What are the risks of laser eye surgery?
Around 100,000 people undergo corrective laser eye surgery in the UK alone every year. Most of these patients are happy with the results of laser eye surgery, however as with all surgical procedures there are associated risks. An investigation was recently carried out by the UK consumer magazine Health Which? that revealed any doctor can carry out laser eye surgery after only a few days training and without any specialist qualifications. Health Which? looked at clinics offering the the most widely used laser eye surgery procedure Lasik and found that the complication rates varied between surgeons and clinics. Some of the clinics highlighted a low risk of complications whilst others stated the risks were non-existent. According to the Royal College of Ophthalmologists complications occur in less than 5% of cases in laser eye surgery procedures carried out in the UK. The Health Which? report also states that both the Medical Defence Union (MDU) and the Medical Protection Society (medical
