Medical Malpractice

No amount or type of technology can make up for an inexperienced or inadequate doctor, so the most important consideration when contemplating laser vision correction surgery is the quality of the surgeon. The only way to determine the quality of the doctor, of course, is to do a thorough investigation.

The first thing to do is to check with the various accrediting groups, your state's medical board and the local office of the American Medical Association. Once you have established the doctor's standing, you need to ask some serious questions. Although there is certainly no exact number of questions to ask, and there are many possible ones, we have developed this list of ten tough questions you should ask your doctor about LASIK surgery.

Of course, for you to gauge the answers, you will have to be informed about the procedure, its history and technique, possible complications and even LASIK surgery cost. Following the questions there are some brief suggested answers, but your doctor may answer them somewhat differently. Therefore, you need to be educated enough about laser vision correction to assess the responses.

Use common sense and always request evidence of all claims concerning education, training, certification and patient outcomes. You should also assess the doctor's willingness to reply almost as much as the response itself. The doctor should offer to make arrangements for any requested test or examination that the doctor does not normally provide.

If you do not completely understand the questions or answers, then you are not ready to approach the physician. Use the DocShop.com resources and search out other resources until you are comfortable with the terminology and the procedure itself. Then present the doctor with some or all of the following questions, and keep good notes of the replies.

1. How long have you been performing this surgery? (Many experts recommend that this be at least three years.)

2. How many procedures have you performed total, and how many in the last year? (Look for about 500 and at least 150, respectively.)

3. How many procedures--of the exact type you will use for me, with the same equipment, to correct the same refractive error--have you performed? (At least 100.)

4. What percentage of your patients report unresolved complications six months after surgery? (The norm is under three percent, with less than .5 percent being serious complications.)

5. Have you had a successful surgery malpractice claim of greater than $30,000? (If "yes," get details.)

6. What is the worst surgery outcome of any patient and how did you handle it? (All doctors with sufficient surgical experience have had negative outcomes. You need to be comfortable that your doctor can handle problems effectively.)

7. Have you ever had hospital or surgical facility privileges, or your Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) certification, revoked, suspended or restricted? (Answer should be no.)

8. Have you ever been convicted of a crime, arrested for being under the influence or possessing any controlled substance, or treated for drug abuse or mental illness as an adult? (Generally speaking, the answer should be no, but you should discuss the circumstances and make up your own mind about potential doctors. A problem 20 years ago when a college student may not be germane today.)

9. Is the LASIK equipment you use specifically approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for laser vision correction? (If not, ask the doctor to explain why it is not FDA approved.)

10. What certification do you hold, if any, from the American Board of Ophthalmology, American Board of Eye Surgery and the Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance? (The best doctors are members of all three.)