Celebrities Harmed by LASIK 

From Appendix A in the book: 

The Unsightly Truth of Laser Vision Correction: LASIK Surgery Makes Healthy Eyes Sick

LASIK complications have struck the rich and famous, although they have the money to pay for the best surgeons in the world. For more information visit https://www.lasikcomplications.com/celebrities.htm. 

US Olympic bobsled gold medalist Steven Holcomb developed corneal ectasia after LASIK. He said in his 2012 book his “vision kept getting worse and worse”. He committed suicide in 2017 at the age of 37. Roman Harper, a professional football player for the Carolina Panthers, had LASIK. In the second quarter of the 2016 NFC Championship game, he was tackled, and his corneal flap dislocated. He couldn’t finish the game. LASIK flaps never heal normally. LASIK surgeons should not operate on people who play contact sports. 

The famed comic, Kathy Griffin, had severe complications after LASIK, including poor vision and pain. Despite FIVE operations on her right eye, her vision is still extremely blurry, and it cannot be improved with contact lenses or glasses. She describes her suffering on her website. She urges people to “think twice” if they are considering the procedure, and she has posted a video describing how this procedure can go wrong. 

Tiger Woods, the famous golfer, was extremely nearsighted. He had LASIK in October 1999. He was happy for eight years, but then his vision began to slip back again. He now suffers from near-constant headaches. His surgeon did not warn him this procedure is only temporary, and almost half of LASIK procedures regress after seven years. 

Former Spice Girl, Mel B, is blind in one eye following LASIK, and she is no longer able to read the autocue. 

Jennifer Capriati is a well-known tennis champion. Her playing ability was destroyed by LASIK, because she could no longer see the ball during night matches. People who need to function in dim light should not have LASIK. 

WhistlinDiesel, an influencer in the US who wrecks trucks and cars to create stunt videos, has over 6.09 million followers on his YouTube account. His videos have had over 680 million views in three years. This is a transcript of his video describing his disastrous experience with LASIK. It was deleted but is a good example of how you can warn others about LASIK. “My name is Cody, and I am making this video to expose the extremely unethical but legal practices that LASIK surgery companies are performing on people across the United States, leading to people going blind or committing suicide. I got LASIK eye surgery over a year ago and it was absolutely the worst decision that I have ever made. Everything that I had heard about LASIK eye surgery was positive. There would be some comments from people saying it was a little crazy how they did it, that they would cut your eye, and I guess that should have been a big enough red flag. I’m making this video to address something that is extremely unethical and should no longer be legal. Even the person who endorsed it from the FDA doesn’t approve of it anymore. How this is still legal I have no clue. When I came in for the surgery, they gave me a large booklet with multiple papers that were waivers to sign. It said the risks included total blindness and loss of my eye, and the long-term complications were unknown. I had heard so many positive stories I went ahead. The next morning, I woke up and my vision was worse than what I started with. I could make out shapes, but it was distorted, almost double vision. The next day there was a bad itching in my eyes.” His story goes downhill from there. Why the video was removed we can only guess.

FROM THE PREFACE IN THE BOOK

THE UNSIGHTLY TRUTH OF LASER VISION CORRECTION: 

LASIK SURGERY MAKES HEALTH EYES SICK

The unsightly truth of laser vision correction is staring us in the face - in the peer-reviewed scientific literature. 

George O. Waring, III in 1999, “What is the minimal thickness of the cornea that can preserve corneal shape for the lifetime of the patient without development of progressive corneal steepening or frank ectasia [outward bulging of the cornea]? No one knows…”1 

Rheinstein & Waring in 2006 “Most refractive surgeons are confident about the long-term safety of LASIK; the problem is that no one has yet published the long-term safety…”2 

Jay Pepose, MD, whose specialty is refractive surgery, has said (2019): 3 “I think that we’ve become much more aware now of this new syndrome, neuropathic pain. It may involve about 19% of patients following cataract surgery, very similar to what we’ve heard with other types of surgery such as LASIK with new onset pain.” 

The LASIK industry and FDA say, “The long-term risks and effects of LASIK are unknown.” This is false. RK/PRK/LASIK surgeons have known for four decades that surgically reshaping the cornea will cause some customers to have serious eye disorders. Refractive Keratotomy for Myopia and Astigmatism, written by Dr. George O. Waring, III in 1992, discusses these disorders in depth. Dr. Rheinstein, who described LASIKinduced corneal weakening,4 also said, in 2023,5 that despite the use of the most modern LASIK devices, about 6% of LASIK patients have permanent “central islands”, that is, laser ablation distortions.

 REDDIT AND X FOLLOWERS

I recently joined X and Reddit. 

On Reddit, many patients pose questions about what they have experienced after LASIK hoping for answers or help. 

A number of them contacted me and said they wanted to tell their stories in the hopes others would not follow their choices and thereby helping spare others of horrific outcomes.

We were only able to include some actual patient cases and stories in "The Unsighty Truth of Laser Vision Correction: LASIK Surgery Makes Health Eyes Sick".

Here, under comments, they have a voice. 

FIRST: UPDATES

Its been some time since I have posted on here.

Since then, I retired from the practice of Ophthalmology, given several talks (some recorded on youtube and some recorded as podcasts) and wrote my memoir, "Making the Cut" and co-wrote "The Unsightly Truth of Laser Vision Correction: LASIK Surgery Makes Healthy Eyes Sick" with Dr Morris Waxler, Dr Edward Boshnick and Paula Cofer, both titles are available at AMAZON.COM and will soon be available at other vendors. 

Dr Waxler is a vision scientist, neuropsychologist and former Science Manager (Branch Chief) of the PRK/LASIK team at the FDA. Dr Boshnick has spent over 25 years caring for patients with severe eye damage, visual defects and lifelong suffering due to this dangerous, flawed practice. Paula Cofer is the founder of "The LASIK Complications Support Group", a victim of LASIK eye surgery and now lifelong activist. 

I have been interviewed on Afectados Cirugia  Laser de Ojos and it can be found on YOUTUBE on that channel. I have uploaded the same interview on my YOUTUBE channel @ eyedocmackay. I welcome you all to like and subscribe so others can learn about LASIK problems. 

SPOTIFY also has podcasts: I recorded one as did Dr Waxler and Paula Cofer. 

They can be accessed at http://open.spotify.com/show/2559sFYTYqG3CIMbZHXnY5.

My webpage at https://eyedocmackay.com has videos and pages of information about eyes.