Most corrective eye surgeries complete without a hitch, and patients receive the vision they always wanted. But for the few who do develop complications, the experience can be a nightmare.
The Moran Eye Center is often the place local patients are referred to when things go awry.
From ’98 to ’00, the eye center received many “horrendous referrals,” said Dr. Majid Moshirfar, medical director of refractive surgery at the eye center. Fewer major complications have come the eye center’s way in the last two years.
Many patients have flocked to Canada, where approval for medical procedures and equipment is faster. Some companies there have pursued a high-volume business model and offered cut-rate prices.
“They delegate a lot of their services,” Moshirfar said, “[and] the quality diminishes.”
The following three cases at the eye center illustrate what can go wrong and the lessons patients learned from their ordeals.
“The Canadian LASIK Disaster”
The three weeks Michelle Schick spent in bed and in darkness gave her a lot of time to rethink her decision.
An eyeglass wearer since ninth grade, Schick had wanted eye surgery for some time. Last August, she and her husband price-shopped on the Internet and found a Canadian clinic charging $1,100?half of what local clinics charged. The clinic claimed the lower royalty on LASIK equipment in Canada allowed them to charge less. For that price, the Schicks thought they could both have the operation.
Schick and her husband flew into Vancouver and had the surgery on a Thursday. At the follow-up visit the next day, her husband was fine, but Schick’s eye was red and itchy.
The doctor, who was not the surgeon that operated on Schick, thought, “it was no big deal.” Scheduled to fly home that night, Schick was advised to see an optometrist in Ogden, hired by the clinic to do follow-ups.
Hours after returning to Utah, Schick’s condition worsened quickly and the pain became unbearable. Her husband rushed her to a local hospital that night. According to Schick, the ophthalmologist there refused to see her and said, “How dumb she was to go to Canada.”
At another hospital, the ophthalmologist on-call was reluctant to treat Schick because of liability issues. He relented because he didn’t want her to go blind, Schick said.
The doctor found Schick’s flap was “melting” due to an infection. Hearing that she was probably going to lose her sight, Schick felt emotionally sick.
The doctor re-opened Schick’s flap to clean the infection. After a week of treatment, she was referred to the Moran Eye Center.
Dubbed the “Canadian LASIK disaster,” several doctors came by to see Schick. They were fairly certain that Schick contracted her infection at the Canadian clinic.
For weeks, Schick had to wear an eye patch and take “a ton of medication,” mostly in eye drops. The pain was so intense that morphine was her only relief. Neighbors had to care for her kids while she lay in bed in the dark due to sensitivity to light.
After about a month and a half, the doctor at the eye center considered her to be “out of the woods.” She wasn’t going to lose her eyesight.
Although the Canadian clinic paid for only a part of her subsequent medical bills, Schick decided not to pursue legal actions.
“Suing them wasn’t going to make my eye better,” Schick said. “I was so sick of the whole thing. I just wanted to be done with it.”
Schick now has about 20/30 vision in that eye and feels “very, very fortunate.” She advises others to have their surgeries done locally and make sure the same surgeon performing the operation does the initial screening and follow up care.
“Go to a doctor who would take care of you the whole time,” Schick said.
Everyone Makes Mistakes
Ernest Hathaway went to the same Canadian clinic for the same reason as Schick?price. He bought a$1,700 package that included transportation.
Hathaway developed a non infected inflammation, and he returned to Vancouver for another surgery, which did not resolve the problem. The local optometrist, hired by the Canadian clinic, referred Hathaway to the Moran Eye Center.
Hathaway had a slow recovery and could not see well enough to drive for two months. His vision has improved to 20/30 and 20/60 in each eye, but he still risks developing glaucoma from the ordeal.
His disease was considered a rare condition by the physicians he consulted, so he doesn’t blame the Canadian clinic.
“I don’t think [choosing the doctor] is as important [as other factors],” Hathaway said. “Some of the big-name doctors in town have made mistakes too.”
Hathaway’s advice: “Get one eye done at a time. If something goes wrong, you can see out of the other eye while you’re recovering.”
Back to Where He Started
Almost three years after his surgery, David Jacks still wears glasses, just as he has since he was 5 years old. But he is happy that he can still see at all.
In early 1999, Jacks had laser eye surgery at a local clinic that was part of a network organized by a Canadian company. After the procedure, the flap of his cornea became wrinkled and he could barely see.
“It was like looking through crinkled cellophane paper,” Jacks recalled.
A different surgeon at the same clinic attempted to correct the problem by lifting the flap again. The doctor later prescribed eye drops with a high salt concentration, which they hoped would cause the membrane to stretch.
Not seeing any improvement, Jacks became discouraged. When the doctor suggested lifting the flap again, Jacks decided it was time for a second opinion.
“I lost all confidence with these people,” Jacks said.
Jacks went to the Moran Eye Center through a friend’s referral. At the eye center, he finally received a thorough explanation of his condition. According to Jacks, he was told his “loose epithelial” should have precluded him from surgery in the first place, and further surgery would worsen his condition.
After prescribing him glasses that allowed him to see well enough to drive and work, his doctor said his eyesight may improve with time. If it deteriorates, he may need a corneal transplant. It was a prognosis Jacks could live with.
“I would live with this if it doesn’t get better,” Jacks said. “I don’t want to risk the surgery.”
Jacks advises others to never shop for an ophthalmologist based on price, and to check the background of the clinic and doctors. He later learned that his surgeon had performed only 25 similar operations prior to his.
“I now know what it’s like to be blind,” Jacks said. “I have the appreciation of sight I didn’t realize before.”