Hello Everyone,

I am considering having the LASIK procedure in Seattle Washington. My opthamologist usually refers his patients to a Dr. Robert Ford at the Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute. Does anyone have any information about Dr. Ford or PCLI? Further, can anyone recommend a physician for this procedure in the Seattle area?

Dr. Steve Wilson is excellent. He was formerly the director of refractive surgery at the Cleveland Clinic and now is Chairman of Ophthalmology at the Univ. of Washington and specializes in refractive surgery.

>Hello Everyone,

>I am considering having the LASIK procedure
>in Seattle Washington. My opthamologist
>usually refers his patients to a
>Dr. Robert Ford at the
>Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute.
>Does anyone have any information about
>Dr. Ford or PCLI?
>Further, can anyone recommend a physician
>for this procedure in the Seattle
>area?

Hi Shawn,

I may be a bit biased due to the fact that I'm Dr. Ford's laser technician, but I can assure you that you will not find a more experienced LASIK surgeon in the Pacific Northwest. To date, Dr. Ford has performed approximately 10,000 LASIK proceedures over the past 3 years. His knowledge, skill, and innovation is truly remarkable. Visit our website at www.pcli.com if you have any questions. Our refractive surgery councelors will be happy to hear from you.

If you get your lasik done in Vancouver. Like Lasik Vision Canada. It will only cost $1000, you can have all your post ops in Bellevue included in the price(Lasik Vision USA). They use a more advanced laser than in the US. The surgeons have more procedures under their belt.

I'm gonna have to disagree with you Lance. Yes, it may be cheaper to go to Canada, but the old saying "ya get what ya pay for" certainly applies to LASIK. In order to give LASIK away they have to cut corners. Double or even Triple using blades are common practice at "bargain LASIK centers." A friend of mine went to Lasik Vision Canada in order to save a few bucks, (against my wishes of course). He started out with only two diopters of myopia in each eye, no astigmatism. Now he's overcorrected in both eyes, with .75 diopters astigmatism in one, and 1 diopter astigmatism in the other. He has double vision in both eyes and is very unhappy. I brought him in to our clinic and did a topography on him and both eyes looked like a mountain range. Not only that, his treatment was not properly centered. Obviously a very pathetic, sloppy surgery.

Yea, he saved a few bucks, but he's certainly paying for it now. I've seen and heard of other horror stories from patients who've come to our clinic to undo what they've done up there. I certainly wouldn't recommend them to anyone.

Rod, I'm just talking about the statistics. They have a much higher success rate than in the US. The Chiron laser and keratome is much more sophisticated than the outdated Visx. There are much less complications with corneal haze and cut flaps. They don't have to pay patent fees or managed health care fees. It just makes sense from every perspective unless your an American eye doctor thats forced to charge more and offer less.

Rod - I must completely disagree with almost all of your statements.

First you say: "Rod, I'm just talking about the statistics"

My answer - Show me the statistics. In fact - it has been the US surgeons that have been submitting their results to the FDA for approval. There are some excellent surgeons in Canada who carefully analyze their data and report it. But seriously - don't bring out the word statistics unless you have some to show

#2. "The Chiron laser and keratome is much more sophisticated than the outdated Visx."

This statement is completely false. First, many of the international surgeons are using the outdated Chiron laser which they are no longer selling. This machine was approved in the US recently, but Chiron isn't even planning to sell any in the US because it is an outdated machine. Chiron is waiting for their new machine to become FDA approved, which is closer to the VISX.
As for being outdated - the VISX platform continues to provide fantastic results. It has had many updates in its software that continue to make it the dominant laser in the world as far as total number of procedures. You mentioned statistics earlier - so please try to show a study that shows that the Chiron laser has better results -I don't believe you will.

Your third statement: "There are much less complications with corneal haze and cut flaps"

As I hope you know - haze is an occasional finding after PRK, but not after LASIK. All of the machines that make flaps are available in both the US and Canada. The current popular flap makers such as the Hansatome and Moria provide excellent flaps. So this equipment does not differ

"They don't have to pay patent fees or managed health care fees."

There are no managed health care fees for LASIK. In the US we do have to pay royalty fees for most lasers. This certainly adds to the cost

You finish with saying: "It just makes sense from every perspective unless your an American eye doctor thats forced to charge more and offer less".

I have to completely disagree with your last statement. I am very proud of the fantastic surgery that I can provide to my patients. I certainly feel that I give 100% in every area, including seeing my patients before and after surgery. If you travel to Canada for LASIK, unless you move there permanently, you will have to be followed by a different doctor that did your surgery. If you need an enhancement or have any complication, then you will have to travel back and forth.

I will be happy to address any further questions you may have

Bill Trattler, MD
Miami, FL

I could not agree more with Dr. Trattler. Excellent objective statement of the facts.

I also totally agree with Dr. Trattler. The is no place like the US when it comes to quality control.
Since none of us are likely to lose any patients to Canada based on geography, you should consider our comments as reasonably objective advice.
Good Luck, Dean Hu

Dr. Trattler,

I couldn't agree with you more, except for one thing. You were addressing Lance, not me. Minor mistake though.

Because of our geographic location, we do compete with Canadian surgeons, or should I say, they feel like they are competing with us. Our numbers are higher than they've ever been, and they are still going up. I believe that is due to the fact that we offer a superior product, and have a reputation that is upheld every time a patient walks in and out of our door. Since we don't advertise, if our quality dropped, so would our patient flow.

I've been reading this message board for a couple weeks now, and from what I've seen, every surgeon who takes the time to post here seems to have the same desire and ability to put each patients needs first, and their profit margin second. These surgeons seem very concerned with the well being of each person who asks even the simplest questions. My hat's off to each of them. If I ever decide to make a move to a different part of the country, I may be knocking on their door looking for a job.

Now lets talk statistics. I can only speak for our own stats, so I'm not going to try to represent surgeons in any other part of the country. We just updated our statistics yesterday, and without listing a 15 page report here, I'm going to pull out a couple stats in particular. 75% of all our LASIK patients since July of 1998 see 20/20 or better without enhancement. 99% see 20/20 or better with one enhancement, and 99.99% see 20/40 or better with one enhancement. That's doing a range from +5.0 to -15.0 sphere, and up to -6.0 cyl. Show me one center in Canada who honostly has those success rates.

Now the question always comes up, "Well what kind of laser are you using?". I always respond, what does it matter as long as the results are excellent? When people see 20/20 they are happy. And when there referring optomitrist sees post-op results that are clean, without complication, and their patients topography looks perfect and optically clear, then that O.D. will send you more patients.

I'm sure each surgeon on this message board has their own personal in-surgery secrets that they feel gives them an advantage over their competitors. We certainly have ours. What it comes down to is that the standards here in the U.S. are much higher than some "blue light special, LASIK for nothing" clinic in Canada. Don't get me wrong, there are some excellent surgeons in Canada who take alot of pride in their results, but I've two different video tapes of LASIK surgeries in Canada that I'd be ashamed of if I was either of those two surgeons.

Cudos to all the MD's on this board! You do a fine service by taking the time to answer these patients questions.