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Did you know a former FDA official urged the federal agency to look into the LASIK procedure?  On its website, ABC News (9/22, Carollo) reported, “A former Food and Drug Administration official who helped get the vision correction surgery LASIK approved back in the 1990s but later spoke out against the procedure is taking his concerns directly to current regulators at the FDA.” Yesterday, “Morris Waxler, who is now an independent regulatory consultant, filed a citizen’s petition…urging the agency to take steps to stop what he calls ‘the epidemic of permanent vision problems’ caused by LASIK.”

According to “Waxler’s analysis of FDA data, half of LASIK patients experience side effects, and more than a third continue to need glasses or contacts,” ABC World News (9/22, story 6, 1:55, Sawyer) reported. After being asked if he “would you ever recommend LASIK to somebody” he cares about, “knowing what” he “knows now,” Dr. Waxler replied, “No, absolutely not.” While the “industry counters that most LASIK side effects are minor or temporary, and that complications are much lower with today’s modern LASIK,” the agency nevertheless is “now reviewing the procedure.”

If you or a loved one has sustained an injury to yourself or your child, infant, parent or loved one, during laser eye surgery, please call us today for a free case evaluation:(901) 527-2125.

Attorneys Tim Edwards and Ed Wallis practice medical malpractice law in Memphis, Tennessee and throughout West Tennessee and the Mid South area, including Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. Mr. Edwards and Mr. Wallis are prepared to discuss the facts of your Memphis medical malpractice case case and try and determine if there is a way to help you. We are committed to a personal relationship with our clients. When you retain us to help you, you will have our cell phone numbers and direct numbers to our desks so that we can be reached when you need us. This includes cases for laser eye surgery and LASIK malpractice.

Medical malpractice and laser eye surgery and LASIK malpractice a complex area of the law, and you should immediately contact an attorney willing to provide detailed and thorough review of your case for you. Do not be fooled by the gimics of a quick check from a television ad; for a medical malpractice case, Advanced Bionics cochlear implant recall case, a Transvaginal Mesh case, or a laser eye surgery case, you need a serious attorney who will work seriously on your behalf.

Mr. Edwards and Mr. Wallis accept clients on a natiowide basis for the prescription drugs Wellbutrin (for Wellbutrin birth defects), Accutane (for IBD, IBS, Crohn’s disease, Ulcerative Colitis) Reglan (tardive dyskinesia), Avandia (heart attack, stroke), Levaquin (tendon rupture) Januvia (diabetes) and Yaz (strokes, blood clots, heart attacks).  Mr. Wallis and Mr. Edwards are representing clients internationally for the Advanced Bionics cochlear implant, and nationally on Gynecare prolift transvaginal mesh, tape, sling device.

For immediate help:

CALL: (901) 527-2125

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EMAIL: Tim or Ed by clicking here.

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You can read more HERE.

Free Case Evaluations:

If you have been injured during a LASIK procedure, or during laser eye surgery, call Tim Edwards or Ed Wallis today at (901) 527-4673, or send us an email by clicking HERE for a FREE CASE EVALUATION. You can also learn more about our LASIK practice section by clicking here.

If you believe you have been injured as a result of the negligence of a physician during LASIK, PRK or another form of eye surgery, visit our LASIK Malpractice page for more information by clicking HERE.

The law firm of Glassman, Edwards, Wade & Wyatt, and attorneys Tim Edwards and Ed Wallis, are providing free case evaluations about your injuries. We are currently representing persons injured by LASIK malpractice and stand ready to try and help you. Please call (901) 527-4673 and ask to speak to Tim Edwards or Ed Wallis today. You can also email us by clicking HERE.

The lawsuit is based on the recall issued by the US Food and Drug Administration on the defendants’ excimer surgical laser system, known as the LADAR6000 Excimer Laser ( the “LADAR6000″) due to reports that the LADAR6000′s CustomCornea Myopia and CustomCornea Myopia with Astigmatism algorithm procedures were causing Acentral islands@ in patients.

