Fort Worth-Made LASIK Surgery Machine Under Fire
More Patients Claiming LASIK 'LASIK Casualty" Status
By Investigator Ginger Allen
Producer/Photojournalist: Dave Manoucheri
At the turn of the millennium, it was the wave of the future--Peel back the lens
of your eye, and look forward to sight you never imagined. It is the possibility
of regaining 20/20 vision. Sandra Brown saw hope.
Three years ago, Brown had Lasik surgery. The pediatric eye surgeon was well
aware of the risks associated with the surgery, having studied ophthalmology for
more than a decade herself. But five or six months later, the common side
effects had not disappeared.
“I turned out to be a disaster”, Brown says, “I have all the
characteristics of a Lasik casualty”. To this day, she says she sees halos,
ghosting images, and starbursts around lights that make driving at night almost
impossible, she says all as a result of a LADARVision laser - made by Fort Worth
based Alcon Labs.
Today she has to wear her contacts and her glasses for some activities, and she
still feels the side effects of the surgery. It led her to do a case-study on
herself.
“Most of the laser that was supposed to hit and flatten my cornea missed,”
Brown said.
Her published findings match what an edition of “Eye World” medical journal,
several lawsuits, and doctors all over the world are reporting - that between
2000 and 2002, the LADARVision laser . . . at times . . . had a high rate of
failure, and/or removed too much eye tissue.
“The laser, unbeknownst to surgeons, have performed sporadically, erratically
and in a manner which have produced unpredictably bad results,” says Joel
Fineberg, Brown’s attorney. Brown is now suing the Fort-Worth based Alcon.
According to F-D-A reports and court documents, hundreds of patients suffered
permanent blurred vision, glares and halos, and or the need for additional
surgeries to improve their vision.
So was the Fort-Worth Based Alcon aware of the concerns?
Three doctors have independently told CBS 11 News that they had reported the
problems to Alcon early on and stopped using the machines. One doctor said he
had spoken out about concerns at national seminars.
CBS 11 has also obtained a transcript of a phone conference where several
surgeons tell Alcon Adminstrators they’ve reported their concerns over
malfunctions. They say their concerns have been “ignored” and that they are
“not comfortable with the laser.”
The complete article is available at http://cbs11tv.com/localnews/local_story_035143742.html