I've heard of Lasix for years. How can it be a scam and they still do it?
The suicide of a 26-year-old Pennsylvania police officer over the aftereffects of the popular eye surgery LASIK was not an isolated incident, with others saying the procedure left them with agonizing and life-changing symptoms, patients and doctors told The Post.
LASIK providers say the procedure is 95% to 99% safe, but one LASIK survivor said she had suicidal ideations for two years after her “disastrous” surgery in 2000.
She also claimed to know of at least 40 people who took their own lives because they couldn’t stand constant pain and vision problems, which developed after the procedure.
Tim and Stefanie Kingerski said Ryan suffered headaches, double vision, seeing dark spots and floaters — tiny spots that appear as streaks or cobweb-like shapes across a person’s field of vision — after LASIK surgery.CBS Pittsburgh
“I really didn’t want to stick around at times, but I decided I would to get the word out about how dangerous this surgery can be,” Paula Cofer, 66, of Tampa, Fla., told The Post Wednesday.
The LASIK lobby and the surgeons will tell you only 1 percent of patients have issues afterward. That’s not true. There are multiple studies that indicate otherwise.
“The percentage of those with poor outcomes are in the double digits, not 1 percent. And they know it,” she claimed.
Since LASIK was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1999, more than 10 million people in the US have undergone laser vision correction, according to the medical journal Clinical Ophthalmology, which states that between 700,000 and 800,000 people sign up for it each year.
Cofer runs the Lasik Complications Support Group on Facebook, one of numerous organizations on social media that have sprung up in response to LASIK procedures gone wrong.
“If you understand LASIK and what it does to the eyes and cornea, you realize you can’t do it on a healthy eye and not expect complications,” Cofer said.
The procedure — the acronym stands for “laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis” — reshapes the cornea of the eye.
“Not everyone has severe complications, but a lot more people are suffering than you know. I got floaters, severe dry eyes, induced astigmatism and severe night vision problems,” said Cofer.
Ryan Kingerski — the cop who died by suicide after taking time off from the Penn Hills Police Department in Allegheny County, Pa., last August to undergo LASIK — had similar symptoms.
His grieving parents, Tim and Stefanie Kingerski, told CBS News this week about the hell their son went through after the procedure.
The Kingerskis said Ryan began suffering headaches, double vision, seeing dark spots and floaters — tiny spots that appear as streaks or cobweb-like shapes across a person’s field of vision, they said.
Ryan’s parents told a story similar to that of Detroit TV meteorologist Jessica Starr’s widower, Dan Rose, who said she took her own life after struggling with intense eye pain and vision problems following laser eye surgery.
The 35-year-old mother hanged herself on Dec. 12, 2018, just two months after undergoing LASIK to correct her vision.
“Prior to the procedure, Jessica was completely normal, very healthy,” Rose told WJBK in 2019. “There was no depression … no underlying issue.”
Rose said his wife left behind a 30-page suicide note and videos, which made it clear that the decision to end her life was because of the elective surgery.
Morris Waxler, now 89, was an FDA adviser who headed the branch responsible for reviewing data on LASIK between 1996 and 2000, which covers the period it was approved.
nypost.com
The suicide of a 26-year-old Pennsylvania police officer over the aftereffects of the popular eye surgery LASIK was not an isolated incident, with others saying the procedure left them with agonizing and life-changing symptoms, patients and doctors told The Post.
LASIK providers say the procedure is 95% to 99% safe, but one LASIK survivor said she had suicidal ideations for two years after her “disastrous” surgery in 2000.
She also claimed to know of at least 40 people who took their own lives because they couldn’t stand constant pain and vision problems, which developed after the procedure.
Tim and Stefanie Kingerski said Ryan suffered headaches, double vision, seeing dark spots and floaters — tiny spots that appear as streaks or cobweb-like shapes across a person’s field of vision — after LASIK surgery.CBS Pittsburgh
“I really didn’t want to stick around at times, but I decided I would to get the word out about how dangerous this surgery can be,” Paula Cofer, 66, of Tampa, Fla., told The Post Wednesday.
The LASIK lobby and the surgeons will tell you only 1 percent of patients have issues afterward. That’s not true. There are multiple studies that indicate otherwise.
“The percentage of those with poor outcomes are in the double digits, not 1 percent. And they know it,” she claimed.
Since LASIK was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1999, more than 10 million people in the US have undergone laser vision correction, according to the medical journal Clinical Ophthalmology, which states that between 700,000 and 800,000 people sign up for it each year.
Cofer runs the Lasik Complications Support Group on Facebook, one of numerous organizations on social media that have sprung up in response to LASIK procedures gone wrong.
“If you understand LASIK and what it does to the eyes and cornea, you realize you can’t do it on a healthy eye and not expect complications,” Cofer said.
The procedure — the acronym stands for “laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis” — reshapes the cornea of the eye.
“Not everyone has severe complications, but a lot more people are suffering than you know. I got floaters, severe dry eyes, induced astigmatism and severe night vision problems,” said Cofer.
Ryan Kingerski — the cop who died by suicide after taking time off from the Penn Hills Police Department in Allegheny County, Pa., last August to undergo LASIK — had similar symptoms.
His grieving parents, Tim and Stefanie Kingerski, told CBS News this week about the hell their son went through after the procedure.
The Kingerskis said Ryan began suffering headaches, double vision, seeing dark spots and floaters — tiny spots that appear as streaks or cobweb-like shapes across a person’s field of vision, they said.
Ryan’s parents told a story similar to that of Detroit TV meteorologist Jessica Starr’s widower, Dan Rose, who said she took her own life after struggling with intense eye pain and vision problems following laser eye surgery.
The 35-year-old mother hanged herself on Dec. 12, 2018, just two months after undergoing LASIK to correct her vision.
“Prior to the procedure, Jessica was completely normal, very healthy,” Rose told WJBK in 2019. “There was no depression … no underlying issue.”
Rose said his wife left behind a 30-page suicide note and videos, which made it clear that the decision to end her life was because of the elective surgery.
Morris Waxler, now 89, was an FDA adviser who headed the branch responsible for reviewing data on LASIK between 1996 and 2000, which covers the period it was approved.
Doctors, former patients warn of LASIK eye surgery dangers: ‘Biggest scam ever put on the American public’
“It’s the biggest scam ever put on the American public,” he said. “And it’s a multi-billion dollar business.”
nypost.com