Plaintiffs allege the recall came too late for Plaintiff Jenna Reed. On September 22, 2006, Mrs. Reed’s doctor performed LASIK surgery on her, and programmed the LADAR6000 to perform CustomCornea Myopia with
Astigmatism on Jenna Reed. Ms. Reed has developed “central islands,” which are a laser created defect in her eyes caused by the laser’s uneven application of energy to her corneas. As a consequence of resultant
peaks and valleys in her corneas, Ms. Reed has allegedly been left with a permanent visual disability marked by problems with her vision, which include, without limitation, blurring, ghosting, double vision,
photosensitivity, poor night vision, and ocular headaches.

If you believe you have been injured because of defective equipment during your LASIK surgery, or believe you have been injured as a result of deceptive advertising to lure you into a LASIK clinic or medical malpractice by a LASIK physician, please contact Tim Edwards or Ed Wallis at (901) 527-4673, or send us an e-mail today by clicking HERE.

For more information on our practice as to LASIK injuries, click HERE.

LASIK: Injuries from the Procedure

Each year there are over 700,000 LASIK surgeries across the country. Of those, statistics show 5% of procedures result in complications. That’s 35,000 possible injuries every year in the United States alone. Common problems post-LASIK are:

• Blurry vision
• Warping or scarring of the cornea
• Dry or painful eyes
• Halo or starburst effects that interfere with clear vision or safe driving
• Sensitivity to light
• Loss of visual acuity, even with the best possible correction with eyeglasses

LASIK injuries can occur because of improper screening/testing, improper surgical techniques, lack of adequate equipment, improper use of equipment, inadequate post-surgery treatment and general negligence. Naturally, LASIK injuries can be quite devastating, resulting in blindness in some cases.

These problems can result from numerous causes. During a surgery, a physician may cut the cornea too shallow or too deep or may improperly use medical equipment and devices. Some injuries may result because of the failure of the physician to follow the “standard of care.” The standard of care differs by state, as for example in Tennessee, the “standard of care” is what a reasonable physician would have done in the same or a similar community.

LASIK problems, however, can also occur because the surgery should have never occurred in the first place. For example, some persons are not proper candidates. For example, some candidates have corneas that are too think to support the LASIK cutting. Others possess a feature known as keratoconus, which means a person has a cornea improperly shaped that will not support LASIK procedures.

LASIK: Unfair and Deceptive Advertising

Unlike some other forms of health care, LASIK is a cash business, meaning that those choosing to undergo LASIK have agreed to pay 100% of the cost to the provider. This has, in a sense, lead to the creation of large corporate LASIK providers, including the Laser Vision Institute (LVI) and The Laser Center (TLC). These, and other, corporations spare no expense at advertising to lure consumers into their clinics and to their surgeons. In a sense, this has resulted in the FDA imposing fines against some LASIK providers for false and deceptive advertising.

Despite fines and warnings, mass-LASIK advertising continues today, in print, on the Internet and on the radio around the globe.

LASIK: Damages

Some damages you may be entitled to include:

• Past medical and pharmacy bills
• Future medical and pharmacy bills
• Mental distress
• Permanent injury
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Pain and suffering
• Mental distress
• Loss of consortium
• Punitive damages in some instances

LASIK: Do I have a case?

If you have suffered complications following LASIK, you may be entitled to pursue a cause of action against physicians and/or the LASIK provider. Whether or not you are a candidate to pursue an action depends on whether there was a violation of the standard of care by the surgeon and/or the clinic. It may also depend on whether you relied upon false or deceptive advertising before going forward with your treatment.

The first step in determining if you have a possible case is to contact us. Both Tim Edwards and Ed Wallis have handled LASIK malpractice cases and are prepared to review the specific facts of your case today. Please call us today at (901) 527-4673 or SEND US AN E-MAIL today.

