhD.3"

"My colleagues and I at Durrie Vision have reconsidered our marketing efforts based on our clinical results, Advanced Medical Optics' market research, and the strategies employed by RealityLASIK.com. The nontraditional tactics we are testing include distributing leaflets at local gourmet coffee shops and handing out cards promoting our Web site at local rock concerts. These methods certainly depart from traditional ones, but we think the opportunity to reach a new generation of consumers is worth the effort."

Eye · **Joined:** Mon Nov 14, 2005 4:28 pm **Posts:** 643

It requires a very sick person to market a procedure known to be harmful to young people who are just starting to live. These kids deserve to see beauty in life through corneas that have not been surgically distorted by a greedy monster.

Dan Durrie's distasteful marketing practices remind me of another time when another industry and even some doctors told us that smoking was fashionable and even healthy. They knew better, too.

Hey Dan, how's that twenty-something student with pre-existing lattice degeneration whose vision you screwed up with LASIK... doing these days? Do you care? It appears you have the ethics of a tobacco industry executive - at least it can be said for THEM that the vast majority of them were not physicians.

Regrets · **Posted:** Mon Sep 24, 2007 10:20 pm

I know as a 27 year old LASIK patient...had LASIK at 26...my future will be a bit different than it would have been had I not had LASIK.

Not married yet, don't have children yet....but what I do know is that I may not be able to enjoy my future children's activities, performances, school graduations, dance recitals, sporting events, etc. My finace already does all of the night driving...I hope he'll be home a lot at night to drive our future kids around...or our future kids will be spendig many nights in the house! I just hope that my vision will still be good enough for many years to come so that I can make sure my kids grow up doing fun activities, and having fun holiday tradtions, etc. I know I used to LOVE going "Christmas light hunting" as a child. I wonder if I'll be able to share that with my children.

YEAH...GET THAT "GENERATION Y"! That way the generation will be followed by a whole generation of kids that have disabled parents. :evil:

Broken Eyes · **Joined:** Sat Nov 26, 2005 1:23 pm **Posts:** 2080

http://www.aao.org/publications/eyenet/ ... eature.cfm

William W. Culbertson, MD, Professor of ophthalmology, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Fla.; and member of the Academy?s Ethics Committee:

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Every doctor has a conflict of interest when they recommend any surgery, even routine cataract surgery. So this is not new, except that the potential reimbursement is greater. Any time you recommend a service or operation to a patient that has some alternative, you?re potentially conflicted.

Charles M. Zacks, MD, Cornea specialist in private practice, Maine Eye Center, Portland; and chairman of the Academy?s Ethics Committee:

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When you suggest a particular surgery or procedure, be sure that it?s for the patient?s benefit, not yours. The physician must always think of the patient and not what?s going on in the marketplace.

Broken Eyes · **Joined:** Sat Nov 26, 2005 1:23 pm **Posts:** 2080

www dot la-sight.com/2020_or_free.aspx

LASIK surgeon promoting himself by criticizing the advertising tactics of other LASIK surgeons:

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If you have shopped around even a little bit, you know that there is a lot of hype in the LASIK biz. Every surgeon wants to persuade you that "they're the best," and claims to have done either zillions of cases or famous celebrities or both. Every surgeon seems to be a "pioneer" in something, and of course everyone also claims to use "the best technology" in their center. The marketing hype and self-serving publicity is so thick you might feel you need boots and a shovel to wade through it all.

Broken Eyes · **Joined:** Sat Nov 26, 2005 1:23 pm **Posts:** 2080

EyeWorld
March 2001

http://www.eyeworld.org/article.php?sid=713

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Advertisements that credit a laser in-situ keratomileusis surgeon with a certain number of cases or promise a rate of visual acuity are ruining the industry, refractive pioneers say. And for the hapless patient, some ads are so misleading that they can cause the selection of the wrong doctor or procedure.

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He wondered why ads for medicines must have "a whole page of disclaimers," but LASIK surgeons and centers are not required to. Patients are often not warned of possible results, such as halos at night, said Durrie, associate clinical professor, University of Kansas, Kansas City, who is in private practice at Hunkeler Eye Centers, Overland Park.

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"Anyone can claim they're an expert," said I. Howard Fine, MD, clinical associate professor, Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, in private practice at Oregon Eye Associates, Eugene. "They can take a course, then claim they're a LASIK expert."

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"Everyone claims he or she has done 10,000 cases, everyone has done it first, and everyone is the best," said Frederic B. Kremer, MD, director of the Kremer Laser Eye Center, King of Prussia, Pa. "By ophthalmologists letting this get out of hand, it undermines the whole profession."

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Steve A. Arshinoff, MD, lecturer, University of Toronto, has had similar experiences. "I'm often arguing with the manager of my center," he said. "The companies don't like to deal with ethics, just cash flow."

