March 2010 Archives

The organizers of two Internet-based LASIK patients' protest groups wrote 14 Capitol Hill lawmakers 3/29 asking for a hearing on FDA's "egregious" approval of the laser devices used in this booming eye-surgery retail industry. Stressing the elective, cosmetic nature of the procedure, Fort Lauderdale, FL-based Dean Kantis and Paula Cofer say in the letters that "FDA approved the LASIK indication for excimer lasers despite an approximate 20% incidence of adverse events such as dry eyes and night vision problems which persist beyond the endpoint of clinical trials."

On 3/17, one of the nation's largest chains of refractive eye surgery facilities, TLC LASIK Centers, was sued 3/17 in South Carolina federal court by attorneys for 181 injured patients alleging breach of contract, conspiracy, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) violations... Seeking a total $180 million in damages, the South Carolina class action complaint names as defendants 29 TLC LASIK surgical facilities in various states, 24 TLC clinical directors, 34 TLC LASIK surgeons and four corporate managers, including vice president for patient care John Potter. It alleges that they conspired to fraudulently extend post-operative, lifetime ocular health care until the injured patients' statute of limitations right to sue ran out -- usually two years.