18 videos of FDA testimony on Lasik and Suicide here

www.youtube.com...

April 25th, 2008 was a historic day for the Food and Drug Administration. On that day, a small group of medical doctors, optometrists, psychologists, and injured patients presented at a Special Hearing of the Ophthalmic Devices Panel, responsible for the approval of medical devices for ophthalmic use in the United States. The subject of the hearing was post-LASIK quality of life, depression, and suicide.

Insiders acquainted with the FDA approval process for medical devices were horrified as one by one, the presenters alleged deception by individual LASIK surgeons, cover ups perpetrated by medical device manufacturers, and corruption at the level of the FDA itself. Compelling cases were made for massive violations of federal law, the failure of the FDA to monitor surgical facilities for LASIK, and deliberate misclassification of severe complications as simple side-effects, as a means of securing premature FDA approval of the excimer laser.

The mass media attended and filmed the April 25th hearing. Nevertheless, the substance of the above allegations went mostly unreported, despite discussion of four completed post-LASIK suicides, including excerpts from two actual suicide notes. The American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ASCRS) asserted that individuals with psychological issues post-LASIK certainly had psychological issues all along. But to anyone sitting in the audience without a preconceived bias, the ASCRS position seemed indefensible. Still, the mass media focused on a 95% percent satisfaction rate, a statistic put forward by ASCRS, but not yet published in their own peer-reviewed literature. Why?

Fortunately, the entire event was captured on video. Beyond the obviously sad association between severe LASIK complications, depression, suicide, and medical deception and corruption, the April 25th Special Hearing of the Ophthalmic Devices Panel must be regarded as one of the most interesting sociological dramas in modern medicine, one which is still being played out.

Judge for yourself the significance of these events, and come to your own conclusions about LASIK, the industry behind it, and the FDA.

Most performed procedure in the world..... of course your going to have horror stories.

I'm glad I had my eyes done.

There is risk in life... if you take that risk, accept the consequences.
You don't go into any elective surgery without doing your own research on the procedure and the clinics reputation(along with the surgeon & equipment)

Yes, that's the point, that many people did do their own research, but the doctors and the industry lied about the nature of the risks and what could happen as a result. You can't learn about risks if people won't tell you. That's how it got to be the most performed procedure in the world.

You might want to watch the videos, which address the points you're making, and add many many more.

I watched the videos....... nothing new..... I found most of those results with my research before my surgery(aside from the suicides). I do feel sorry for these people that have suffered from the procedure. I am not trying to debunk their statements....

I wouldn't of gone through the procedure if I hade even the slightest hesitation, but months of hard research(been following it for years) satisfied me to get it done finally.

As any ellective surgery, it is not necesary to have it done, but as other body modifications people make the choice to better themselves. Being mislead by faulty stats is a problem, but one that digs deep enough will find that these problems have always been there as side effects.

I took the chance and so far I am blessed with perfect vision with no issues as of yet. 10 years down the road I could be blind(knock on wood), and I would have to live with my decision.

Life is all about choices..... don't let a good salesman make it for you.

I just wanted to state that there is a positive side to this procedure.

That's great that you watched them. I'm glad you had a good result. Many people didn't, and didn't even know their doctors were selling a procedure. Pays to be skeptical of everything a doctor says in today's world.