Welcome to LASIKDisaster.com

Thank you for visiting this website. LASIK, the touted "15-minute miracle" may be the worst decision of a patient's life, with disastrous consequences. Even patients with so-called "successful" outcomes may face devastating complications. Read the facts:

Top Ten Reasons Not to Have LASIK Surgery

Beware of Glenn Hagele
CRSQA / USAEyes.org
Fake Patient Advocate / Fake LASIK Expert

CRSQA (Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance) is a referral service for LASIK surgeons, operated by CYBERBULLY Glenn Hagele out of his home.  Despite its pretentious name, CRSQA is just a cynical marketing ploy and patient harassment organization that "certifies" refractive surgeons willing to fork over $7,000 in the first year and $5,000/year thereafter.  In exchange, Glenn Hagele provides these surgeons with a  bogus seal of approval on his USAEYES.org web site to promote their practices.  Don't be fooled by Glenn Hagele's advertising claims - CRSQA's quality "standards" are actually below industry standards. Glenn Hagele exhibits NARCISSISTIC behavior in his internet postings. Glenn Hagele is a SOCIOPATH who engages in harassent of patients who experience bad refractive surgery outcomes. Injured patients have reported Glenn Hagele to various local and federal law enforcement agencies. We believe patients should avoid surgeons affiliated with this patient harassment organization.

One patient's opinion about Glenn Hagele and CRSQA / USAEyes.org: What is CRSQA

Emails which expose Glenn Hagele for plotting the "demise" of injured patients: Emails

Glenn Hagele forwards altered document to ASCRS, scandal ensues: Link to story

Website exposing Glenn Hagele: LasikPimp

What do LASIK surgeons have to say?: Surgeons

Surgeons known to have been "certified" by CYBERBULLY, Glenn Hagele: Kerry Assil, Jay Bansal, Daniel Beers, Scott Behler, Robert Brems, Stephen Brint, Randy Burks, Andrew Caster, Benjamin Chang, Daniel Durrie, Ella Faktorovich, Raymond Gailitis, Robert Gladsden, Daniel Goldberg, Jack Holladay, Thierry Hufnagel, Joseph King, Kent Kirk, Robert Lin, James Loden, Robert Maloney, James McDonald, Michael Mockovak, Sanford Moretsky, Thomas Planchard, Philip Roholt, Cary Silverman, Swati Singh, Gregory Stainer, Steven Stetson, Mark Volpicelli, David Wallace, Robert Weisenthal, Marc Werner, Norman Zaffater. Source: Lasikfraud.com

The Cornea Never Heals...

LASIK surgeons fail to inform patients that the cornea is permanently weakened by LASIK. In April, 2007, researchers reported, "The LASIK flap once cut may contribute little to the mechanical stability of the cornea and probably never completely adheres to the underlying stromal bed..."  Read the source

Ronald E. Smith, MD: " 'I was in the middle of trephining a donor cornea, when it fell apart,' he said... Later, back at the eye bank, researchers examined the ruined cornea and determined that it had had LASIK."  Source

"Another aspect of LASIK surgery is that during this procedure, a corneal flap is made, which will create lifelong lamellar corneal potential space."
J Refract Surg. 2006 May;22(5):441-7. Galal et al.

Medical Studies Demonstrate Flap Never Heals

Complications Hidden From the Public

There is so much potential for profit in the LASIK industry that serious complications are being hidden from the public. Doctors have actually stated that they select patients carefully, and hope to be enjoying retirement before the long-term effects are discovered by the millions who've had their eyes sliced and lasered.
More About Marketing

We will expose the dark secrets of the LASIK industry in the hope that potential LASIK patients will at least have a chance to discover them before they consent to a medically-unnecessary, irreversible surgery on their only pair of eyes!

White Wall of Silence

In July, 1999, as a rising tide of litigation seemed to threaten the LASIK industry, Dr. Marguerite B. McDonald, then-Chief Medical Editor of EyeWorld, seemed to be calling for a white wall of silence: "We are only starting to ride the enormous growth curve of LASIK in this country. There will be more than enough surgeries for everyone to benefit if we keep our heads by sharing information openly and honestly and by resisting the temptation to criticize the work of our colleagues when we are offering a second opinion to a patient with a suboptimal result. Who was it who said, "When the tide comes in, all the boats in the harbor go up?"
More About Lawsuits

Ironically, Dr. Marguerite McDonald was one of the first high-profile refractive surgeons to "jump ship" when serious concerns about the safety of the procedure began to surface. Quote: “I haven’t done LASIK in three years now."  April, 2007

LASIK-Flap.com

Documenting the history of the refractive surgery industry, from the cover-ups and conflicts of interest to the kickbacks and the medical studies showing how LASIK damages healthy eyes. LASIK-Flap.com has an active patient bulletin board and informative research forums.

