Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark - Is LASIK Safe? Eye Surgeon Reveals Hidden Risks | Dr. Cynthia MacKay, MD

Episode Date: June 17, 2025

LASIK seemed like a miracle—until it started ruining lives. Chronic pain, vision loss, even suicide… and the FDA stays silent 👁️Today, I’m joined by Dr. Cynthia MacKay, a Columbia eye surge...on whose colleague invented LASIK. She’s been warning people for years—and now she’s exposing the truth in her book The Unsightly Truth and doc Broken Eyes.I had LASIK 10 years ago… and after this convo, I’m not sure it went as well as I thought. 👀Thank you to our sponsors!GEVITI: Use code "ALEX" to get 20% off of your first purchaseHARVESTRIGHTCOZY EARTH: Use code "ALEX" for up to 40% OFFUTZY: Use code "ALEX" for 20% OFFCROWDHEALTH: Get started today for just $99/month for your first three months with code "CULTURE"COWBOY COLOSTRUM: Use code “ALEX” for 25% OFFOur Guest: Dr. Cynthia MacKay, MDDr. Cynthia's Website: WebsiteDr. Cynthia's Books: BooksDr. Cynthia’s YouTube: YouTubeDr. Cynthia’s X: XDr. Cynthia’s Reddit: RedditDr. Cynthia’s LinkedIn: LinkedInDr. Cynthia’s Favorite Book:Unsightly Truth: Laser Vision Correction🌿 Top Tip: Don't trust flashy advertising about medical procedures. Do your homework. Be a truth seeker.FOLLOW FOLLOW ALEX:Instagram |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@realalexclark⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@cultureapothecary⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@realalexclark⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@yoalexrapz⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠YouTube |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@RealAlexClark⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcast |⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠🌿 ⁠⁠⁠Culture Apothecary WEBSITE⁠⁠⁠🗞️ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠WEEKLY NEWSLETTER SIGNUP⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join the Cuteservatives Facebook group to connect with likeminded friends who love America and all things health and wellness!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join the CUTEservative Facebook Group!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to ‘Culture Apothecary’ on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. New episodes drop 6pm PST/ 9pm EST every Monday and Thursday.#LASIK #EyeSurgery #LASIKComplications #BrokenEyes #TheUnsightlyTruth #AlexClark #CultureApothecary #FDAExposed #ChronicEyePain #HealthFreedom

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 There is no person who has had LASIC who does not have complications. I am absolutely terrified that my eyes were damaged from LASIC surgery. The FDA is not taking care of the health of the public. They're not warning about the dangers of LASIC. What are the risk factors for somebody who's had LASIC? It started wear off and then they opt to go in again. Don't have repeat LASIC. Over 12 million people suffer from LASIC's devastating side effects.
Starting point is 00:00:57 30% face complications. 10% endure chronic eye pain and even multiple cases of people unaliving themselves have been linked to botched procedures. Yet the FDA stays silent. On this episode, I'm joined by Dr. Cynthia Mackay, a 40-year Columbia ophthalmologist and trailblazer whose colleague invented LASIC. And from the beginning, she has spoken out against it.
Starting point is 00:01:19 Today, she's exposing LASIC's dark truth. Her book, The Unsightly Truth and documentary Broken Eyes coming out in August this summer, Reveal Why the Surgery is Risking Your Vision and Why You Should Think Twice. This is also an extremely interesting interview for me to do because I got LASIC about 10 years ago. And now I'm not so sure it went off without a hitch as I'll get into. Watch this episode on the real Alex Clark YouTube or Culture Apothecary on Spotify, and please share this everywhere. It could save a life and save healthy eyes.
Starting point is 00:01:50 It would help the show a lot for you to pause right now and leave a five-star review sharing how this show has positively impacted your life. It takes 10 seconds. It's super easy on Apple or Spotify. Keep the discussion going in the cute service at Facebook group or follow me on Instagram at Real Alex Clark or the show at Culture Apothecary. Please welcome daughter, wife, mother, and renowned eye surgeon, Dr. Cynthia Mackay to Culture Apothecary. I am absolutely terrified that my eyes were damaged from LASIC surgery. what percentage of people who have had LASIC done are experiencing complications? 30% and they're late complications that can come on as long as 25 years later. I am 10 years post-op and I am just now experiencing I need to start wearing glasses again.
Starting point is 00:02:40 I am experiencing chronic dry eye and I thought, well, maybe this has to do with me having Hashimoto's an autoimmune disease because dryness, you know, all over the body that's part of it. But now I'm reading your book and I'm finding out that dry eye could be a LASIC complication. Well, people who have Hashimoto's disease and dry eye of any sort should not get Lasic. You should not have had LASIC. If you told them that's what you had. Well, I didn't know at the time. I was really young. I was in my early 20s. What did not happen was I was not given informed consent that this procedure, the effects really only last for a decade. Is that what you're finding is that normally the if it does go well, allegedly, that it starts to wear off after 10 years? Yes. After seven to eight years, 44% of people have lost the ability to see at distance.
