HOUSTON, June 18, 2007, /PRNewswire/ -- A federal appeals
court has affirmed a $2.1 million award against the Laser Vision
Institute (LVI), a Lake Worth, Fla.-based chain of Lasik laser
vision correction centers. LVI has operated under the Lasik Vision
Institute name and is known for aggressively advertising Lasik at
discounted rates.
In 2002 American Laser Vision entered into a professional service
agreement with LVI to provide board-certified ophthalmologists to
perform laser eye surgeries. Under the agreement LVI would perform
non-medical tasks. In 2003 American Laser Vision claimed LVI had
interfered with their surgeons' professional judgment and surgical
protocol by changing surgical supplies without notifying the doctors,
changing prescriptions without the doctors' permission or notification,
altering post-operative care requirements, and interfering with
sterile surgical techniques. American Laser Vision also claimed
LVI employees understated the chances that patients would need follow-up
surgery to address medical complications and used non-refundable
deposits as tools to coerce patients into buying the Lasik surgery.
In March and July 2003 the US Federal Trade Commission demanded
that LVI stop promising potential patients that Lasik would "eliminate
the need for glasses and contacts for life".
Arbitration in late 2004 found that LVI had breached its agreements
and granted American Laser Vision the $2.1 million award. A federal
district court later upheld the award and the Fifth Circuit affirmed
the decision.
