Advertised as a surgery and vacation rolled into one, a relatively new eye color change surgical procedure has been denounced by a U.S. opthamologist and has initiated a rash of testimonials on YouTube, warning others not to go to Panama to have the procedure performed.
One of the testimonials is from a young man who is featured on Dr. Delary Alberto Kahn's Web site showing off his new eye color. "Javis3059" of Greenville, South Carolina complains on his You Tube video testimonial about having to spend $75 every 17 days to buy eye drops. He says he is afraid of going blind after a friend who alleges she had the procedure and is now experiencing serious complications. Another testimonial shows photos of damage the disk allegedly caused to a young woman's eye.
The procedure is stirring debate among doctors and people who want to surgically change the color of their eyes. The procedure has been discussed on television and on Internet discussion boards--for and against. The procedure involves an eye implant that can change the appearance of the iris. Colored contact lens wearers would no longer use lenses.
The surgery's original intent is to help people with congenital defects of the eye, according to Dr. Kahn's Web site but can be used by "anyone suitable for the procedure who wants to change his eye color." A colored disk is inserted in the iris in hazel, blue or green. It can also be removed if the patient changes his or her mind later, the Web site said.
Inventor of the Procedure
Creator of the disk, Dr. Kahn, an Ophthalmic surgeon, has worked in recognized research centers in Stanford, California and Munich, Germany, according to his Web site. Since1993 he has been an ophthalmic Surgeon at Centro Medico Paitilla and Consultorios Royal Center in Panama City.The Web site said Dr.Kahn has for the past 15 years, been involved in ocular microsurgery, specially in the areas of cataracts, implants, cornea, glaucoma, ocular albinism and ophthalmic lasers in its different modalities.
According to the U.S. Patent Office, he received a patent for the eye color changing procedure in April 2006. It expires in January 2023. An independent sales agent is listed for New York but not much else connecting it to the United States. Dr. Kahn was not immediately available for comment on the allegations about his product. but his Web site is filled with positive testimonies from people located domestically and internationally.
Procedure Denounced
Ophthalmologist Dr. Kerry Assil, who appears regularly on many major television network news programs as a pioneer in refractive surgery, is opposed to the procedure, and feels the risks far outweigh the rewards. He appeared on the television show, "The Doctors" this month to speak on the safety of the procedure.
“Risks include "blindness, for starters. The shape of this product, the size of this product, the location that it’s placed in will eventually lead to cataracts, loss of the cornea, inflammation inside the eye and a severe form of glaucoma that will result in irreversible blindness," he said, according to a written synopsis of the show found on "The Doctors" Web site.
Doctors Question Safety
Found on the Pubmed.gov search engine was an abstract about the procedure explaining why the implants had to be removed from two patients.
Published June 2009 by the Department of Ophthalmology and Einhorn Clinical Research Center, New York and Eye and Ear Infirmary, in New York, there were serious post operative complications and markedly elevated eye pressure reported with the cosmetic procedure.
"We report an interventional case series of two patients who suffered multiple complications after (the) implantation carried out in Panama."
The abstract went on to report that both patients presented with cornea cell loss, eye inflammation, pigment dispersion and elevated eye pressure. There were irregularities in the position and configuration of the implants in the eye. One patient had a pool of blood in the eye after the operation.
Both patients required the removal of the colored disks. Doctors concluded that "implantation of the cosmetic implant can lead to serious complications" including blood in the eye, uncontrolled eye pressure, severe endothelial cell loss (inside the cornea), inflammation of the eye that can lead to blindness. The study said the damage would be irreversible until an explanation on how to fix it was provided.
There has been no information on if civil action against Dr. Kahn is pending or if any U.S. Attorneys General Offices within the United States have been contacted with complaints.
Tips
- Always research first before undergoing a cosmetic procedure
- Get as many professional opinions as possible
- Contact the Food and Drug Administration for questions about safety
- Try to wait until improvements to the cosmetic procedure have taken place
Leslie McCloud - Biography on Leslie Jones McCloud, author of Eighteen Months and Short Stories, Real Life. Leslie Jones McCloud has been reporting news ...