Starting point is 00:03:36 It can go in the other way. You can become near-sighted. Their scar tissue, their flap complications. It's horrendous. Well, I was just told that I have some skin scales or, I'm a lot of, I don't know what that is. They saw my eyeball. They wanted to come back in to look at. And I'm like, is that a LASIC thing? Well, did you have flap? LASIC? Or did you have what's called PRK, where they don't do a flap? Do you know? See, I have no idea. I was so young. I didn't know. I didn't care. I just thought, oh, they know what they're doing. LASIC is perfectly safe. I didn't ask enough questions. Right. You didn't maybe Google LASIC complications to find out. I was like 22, 23 years old. the consent forms for LASIC are completely inadequate. At one point, the FDA was going to require that the LASIC surgeons give their customers an adequate consent form. That may have been about 10 years ago, but they never have. The FDA is not taking care of the health of the public. They're not warning about the dangers of LASIC. Now, see, this is so crazy. And this is what I want to
Starting point is 00:04:50 get into with you because you were an eye doctor in New York City for 40 years. Correct. And you had a colleague, close colleague, who is the guy who invented LASIC. Yes. And you said, wait a minute. You're looking at this science and you're saying, this is not adding up. This is an extremely dangerous procedure. The name of my colleague was Steve Trokel.
Starting point is 00:05:12 And I was working in the Eye Institute of Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center one day when Steve rushed into my room and he shoved a piece of paper in my hands. And it showed a human cornea with an exact rectangle sliced out of it. And he said, this is going to revolutionize ophthalmology. Steve was not a cornea specialist. His specialty was the orbit, the box around the eye. I thought that was the stupidest idea I've ever heard. Look, Cornea has the most nerve endings of any part of the body. And if you cut them, you're cutting through vital tissue. You know what it's like to get maybe a speck of dust in your eye or scratch your cornea. If you have LASIC, then both of your corneas are damaged and the pain
Starting point is 00:06:19 of the cut nerves is never going to go away. That's permanent. Your book says that 70% of LASIC patients still need glasses despite claims that it eliminates the need for distance glasses. So why is LASIC failing to deliver for so many? Because it's a bad idea to begin with. Because the cornea isn't a sheet of plastic. It's living tissue. And if you cut it, it's going to either regrow or change its form in some place. So it's inevitable that LASIC will eventually wear off. As a matter of fact, after seven to eight years, 44% of LASIC patients, according to a paper published, in December of 2024, have lost the ability to see a distance without glasses. I also have a stigmatism now.
Starting point is 00:07:23 Oh, dear. Is that a LASIC complication or just age? No, if you didn't have a stigmatism before your LASIC and you now have it, it's likely to have been caused by the LASIC itself. What are the statistics of how many people are suffering from botched LASIC in the United States? Well, about 20 million people have had LASIC in the United States, about 40 million worldwide. And if there's a 30% risk of permanent, untreatable complications, that would be 30% of 20, maybe about 7, 8 million people. So that's a significant number.
Starting point is 00:08:11 another problem is LASIC is a public health hazard because what you do is you shave off the central part of the cornea and the peripheral part is left unchanged. And when your pupil dilates at nighttime in dim light, you're going to have two different focuses. You're going to have the original. You're going to have the original focus out in the periphery, and then you're going to have the focus in the center, which is now going directly onto your retina. So everybody who's had LASIC has some problem in dim light. And we are now driving down roads, and people are coming at us who've had LASIC, and they're seeing, instead of one headlight, you know, two, three, five, 25 headlights. We are flying in planes where the pilots have had LASIC. Yikes. And they're looking at the runways and all the starburst and halos around the
Starting point is 00:09:27 lights. It's not safe. If you have had LASIC, you shouldn't drive, you shouldn't fly, you shouldn't operate. a train or a bus, if you are in dim light, you should restrict your driving to the day. So you want to feel bougie, but you're on a budget. I get it. But let me tell you, nothing feels more bougie than getting your blood drawn at home and having your own personal health team just to tap away. And you don't even have to be rich to do it. Jevity gives you next level care for just $129 a month. That includes home blood work with over 90 biomarkers tested, not the 20 or so your average doctor checks, a virtual consultation with a health expert, a completely custom health plan, and even your supplements and therapeutics delivered to your door. And here's
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Starting point is 00:11:42 What specific damage to the eye makes LASIC so risky for 30% of patients? Because inevitably, you're changing the shape of the cornea of the eye from a perfect dome to something that's closer to a mesa. You're shaving off material from the center part of the cornea. This means, first of all, you're going to heal. forming scar tissue, and then you're going to have the problem of a distorted cornea. You're going to have a cornea instead of like this, looks like this. When you heal and there's scar tissue, you lose something called contrast sensitivity, which is the ability to see subtle shades of gray, and that's in 100% of people.