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Arshinoff, who often sees post-LASIK problems, said most LASIK ads are "intentionally deceiving. The more the centers are run by management companies, the more deceptive the ads," he said. "They sold hamburgers last week."

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"It's a shame. I'll lay it all on the government and the lawyers. They gave doctors the right to advertise," Price said.

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Richard Abbott, senior ophthalmic practice secretary at the AAO, said ads that list a surgeon's number of cases or a percentage of visual acuity achieved are "misleading and deceptive." There is no "magic number" of cases, and percentages without the patients' pretreatment acuities are worthless, he said.

Bill · **Joined:** Thu Nov 24, 2005 9:06 pm **Posts:** 297

http://www.pconsupersite.com/

OCULAR SURGERY NEWS 10/15/2007

Durrie: Corneal refractive surgery headed to the sub-Bowman layer

The latest in a series of reports from OSN?s Section Editors Summit brings to the forefront the next wave of refractive surgery ? sub-Bowman?s keratomileusis.

Daniel S. Durrie, MD

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So why would we change the name? I think the time has come for a name change and to introduce to the market the ?next new thing.?

It is time for the medical community to start thinking about change because we have not had great market penetration. There are still a lot of people wearing glasses out there. There are a lot of people who have not had refractive surgery, in general, that are good candidates.

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Finally, in order to make this change to SBK, we will have to change our offices. We have the term LASIK all over our office, so we will have to expunge many things ? and train our staff in the correct terminology ? in order to get where we want to be.

For more information:
?Daniel S. Durrie, MD, can be reached at 5520 College Blvd., Suite 200, Overland Park, KS 66211; 913-491-3330; fax: 913-491-9650; e-mail: ddurrie@durrievision.com. Dr. Durrie was a clinical investigator for IntraLase, now owned by Advanced Medical Optics, and a paid consultant for Alcon.

Broken Eyes · **Joined:** Sat Nov 26, 2005 1:23 pm **Posts:** 2080

You've got to read this article! Unreal!

http://www.ophmanagement.com/article.as ... cle=101077

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If it feels, sounds, smells and looks like a doctor's office, you do not have a great LASIK practice.

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LASIK practices should feel like vision spas.

OMIGOD, they have got to be kidding.... Vision Spa???

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If a refractive counselor cannot commit to a patient that they are a candidate without having the surgeon review the chart, you have not set LASIK criteria appropriately for your staff. If you present patients with a full-distance vision vs. monovision LASIK option and send them home to think about it, you have lost the patient. The same for advanced surface ablation vs. phakic. Reason through the options silently while examining the patient and reviewing test results, but make sure that patient is very clear about what you recommend and aim to schedule the surgery at the time of consultation.

Unbelievable!

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Many prospective patients think LASIK is not safe, or does not work. That is the flip-side of LASIK results. There are 38 million potential LASIK patients in the United States today. They wear glasses or contacts and are within the age range that we can effectively treat. Just over 6 million have had the procedure. So where are the other 32 million?

Wisely, staying away from LASIK surgeons!

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Outcomes are the unspoken problem in more than 80% of practices today, because we do not track results. We do not report them.

Was this a slip, or did someone actually admit that no one keeps track of LASIK results (including complications).

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In my experience, great LASIK practices that incorporate all other aspects of an exceptional elective vision experience deliver 20/20 or better vision to 75% to 80% of their patients. I am often met with shock at this statement. Most surgeons believe they deliver 90%+ at 20/20. A lot of functional LASIK in the United States today is 20/30 or 20/25. Just a line or two off perfect."

We could have told you that LASIK surgeons are all delusional, lady.

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If we could deliver +/-0.25 D accuracy, we could move LASIK satisfaction from 80% to 90%+. This increase in happy folks will shift the scales to a more positive customer buzz about LASIK, rather than the flatline we see now.

Don't hold your breath, or *you'll* be flatlining.

Eye Pain · **Joined:** Fri Jun 29, 2007 3:11 am **Posts:** 102

Broken Eyes wrote:

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Outcomes are the unspoken problem in more than 80% of practices today, because we do not track results. We do not report them.

Was this a slip, or did someone actually admit that no one keeps track of LASIK results (including complications).

Crazy stuff! Kay Coulson, the writer of the article is an MBA, not an MD.
Kay Coulson is the founder of Elective Medical Marketing in Boulder, CO, and assists surgeons in growing their elective vision service lines. She may be reached at (303) 994-0014; kay@electivemed.com.

Perhaps the damaged LASIK patients on this forum should contact Kay and let her know why nobody keeps track of LASIK results ... because the truth is bad for business!!!

Based on some of Kay's slips, it is obvious that she is less versed in what to say and not to say regarding LASIK's dirty secrets as compared to many of the LASIK MD pricks that she supports.

Exposing the LASIK Scam

Is LASIK patient-driven or physician-driven?

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