Posted on the bulletin board by patients:

"If my doctor simply would have held a gun to my back and demanded I give him $5000 (and not perform Lasik on me), I gladly would have complied and would have been thankful later the experience was behind me".

"Lasik not only ruined my eyes, it also ruined my life and that of my family... I never dreamed or imagined that it would blow up in my face and ruin my life".

"My lasik travesty then began in mid-2003, where, after a lengthy sales pitch and many lies, I was butchered."

Go to LASIK-Flap.com

An Inconvenient Truth - The LASIK Report

The LASIK Report is a comprehensive review of the medical literature on LASIK. The report concludes that LASIK is an inherently harmful procedure and should be abandoned. From the report:

"In 1998, when the first laser received FDA approval for LASIK, little was known about complications and long-term safety of the procedure.  Early clinical trials did not thoroughly examine adverse effects of LASIK.  Since that time, numerous medical studies have examined the risks of LASIK.  It is now widely reported in ophthalmic medical journals that complications such as dry eye and visual disturbances in low light are common, and that creation of the corneal flap permanently compromises tensile strength and biomechanical integrity of the cornea." 

Read The LASIK Report

Patient Satisfaction after LASIK

Most LASIK patients claim to be satisfied with their results. But is a "happy" patient a patient without side effects or complications?

A closer look at patient satisfaction after LASIK

Notable Quotes:

"Indeed, the long-term problems created by laser refractive surgery are not yet a major issue, but soon will be".
From: Refractive surgery: lessons to be learned. Clin Experiment Ophthalmol. 2005 Apr;33(2):115-6.Mantry S, Shah S.

Lee T. Nordan, MD: "It has taken us more than half of this decade to learn the risk factors associated with a LASIK flap."
Cataract & Refractive Surgery Today, May 2006

"Unfortunately, because of long term complications of LASIK, such as keratectasia, this procedure is used more cautiously."
Karimian et al, J Refract Surg. 2007 Mar;23(3):312-5.

Thomas R. Quackenbush, Vision Educator: "A primary tenet of orthodox medicine has been never to perform surgery on healthy tissue. It appears this tenet has now changed. Obviously, many people have better acuity soon after these surgeries--but what about the long-term consequences?" Source: Relearning to See

Arthur B. Epstein, O.D.: “... many of us in the contact lens community have spent untold hours trying to help patients who have had their lives literally destroyed by LASIK.”
Review of Optometry, November 2006

More quotes

The Cool Laser Beam Gently Sculpts Your Cornea..." or so the sales pitch goes.



An actual photo of a laser shot fired at a cornea. Looks more like a nuclear bomb, doesn't it? As it turns out, some people don't like the smell of burning flesh...

Read More


Breaking News 11/11/2007 - Expert says
LASIK is "waning in popularity"


At the 2007 American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting, a LASIK industry expert reported that LASIK is falling out of favor with refractive surgeons.
From the article: "LASIK is down to about 33% from a high of 53% back in 2001."
Read the Source

A Pain in the Eye that's Forever,
by Wendy Lyons Sunshine

From the Article: "When laser vision-correction surgery doesn't deliver the promised results, the impact can be profound. Ross is one of tens of thousands of patients whose lives have been turned upside down due to improper risk screening, malfunctioning machines, or shabby surgical techniques. Instead of the carefree new lifestyle these patients anticipated, they have received an involuntary lifetime admission ticket to their own personal laser light show. At best, they face glare, halos, starbursts, multiple images, or poor depth perception. At worst, they face chronic pain, corneal transplants -- even blindness in rare cases. For those already damaged, the road to rehabilitation is frustrating and slow, and sometimes the only good remedy is an entirely new pair of eyes. "

Happy LASIK patients are ecstatic, noted Dr. Arthur Epstein in the January 2002 issue of Review of Optometry. "But unsuccessful patients exist in a permanently altered waking nightmare from which there is presently no escape," he wrote. Epstein warned that LASIK is still experimental surgery, and in hindsight could ultimately prove to be a physician-induced health crisis. Despite voices of warning from Epstein and others, the money machine trudges onward.
Read Article

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