Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing.
Doctors are raising concerns about a well-known surgical procedure after a police officer reportedly ended his life due to complications arising from it.
A police officer in Pennsylvania has died by suicide, with his family attributing the tragedy to side effects from a widely performed elective eye surgery.
The incident has prompted former patients and medical professionals to speak out regarding the surgery’s potential severe risks.
Ryan Kingerski, who was part of the Penn Hills Police Department, took a leave of absence in August of the previous year to undergo LASIK surgery.
Tragically, only five months later, in January, he took his life.
The 26-year-old reportedly experienced severe side effects from the surgery, including persistent headaches and double vision.
He also dealt with dark spots and ‘floaters,’ which are tiny spots appearing as streaks or unusual shapes in his field of vision, according to the New York Post.
His heartbroken parents, Tim and Stefanie Kingerski, shared with CBS News that their ‘witty’ and ‘charming’ son was filled with regret after the surgery, leaving behind a note expressing that he could no longer endure the pain.
Tim mentioned, “He left us a note that said, ‘I can’t take this anymore. LASIK took everything from me.’ That’s the note that we got left.”
Tim further stated to WTAE News, “It just … it ruined his life. Ruined it. Completely ruined his life in 12 seconds.”
He also quoted his son saying, “‘I’m paralyzed without being paralyzed,’ is what he would say.”
LASIK is a laser vision correction procedure, which stands for Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis, and involves reshaping the cornea.
The Mayo Clinic describes it as an alternative to using glasses or contact lenses by altering the dome-shaped clear tissue at the front of the eye.
The American Refractive Surgery Council claims the procedure is 95 to 99 percent safe, with serious complications occurring in less than one percent of cases.
While the Mayo Clinic acknowledges that side effects of LASIK are common, complications leading to vision loss are considered very rare.
Potential symptoms include dry eyes, glare, halos, double vision, ‘overcorrections’ where too much tissue is removed, astigmatism, ‘flap problems’, corneal ectasia, regression, and vision loss.
The FDA approved LASIK in 1999 for correcting refractive errors like nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hyperopia), and astigmatism.
Since its approval, over 10 million individuals in the U.S. have undergone the surgery.
According to Clinical Ophthalmology, a medical journal, between 700,000 to 800,000 people opt for it annually.
Numerous patients and survivors have voiced concerns over serious complications linked to the surgery, as documented by a LASIK Complications Support Group on Facebook.
The death of Ryan Kingerski also resonates with the case of Jessica Starr, a meteorologist from Detroit TV, who reportedly ended her life in 2018 following LASIK surgery.
The 35-year-old mother took her life two months after the procedure, leaving a 30-page suicide note and videos pointing to LASIK as the cause.
Her husband, Dan Rose, mentioned she was ‘completely normal’ and ‘very healthy’ before the surgery, with no indications of depression or other underlying issues, according to WJBK.
Another LASIK patient shared with the Post that she experienced suicidal thoughts for two years after a ‘disastrous’ procedure in 2000, suffering from ‘floaters, severe dry eyes, induced astigmatism, and severe night vision problems.’
Paula Cofer, from Tampa, Florida, claims she knows of at least 40 individuals who ended their lives due to pain and vision issues post-surgery.
She stated, “I really didn’t want to stick around at times, but I decided I would to get the word out about how dangerous this surgery can be.”
The 66-year-old further explained: “The LASIK lobby and the surgeons will tell you only one percent of patients have issues afterward. That’s not true. There are multiple studies that indicate otherwise.
“The percentage of those with poor outcomes are in the double digits, not one percent. And they know it.”
“If you understand Lasik and what it does to the eyes and cornea, you realize you can’t do it on a healthy eye and not expect complications,” Cofer claimed.
Abraham Rutner, an electrician from Brooklyn, criticized LASIK as ‘the biggest scam ever put on the American public’ after his surgery failed.
Describing his experience, the 43-year-old told The Post, “It’s like you have a layer of oil on top of your eye — it was so hazy and terrible.”
“I couldn’t work. I couldn’t drive. I felt like I was still a young man and I lost my life.”
Fortunately, both Rutner and Cofer underwent additional surgery to rectify the LASIK issues, involving a scleral lens that covers the damaged corneas.
Morris Waxler, a former FDA advisor involved in the initial approval of LASIK, has expressed regret over the decision and has been vocal about its potential dangers for the last 15 years.
Now 89, Waxler shared with the news outlet that he has been actively speaking against the surgery.
“People come in with healthy eyes and all they need is eyeglasses. But when surgeons cut the cornea they are removing nerves and leaving the corneas with odd shapes and some patients will have intractable pain,” he explained.
Waxler has petitioned the FDA to revoke its approval of LASIK, but without success.
“They cut nerves, then, in addition, they take out a divot, which removes all the support structure or muscle out of the support section and all of it,” he said regarding the procedure.
“Sometimes it grows back, sometimes it doesn’t grow back, sometimes it grows back poorly. For some people, it’s a bigger problem than others.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis or struggling, Mental Health America offers support. Call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org for chat support. You can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741.