Why do you have to sign a waiver before having laser eye surgery?

07 Dec Why do you have to sign a waiver before having laser eye surgery?

No treatment can be considered “safe” if that means nothing could possibly go wrong. Patients considering having LASIK (or any elective surgery) need to understand as much as possible about the : 1) Benefits, 2) Risks, and 3)Alternatives. This is called “informed consent” in medico-legal terms. It is both a legal and ethical obligation.

Although there is always a document to be signed that describes these, the doctor needs to make sure you understand them to the best of your ability and/or desire. In many of the national commercial LASIK operations, informed consent is separated from the doctor’s ophthalmic/visual testing and evaluation. There may well be financial incentives for the persons giving informed consent also to “sell” the patient on it. If something goes wrong, the eye surgeon is held liable while the LASIK clinic denies any responsibility.

There is no excuse nowadays for prospective patients not to know the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly about LASIK. There are numerous on-line sources both professional and consumer-oriented. Most LASIK patients swear by it -but there are some who swear at it. Go read what they have to say.

Would you like to speak with someone at Woodhams about LASIK or one of our other procedures? Fill out the “contact us” box below and one of our patient care advocates will reach out to you or you can call us at 770-394-4000. You can also schedule an appointment online here.