The Brian Lehrer Show

I can't really call in easily, but perhaps your guest can explain something I've wondered about Lasik. It seems that most procedures are done on both eyes at the same time. I know that if I had such surgery, I would do only one eye at a time, making sure the first operation was a success before doing a second. Why do they do both eyes at the same time?

Another question: I've heard opposing stories about Lasik's ability to provide better than 20/20 vision. What's the real story?

Personally I've already been so scared by the stories of failure that I have never even seriously considered Lasik.

Here we go again--yet another "modern procedure" that was sold to the public with tremendous downside effects. I always thought the idea of blasting a laser beam into my eye is a really bad idea. I'm glad I kept my glasses.

Let's see when the bad news on Botox comes out, like stories of 40-year-old women who overdosed and now have a permanent stupid grin. There shouldn't be anything wrong with injecting botulinum toxin into one's face, right? Riiiiiiight.

How about people who whitened their teeth too much and now their teeth are dissolving? That sucks.

I had the procedure 6 years ago when I lived in NYC. (Seemed the ideal place to find it.) I was 45, with a stable prescription. My eyesight is now perhaps a bit less than perfect, but my only regret is a vague sense that I overpaid.

As for vanity, I would say more for convenience. I simply don't think about my eyes anymore.

As a life-long myopic, I find it insulting that you might consider the procedure that allows one to see normally "cosmetic". What is cosmetic about having sight 24 hours a day without having to put on lenses?

is LASIK recommended for a forty five year old who is starting to need reading glasses

I had lasik done in India. The benefits were great, and the side effects - night vision problems, starring issues - were annoying. But I had ample warning. I went from legally blind to a minus 1.5 prescription.

The doctor (who by the way used a machine more advanced than those then in use in the US) refused to perform the surgery on my wife. The reason: ``You will never be satisfied.''

He didn't need the money, and he made the right choice. How many US doctors will turn away a patient based on a reading of their personality? Very few, I suspect.

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I don't know if what I has was Lasik or something different. The ophthalmologist told me he was placing plastic lenses which took all of what seemed 2 minutes to do (he swore it was more like 20-30) but if what I had was lasik--or whatever it was infact--it worked and I am pleased with the results, no glasses except for reading and as with the previous caller I wore glasses since age 14 (I was 60 when I had surgery) and the last two years of glasses, I felt the lenses needed change every two months! Now I didn't because that would have been much too expensive. But whatever I had done (i forget exactly) I am pleased at least for now it's been 1 1/2 years.

i checked out the site earlier and it is a good site as he says.

I had Lasik in 2001 and wish that I had never done it. I immediately lost my close up vision, after being told that would not happen. I can no longer read more than a few pages without having to stop. I suffer constantly with dry eye which is much worse than it sounds. The doc who did it just poo pooed all my complaints.

The way Deborah (or Debra?) was treated is completely inappropriate. I hope she reported them to someone (who would that be, guest?).

Many of us have improved vision, but continue to experience problems that are inconvenient but not debilitating.

I told the surgeon that I wanted to correct my distance vision and that I was willing to wear reading glasses. In other words, I wanted the vision in both eyes to be identical.

After 4 years, my left eye is exactly the way I wanted it, but my right eye is still significantly different. The surgeon's reply is essentially "...your vision is excellent." I don't really feel that this is worth a lawsuit, but I didn't get what I paid for ($5000).

Here's some potentially important information for young people considering LASIK, from Research to Prevent Blindness, the leading non-profit supporter of vision research:

Researchers suggest that those electing to have LASIK or PSK to correct nearsightedness should retain information about their corneal power and refractive change in case, as they get older, they require cataract surgery. Because LASIK and PRK are relatively new surgeries, it has only recently become apparent that the changes to the cornea created by those techniques can cause an inexact estimation of the corrective power of artificial lenses (IOLs) used to correct cataracts. In order to choose IOLs with the proper correction for these patients, scientists have determined a formula that takes into account the earlier surgery. The key is saving those numbers.

I can't believe this - you only have two eyes. Why would you take the risk of surgery for cosmetic/convenience reasons?

I have extremely bad eyesight. But there is no way I would risk making it worse with Lasik. Any surgery carries risks, but we really don't have significant data on Lasik over the long term.

This segment would have benefited from am expert guest.

Also, the LASIK woes (at higher rates than say in Europe) illustrate well the perils of under-regulation.