The ever-growing number of baby boomers, coupled with the number of people who simply want to be free of their glasses or contacts, has made Lasik surgery one of the most common procedures in the United States. However, this has also increased competition between medical centers that perform these surgeries, centers that are increasingly hungry for the Lasik patient's dollar.

Because of this, advertising for Lasik has increased significantly in the past decade, and centers are adopting aggressive marketing strategies to attract potential patients. For this reason, if one is considering refractive surgery, it's important to know how to detect false advertisements for Lasik surgery.

Using claims of perfect outcomes, wording such as "20/20 vision or your money back," or the use of celebrity and patient testimonials are not necessarily deceptive, but they should be noted as your first line of defense against false advertising. In other words, some doctors or centers can justifiably use patient testimonials or positive wording on their ads, but one should be aware that often this is a gimmick used to get people to investigate further, thus opening themselves up to deceptive practices or charging beyond what is advertised.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, an advertisement is deceptive if it "it contains a material representation or omission of fact that is likely to mislead consumers acting reasonably under the circumstances." Here are some items to watch out for when filtering through advertisements when looking for a surgeon who can perform Lasik:

Beware Claims of 100 Percent Effectiveness

Claims such as "toss away your glasses" and "see naturally with Lasik surgery" might be misleading because a lot of data shows that refractive surgery patients often need contact lenses and glasses at some point after their procedure, whether it's to fully correct remaining nearsightedness or address "aging eye," which cannot yet be correct by this surgery. Read the fine print. The ad should also inform about actual success rates, or mention where to get a hold of these actually success rates, along with the potential risks, side effects and complications, including that the patient may at some point in time need reading glasses or some kind of supplementary lens.

Beware Claims of 100 Percent Safety

Any advertisement that touts refractive surgery a safe alternative to glasses or lenses should raise deception concerns, and the ad should back up its claim with scientific and medical data, which, again, tells of the potential risks, side effects and complications. Additionally, the ads should not reference the procedure as "not involving knives" or similar statements without qualification, as it does not fully disclose the invasive nature of the laser form of the procedure.

Watch Out For Free Consultations, And Money-Back Guarantees!

In many states, the cases have been brought against eye surgeons and medical centers who advertise for free consultations, but then after an initial meeting tell the patient they need to pay a deposit before they are told all the risks associated with refractive surgery, or before they are told whether or not they are eligible candidates for the Lasik procedure. In these cases, the money was not refunded because the patient opted not to have the surgery at that particular center, or at all. Again, one must read the fine print, and beware advertisements which claim free consultations and money-back guarantees.

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