For More Information

Tim Edwards
Ed Wallis
Glassman, Edwards, Wade & Wyatt, P.C.
26 N. 2nd Street
Memphis, TN 38103
Telephone: (901) 527-4673
E-Mail: CLICK HERE

The authors practice in the Mid South and Metropolitan Memphis area, an area encompassing Western Tennessee, Eastern Arkansas and Northern Mississippi. Some cities covered in our wide range of practice include Memphis (TN), Cordova (TN), Bartlett (TN), Collerville (TN), Millington (TN), Covington (TN), Somerville (TN), Ripley (TN), Dyersburg (TN), Tiptonville (TN), Union City (TN), Dresden (TN), Humboldt (TN), Milan (TN), Trenton (TN), Alamo (TN), Brownsville (TN), Jackson (TN), Bolivar (TN), Henderson (TN), Lexington (TN), Selmer (TN), Savannah (TN), Parsons (TN), McKenzie (TN), Huntingdon (TN), Paris (TN), West Memphis (AR), Marion (AR), Southhaven (MS), Olive Branch (MS), Hernando (MS), Horn Lake (MS), and Senatobia (MS). This also includes the following counties: SHelby (TN), Tipton (TN), Lauderdale (TN), Dyer (TN_, Lake (TN), Obion (TN), Gibson (TN) Crockett (TN), Haywood (TN), Fayette (TN), Hardeman (TN), Madison (TN) Henderson (TN), Carroll (TN), HHenry (TN), Benton (TN), Chester (TN), Decatur (TN), McNairy (TN), Hardin (TN) Perry (TN), Tunica (MS), Desoto (MS), Tate (MS), Marshall (MS), Lafayette (MS), Crittendon (AR), Mississippi (AR), Poinsett (AR), Craighead (AR), Cross (AR), St. Francis (AR), Lee (AR), Phillips (AR). Even if you are outside of these areas, we may still be able to help, so please contact us today, as our attorneys are licensed in numerous state courts and federal courts, and can still assist in finding you an attorney to help you with your needs.

David Morill, with contributions by the AP, wrote at insidebayarea.com that:

Each year about 700,000 laser vision correction surgeries are performed, with the majority of them being the Lasik method. With Lasik, doctors peel back a flap in the cornea’s surface and zap the underlying layer to reshape the cornea and ease either nearsightedness or farsightedness.

While most of the patients procedures go well, about 5 percent of them have unsatisfactory results. And about 1 percent or less have serious consequences such as loss of vision. More common risks include dry eye and a halo effect.

…

Loyd Hunnell of Walnut Creek had one of the worst experiences.

In 2005, Hunnell was having trouble with his eyes and decided to get Lasik surgery performed. What started out as an attempt to try and correct a mono-vision issue turned out to be a “living nightmare”, he said. The procedure didn’t go as planned and over the course of several years the pain was unbearable. At one point he says that it felt like acid being poured directly onto his eyes.

Today, his issue is not nearly as bad as it once was, but it’s still not ideal.

“From minutes after I awaken until I close my eyes at night, I have stinging, burning, throbbing and ache, and sometimes foreign body sensations in my eyes,” he said. “I have amassed a huge box of medication bottles relating to the surgery I had and its disastrous aftermath.”

Hunnell, as well as credible eye doctors, advise the importance of doing thorough research and talking to several doctors before doing any kind of eye procedures.

Some worry that patients who don’t really need the corrections are being steered in a direction they don’t need to go.

“It’s critical that patients listen and understand what they’re being told, and that the doctor takes the time to explain issues that may come up properly,” Abbott said. “If people think about the possibility of it being a miracle, they might not listen to the idea that not every patient is ideal for this procedure.”

5% of an estimated 700,000 procedures is 35,000 expected complications each year from LASIK. If you have had negative results from LASIK, you may have been the victim of negligent and fraudulent care by doctors or LASIK providers. While some injuries occur naturally, others occur because of poor screening and mis-use of equipment. Send the authors an E-MAIL TODAY to discuss your specific situation.

As attorneys who handle LASIK litigation, this is a positive development. These massive money-machine corporations and negligent doctors must be held accountable for their negligence and deceptive marketing, advertising and care.

For more information on the settlement, you can read the Newsday article. If you live in Memphis, the Mid South, West Tennessee, or beyond and believe you have sustained injury as a result of improper LASIK surgery, or other refractive eye surgery, E-MAIL us today.