4/25/2008

Hysteria over Lasik eye surgery


One would think that with all the media coverage about problems with Lasik surgery that there was a real problem there. A simple Google news search over stories from the past day shows that there were 944 stories using the search term "Lasik surgery FDA." Yet, it turns out that out of 10 million such surgeries in the US there were 140 complaints, most of which involved people experiencing dry eyes. That is .0014 percent. Out of every 10 million people, what percentage of them would expect to experience dry eyes even with out the surgery? My guess is that it isn't less than .0014 percent.

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2 Comments:

Blogger Jen said...

I worked for a doctor 10 yrs ago who performed Lasik. We did 40 procedures a week and had hardly any complaints. Yes, occasional dry eye does occur. But this is a surgery - it comes with risks. People who signed the waivers and had the surgery were well aware of the risks they were taking. The surgery is better now than back then. My own husband had it done and loves his new 20/20 vision. If you ask him, occasional dry eye is worth it now that he no longer has to deal with contacts and glasses and he can see!

4/26/2008 11:06 AM  
Blogger Quaker said...

To form an opinion on one number from one source without going further is a bit of a shock to read from someone supposed to be analytical and a statistician of some sorts to boot.

Try visiting www.complicatedeyes.org.

4/26/2008 3:43 PM  

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