E-Paper
Is LASIK surgery dangerous? X user claims it made him ‘legally blind,’ surgeon asked him to ‘to learn to live with it’
“And when my surgeon found out, he literally stopped talking to me during my appointment,” the X user claimed, sharing his ordeal.
An X user revealed in a post, which is now viral, that he became “legally blind” after his LASIK surgery. Chris Alvino detailed his ordeal, saying he was told that the only option was to “learn to live with it.”
Alvino shared his experience in response to another post that read, “Just asked a LASIK surgeon if he had any statistics about rates of complications at his clinic, or rates of patients reporting dry eyes 6 months out. He asked if I was a reporter (in a thick New York accent) and said no patient had ever asked for that before in 20 years.” The X account@birdpathy, which shared this post, added in the comment section, “He did not have the statistics - he couldn't even say how many times he's performed different procedures. I said "I know everyone collects different stats" to give him an out. He said actually he "knows every surgeon in NYC" and none of them would know these numbers.”
‘He told me there was nothing we could do’
Alvino shared @birdpathy’s post, writing, “I became legally blind after my LASIK surgery. And when my surgeon found out, he literally stopped talking to me during my appointment. He told me there was nothing we could do and I'd just have to learn to live with it. And offered zero follow up. Dude treated me like a pariah”.
He added in the comment section, “So yeah, I'm not surprised these doctors and surgeons don't keep track of their complication rates. They're probably a shame on their massive ego, or maybe it's too much cognitive dissonance, knowing they are actively harming so many people”.
“But yeah, does THIS doctor's responses sound like something you'd hear from an ethical industry? Why are surgeons so scared to discuss complication rates for LASIK? Ask yourself this question next time you're considering the surgery,” he further wrote.
What is LASIK surgery and is it dangerous?
LASIK surgery, also known as laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis, is a kind of laser eye surgery aimed at reshaping the cornea to correct refractive errors like nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, “Research has shown that serious complications are rare and that the majority of patients are happy with the results.”
It added, “The risks of LASIK have been studied extensively since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the surgery. According to the 2016 Modern LASIK Outcomes study, 99.5% of eyes saw 20/40 or better after LASIK. It’s also true that a small number of patients have real, persistent side-effects after LASIK.”
Mayo Clinic says that complications resulting in a loss of vision are “very rare.” However, some side effects are common, including “dry eyes and temporary visual problems such as glare.” It added, “These symptoms usually clear up after a few weeks or months. Few people consider them to be a long-term problem.”
