The still relatively new eye surgery known as LASIK cuts the cornea and attempts to fix problems with vision. While the surgeons performing and profiting from the surgery will claim that the chance of complications is well below 1%, the suicide rates and support groups related to LASIK surgery will disagree.
Ryan Kingerski, 26, a Penn Hills police officer, elected to go for LASIK surgery to correct his vision. However, complications afterward drove him to suicide. After his surgery, he had painful side effects, including headaches, double vision, seeing dark spots, and floaters.
He hunted for someone who could undo the damage and stop the pain. But, due to how new the surgery is, there is little help available. Only five months after his LASIK surgery, he took his own life, stating the post-surgery struggle was too much to deal with.
This is not a unique case, though, and there are entire groups dedicated to offering support to people with post-LASIK issues. Despite the American Refractive Surgery Council claiming “high satisfaction rates between 96 and 99 percent,” many people have come out permanently damaged.
The police officer’s suicide is not an isolated incident either. There have been multiple reports of people killing themselves, post LASIK surgery, due to pain and ruined eyesight. Now, people are calling for the FDA to warn people of the risk.
Too Profitable And Too Powerful To Pull
As with many things in the US, once there is money and power behind something, profit is prioritized over safety. The FDA agent who headed up the branch that reviewed and approved LASIK surgery initially says he regrets his decision. He is now campaigning for it to be reviewed again. Waxler claims the numbers are far from what is reported by the surgeons.
He has been speaking out against the use of LASIK. But, it’s falling on deaf ears, or being silenced. “It didn’t matter what questions and concerns I had because the surgeons were very powerful and still are,” he said to The Post.
He claims the reported failure numbers are far higher than people are being told. According to former FDA agent Morris Waxler, complication rates were between 10% and 30% in 2011. This is far from the 99% success rate advertised.