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eLearning Series:
Lasik Eye Surgery Questions & Answers
( 50 articles
in this series )
Lasik Surgery
Advertisements:
Does
It Sound Too Good to be True?
In the past, many advertisements for Lasik Eye Surgery have
either stated or suggested that the Lasik procedure would
eliminate the need for glasses or contacts 'for life.' These
claims, according to the FDA, were too general and were unproven.
Due to the FDA's efforts, and their considerable power, most
of these claims have been toned down, but it's still a good
idea not to believe everything you read.
Flowery words in exotic surroundings! Lasik
marketing techniques range from flowery words extolling
the wonders of being eyeglass
free; to images of beautiful people in exotic surroundings,
conspicuously not wearing glasses, amidst more flowery words
commending more wonders of being eyeglass free. Then there
are the testimonials by powerful people, well-known local and
national celebrities who try to send you to this Lasik specialist
. . . or that one, and enticements abound: raffles, free seminars,
coupons, financial incentives for new patient referrals, and
promises of lifetime guarantees or 20/20 guarantees that are
are misleading. These are just a few of the many techniques
that are designed to get prospective patients into the office.
The flim-flam may not stop there either, your “Patient Counselor”
may be less 'counselor' than highly-trained and well-compensated
salesperson.
It's important to note that some of the marketing techniques
described above fall in the category of harmless, even acceptable
advertising. Many of these techniques, however, are frowned
upon by ethical Lasik surgeons as well as by the legitimate,
highly-respected organizations that credential Lasik surgeons
. . . not to mention the FDA.
The
risks of Lasik: As a savvy consumer, you
may be able to see through most of the visual and verbal
gimmicks that are
used to entice you as you try to find the best place to have
your Lasik procedure performed; you cannot, however, evaluate
information that is not presented in the advertisements. Information
describing the risks of Lasik surgery never appears in Lasik
advertisements and is, in fact, not required to be there. This
is not to suggest that an ethical Lasik practitioner will not
explain the risks (or at least the most prevalent risks) of
Lasik surgery at the initial consultation, but without having
researched the procedure you will not be able to tell if he
is being completely candid.
Lasik
is a delicate and complex procedure that depends on
the precise movements of two pieces of equipment: the microkeratome,
a surgical knife, and a computer-controlled excimer laser.
At stake are two of the most delicate and complex organs in
the human body. Just this brief two-sentence description of
Lasik surgery should raise several flags over the possible
dangers of Lasik. There is the possibility of hardware or software
malfunctions in the equipment and the possibility of operator
(surgeon) errors.
A new legal specialty is born. Most of the time, the result
of a Lasik procedure satisfies the patient but there is a small
percentage of patients who, after the procedure, experience
vision problems including anomalies such as halo vision, starbursts
and reduced low-light vision that interferes with their ability
to drive at night. There are also isolated instances of blindness
as a result of errors in Lasik surgery. These types of problems
do not always surface immediately after surgery, they will
often not appear until the nerves and muscles associated with
the eyes prove unable to adjust to the surgery. The percentage
of patients who experience post-surgery problems, compared
with those whose procedures are successful is not great but
it is apparently great enough to have given birth to a new
legal specialty, added to the credentials of virtually every
injury lawyer is the term: Lasik Injury Law.
Competition is the culprit! Competition
between Lasik specialists is fierce and has reached the
point where the type of misrepresentation,
overstatement, euphemism and sometimes misrepresentation described
here have become the rule rather than the exception. The reasons
are obvious, if not justified: Lasik equipment is expensive
to purchase and maintain, the Lasik surgeon has spent many
hours mastering the specialty, the technicians that assist
the surgeon are well-paid professionals and there is always
rent to be paid for office space. To offset these expenses,
Lasik clinics require a steady flow of patients and the pressure
of this requirement can easily lead to ambiguous advertising
claims. # # # # #
SolveYourProblem.com
: 2006
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