Patients who experienced painful side effects after undergoing Lasik eye surgery are airing their grievances in front of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration panel on Friday.
David Shell of Washington, D.C. told the panel that after undergoing the eye surgery he has "not experienced a moment of crisp, good quality vision since."
One patient's father even told of his son's suicide six years after having the popular vision-correcting procedure.
Gerald Dorrian described to the panel the six years of pain and blurred vision his son Colin endured before ending his life. Colin had been told he wasn't a good candidate for the surgery but went ahead with the procedure anyway.
"I can't and won't continue facing this horror," Colin Dorrian's suicide note said.
The FDA is holding a public inquiry to investigate consumer complaints about Lasik and to determine if the information provided to patients about the risks and benefits is sufficient.
The FDA is also working on a study to investigate why some patients develop such negative side effects, while others don't.
While most people who undergo Lasik end up with 20/20 vision and no side effects, a few come out with eye problems such as dry eyes, glare or compromised night vision.
"Clearly there is a group who are not satisfied and do not get the kind of results they expect," Dr. Daniel Schultz, the FDA medical device chief, told The Associated Press.
The study should "help us predict who those patients might be before they have the procedure."
Health Canada spokesperson Paul Duchesne said that the federal department won't act on the findings of the inquiry if it's a matter of how the procedure is performed.
"If there were an issue with the instruments, we would. But in this case it seems to be more on the way the surgery is done, so in that case it's a practice-of-medicine issue, which is provincial," he told CTV.ca.
Lasik stands for Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis, and is a procedure designed to change the shape of the cornea to correct vision in people who are dependent on corrective glasses or contact lenses.
It involves cutting a flap out of the cornea, which is pulled aside so a computer-controlled laser can vapourize a portion of the middle section of the cornea, called the stroma.
The FDA warns that some people may not be suitable candidates for Lasik. These include:
- Children under age 18
- Those who have had a change in their glasses or contact lens prescription in the last year
- People who have an illness or take medication that may affect wound healing
- People who suffer from dry eyes, which may be exacerbated by the procedure
