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Home > Archive > Lasik Eyes Surgery > November 2004 > A real TEST on Refractive Surgery Marketing Hype...
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A real TEST on Refractive Surgery Marketing Hype...
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| Wizkid 2004-11-01, 10:08 pm |
| I have just received, in the mail, several ads for R.K. Ghosheh, MD,
who practices in Mission Viejo, CA., under the name of Ophthalmology
Laser Center. The headline of the AD reads, "All-Laser High Definition
IntraLasik(TM)"...."may allow you to see better than with your glasses
or contacts!" This is a Board Certified Ophthalmologist who claims two
decades of experience and to have performed over 20,000 refractive
procedures. This is classic refractive surgery hype. Can you spot the
misleading statements buried in this ad?
Hopefully, those of you in Southern California are challenging Dr.
Ghosheh on what he means by "high definition" (High contrast? Not so
when he talks of Snellen acuity), two decades of experience (Did he do
RK too? Or is he including cataract surgery as others have?), and
"20,000 procedures" (what procedures...I suspect that it is not LASIK
although he implies that it is).
I invite others to post ads that they have seen and let's begin to
critique them. This would be a real service to those seeking
refractive surgery, to the integrity of ophthalmology, to healthcare,
and, in turn, to mankind. WK
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| In article <c11e3ecf.0411011732.46fa2501@posting.google.com>,
gospa68@aol.com (Wizkid) wrote:
> I have just received, in the mail, several ads for R.K. Ghosheh, MD,
> who practices in Mission Viejo, CA., under the name of Ophthalmology
> Laser Center. The headline of the AD reads, "All-Laser High Definition
> IntraLasik(TM)"...."may allow you to see better than with your glasses
> or contacts!" This is a Board Certified Ophthalmologist who claims two
> decades of experience and to have performed over 20,000 refractive
> procedures. This is classic refractive surgery hype. Can you spot the
> misleading statements buried in this ad?
I agree that it is hype and it does need to be dissected. For example,
"allow you to see better than with your glasses or contacts!" that is
true, as long as your glasses or contacts aren't fully correcting your
vision. My soft contacts weren't correcting my astigmatism, and my
glasses prescription was clearly wrong when the doctor in the LASIK
surgeon's office showed me what my eye sight would be like if corrected
to 20/15, which it is now after LASIK.
He may very well have two decades of experience as a Board Certified
Ophthalmologist (misleading because one might assume it means 2 decades
of LASIK experience, but obviously that couldn't be true). Same with
the number of procedures, which are most likely counted per eye, not per
operation.
I hate getting the cards fro TLC (where my doctor performed my LASIK)
because it tries to get me to promote LASIK at my place of work by
offering all sorts of employer/employee incentives. Don't even remember
what they are, because the card pisses me off and I throw it away
immediately.
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| Glenn - USAEyes.org 2004-11-01, 10:08 pm |
| Yet another reason to use our 50 Tough Questions For Your Doctor.
They help potential patients separate the wheat from the chaff.
Glenn Hagele
Executive Director
Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance
Email to glenn dot hagele at usaeyes dot org
http://www.USAEyes.org
http://www.ComplicatedEyes.org
I am not a doctor.
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| Ragnar Suomi 2004-11-02, 11:14 am |
| On Tue, 02 Nov 2004 01:46:32 GMT, RT <RTMD24@NOSPAMyahoo.com> wrote:
>In article <c11e3ecf.0411011732.46fa2501@posting.google.com>,
> gospa68@aol.com (Wizkid) wrote:
>
>
>I agree that it is hype and it does need to be dissected. For example,
>"allow you to see better than with your glasses or contacts!" that is
>true, as long as your glasses or contacts aren't fully correcting your
>vision. My soft contacts weren't correcting my astigmatism, and my
>glasses prescription was clearly wrong when the doctor in the LASIK
>surgeon's office showed me what my eye sight would be like if corrected
>to 20/15, which it is now after LASIK.
>
>He may very well have two decades of experience as a Board Certified
>Ophthalmologist (misleading because one might assume it means 2 decades
>of LASIK experience, but obviously that couldn't be true). Same with
>the number of procedures, which are most likely counted per eye, not per
>operation.
>
>I hate getting the cards fro TLC (where my doctor performed my LASIK)
>because it tries to get me to promote LASIK at my place of work by
>offering all sorts of employer/employee incentives. Don't even remember
>what they are, because the card pisses me off and I throw it away
>immediately.
I have never heard of an ophthalmologist who wasn't board certified.
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| Glenn - USAEyes.org 2004-11-02, 7:12 pm |
| They do exist, but are very rare indeed.
Glenn Hagele
Executive Director
Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance
Email to glenn dot hagele at usaeyes dot org
http://www.USAEyes.org
http://www.ComplicatedEyes.org
I am not a doctor.
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| I looked over that website you mention below. You are not wrong about
your perception.. but you are not right either. The problem with that
website is that it wasn't specific enough. Instead of saying "better
than with your glasses or contacts" it should have said "better than
with your glasses or SOFT contacts". They used the generic term of
"contacts" to imply soft contacts. The best possible vision in my
opinion is with RIGID contact lenses - if you can tolerate them. That
is because they also correct for things such as astigmatism. Soft
lenses - even toric ones - do a mediocre job of correcting
astigmatism. A rigid lens is like putting a bra on the cornea. A
soft lens merely lays on top of the cornea and doesn't change the
shape of the cornea.
On 1 Nov 2004 17:32:30 -0800, gospa68@aol.com (Wizkid) wrote:
>I have just received, in the mail, several ads for R.K. Ghosheh, MD,
>who practices in Mission Viejo, CA., under the name of Ophthalmology
>Laser Center. The headline of the AD reads, "All-Laser High Definition
>IntraLasik(TM)"...."may allow you to see better than with your glasses
>or contacts!" This is a Board Certified Ophthalmologist who claims two
>decades of experience and to have performed over 20,000 refractive
>procedures. This is classic refractive surgery hype. Can you spot the
>misleading statements buried in this ad?
>
>Hopefully, those of you in Southern California are challenging Dr.
>Ghosheh on what he means by "high definition" (High contrast? Not so
>when he talks of Snellen acuity), two decades of experience (Did he do
>RK too? Or is he including cataract surgery as others have?), and
>"20,000 procedures" (what procedures...I suspect that it is not LASIK
>although he implies that it is).
>
>I invite others to post ads that they have seen and let's begin to
>critique them. This would be a real service to those seeking
>refractive surgery, to the integrity of ophthalmology, to healthcare,
>and, in turn, to mankind. WK
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