The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is reporting that TLC LASIK surgeon, Mark Whitten, of Rockville, Maryland was ordered by a jury in Allegheny County to pay $850,000 to David Cantalupo. The patient will also recover monetary damages from three other defendants in the case, bringing the total to more than $1 million. The lawsuit claims that Mr. Cantalupo had thin corneas, which should have disqualified him for LASIK surgery. He now suffers permanent eye damage. Source Dr. Mark Whitten was previously sued for performing LASIK on a young...
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Source: Las Vegas Now A judge has just signed an order to stop the practice of medicine at the Valley Eye Center... A judge approved a petition from the state medical board seeking temporary restraining orders and injunctions against the clinic... The District Court order suspends the medical licenses of Valley Eye surgeons Doctors Stella Chou, Paul Cutarelli and Valley Eye owner Dr. Anamika Jain. The board has also accused Jain's husband, clinic administrator Dr. Vikas Jain of practicing medicine...
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Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal The lawsuit, which is expected to eventually include dozens of plaintiffs, also targets former surgeon Stella Chou, alleging that she allowed Jain to perform pre-operative tests while knowing he was not a certified laser surgeon. Dr. Vikas Jain, also known as Ken Johnson, lost his medical license in Ohio in 2005, then moved to Nevada and used his wife's medical license to open the Valley Eye Center on Tenaya Way the next year... More than 20 patients...
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The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is charged with ensuring safety of medical devices, such as lasers used in LASIK eye surgery. The FDA tracks problems with LASIK through its MedWatch program. Since the inception of LASIK, surgeons have downplayed or ignored complications such as chronic dry eyes and night vision difficulty (starbursts, halos, multiple images, and loss of contrast sensitivity) and have failed to report these problems to the FDA. The FDA recently affirmed that these problems are adverse...
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A class action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Southern California alleges a laser manufacturer, Nidek, and numerous defendant physicians engaged in a nationwide scheme and conspiracy to alter the laser software and hardware to enable it to perform non-FDA approved farsighted treatments, subjecting thousands of unsuspecting patients to substantial risk of serious injury. The lawsuit further alleges violations of laws protecting patients in medical experimentation, failure of the defendants to obtain informed consent, unfair or deceptive business...
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LASIK advertisements depict only happy patients, free of their glasses, engaging in sports and recreation - enjoying life to the fullest! There is never mention of the "unhappy patient". The unhappy LASIK patient is often misunderstood because most people believe a bad outcome from LASIK can be corrected with another surgery, or that the patient can simply go back to wearing glasses. In fact, a bad outcome from LASIK can result in permanent visual disability which surgery and...
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In response to widespread reports of problems with LASIK eye surgery, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) called a Special Hearing of the Ophthalmic Devices Panel on April 25, 2008 to address post-LASIK issues such as poor visual outcomes, debilitating post-LASIK dry eye, loss of quality of life, depression, suicidal thoughts, and a number of LASIK-related suicides. Thirty-one presentations were given during the open public hearing, many from patients suffering from long-term complications of LASIK. Among the proponents of LASIK...
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LASIK eye surgery volumes are declining. LASIK industry representatives blame the economy. LASIK critics attribute the decline to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) heightened scrutiny of LASIK, and public distrust of the surgery following media reports of widespread problems with LASIK. Especially hard hit are LASIK chains, sometimes referred to as "LASIK mills", such as LasikPlus and TLC Laser Eye Centers. TLC continues to advertise its "lifetime commitment" to patient follow-up care, yet the company's financial picture is grim,...
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This letter addresses my concern about the safety of LASIK surgery. I have practiced ophthalmology for thirty-three years. After taking all the courses on LASIK, I decided not to do the surgery. I believe LASIK surgery is not consistent with the ophthalmologist's hypocritic oath of "first do no harm. " Statistics on complications could easily be manipulated by surgeons and I don't think their reporting of complications can be relied upon. I think a few points are more valid: it was...
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Ask any LASIK patient if he or she was given the FDA-mandated Patient Information Booklet prior to surgery. The answer is usually "no". Companies that manufacture lasers for use in LASIK surgery are required by the FDA to provide Patient Information Booklets to LASIK surgeons. In turn, LASIK surgeons are required to provide the booklets to prospective patients prior to surgery. Patient Infomation Booklets provide warnings and other information for patients to consider before consenting to undergo LASIK. Below...
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