Starting point is 00:12:37 So it's taking a healthy eye and making it sick. I spent 40 years as an eye surgeon taking sick eyes and making them healthy, making them see better. And these LASIC surgeons, the procedure, the LASIC procedure, takes a healthy eye and makes it into an unhealthy eye, an eye that's weaker because it's thinner, it's been thinned, and that has to happen no matter how the LASIC is done. And it doesn't see as well because of all the reasons that I've discussed, all the glare and halos at night. So these patients have to be warned, and they have to be given the statistics.
Starting point is 00:13:34 And I just want to say to you, Alex, I'm not making up any of this out of my head. This book, The Unsightly Truth of Laser Vision Correction, has 11 pages in the back of it, with 158 scientific peer-reviewed papers. and I am quoting from those papers. Everything I'm saying to you is fact as best can be determined scientifically. Here is the most shocking thing that you said. You said that there is no person who has had LASIC who does not have complications. Yes, that's right.
Starting point is 00:14:29 How can that be true? because there are, you know, tons of people I know that have had LASIC. They're like, I see great. Everything went fine. I have no complications. Well, very frequently, you'll talk to a patient who's had LASIC. And they'll say, oh, everything's fine. And then I'll say, are your eyes scratchy?
Starting point is 00:14:50 Do they burn? Are they uncomfortable? And they say, oh, yes, I have to put in drops. And I'll say to them, don't you have some problems when light gets dim, aren't you seeing glare, halos, dazzle, starbursts? And they'll say, yes, if they're tested, if you took a test of your contrast sensitivity, you wouldn't have good contrast sensitivity now. You weren't warned about any of this. And you didn't, weren't told, I would imagine that at least 10% of LASIC patients get a form of chronic nerve pain that never goes away.
Starting point is 00:15:39 That's why there have been so many after LASIC. How many people have ended their life due to LASIC complications? I know of 41 out of an 8,000 person LASIC complications. support group. That was started by Paula Koffer. She's one of the co-authors on this book. And of course, there could be people that have done that due to that reason, but people may not know or, you know, it may not be written down somewhere. We're sure there have been more. But these are people who've left a note, who have apologized to their families for what they're about to do. There was just a famous news anchor or something that because of her LASIC gone wrong that did this. Isn't that true? Yes. She was a weather person in Detroit, Jessica Starr. And she had it. She had a wonderful life. She was married to a great guy. She had two very young children. She had a job she loved. She was gorgeous. And she had LASIC. And she appeared.
Starting point is 00:16:55 on camera saying, look, guys, I'm really struggling. I want you to pray for me because it's very hard. I'm in a lot of pain and I can't see now. She committed two weeks before Christmas. Oh, my gosh. And she had two young children. No mother commits two weeks before her young children are looking forward to Christmas. She was in like severe pain. She felt the only way she could get rid of the pain was to get rid of herself. How do you explain complications showing up so much later than the surgery itself? Because the cornea is injured, but it may not start showing its injury right away. Because you've thinned the cornea down.
Starting point is 00:17:51 And the cornea isn't very thick to begin with. you've got a weaker cornea, and years afterwards, it can happen 25 years afterward. That cornea will start to bulge out from the normal pressure of your eye. It's just the constant pressure of normal fluid in the eye, but it's making the cornea isn't strong enough to withstand it. That's called ectasia. You can't treat it except with hard contact lenses. Ed Boschnik, who's an optometrist who's also a co-author of this book. His specialty is treating LASIC patients who can't see because of problems like ectasia or corneal irregularities or other problems.
Starting point is 00:18:50 He fits them with hard contact lenses. He can't cure them, but he can manage them. You report that LASIC patients face a 60 times higher risk of retinal detachment in cataracts. What does the evidence show? That's true. You've done your homework. There are two different kinds of LASIC. There's LASIC with a flap and there's LASIC without a flap.
Starting point is 00:19:16 LASIC without a flap or PRK, which stands for photorefractive keratectomy. That was the first one approved by the FDA. And what they do is they have to get in to the center part of the cornea to do their lasering, to vaporize the cornea with the eczema laser. And they just scrape off the epithelium of the cornea. That was very painful right away. If you didn't have pain right away, it's probably because you had flap LASIC. And what happens in flap Lasik is they take the eye, they squash it down like a pancake. Pressure inside the eye goes up to 70 times normal pressure, 70 times.
Starting point is 00:20:08 And then they cut a flap. They lay the flap aside. Then the eczema laser does its work. That's what happened to me. Papizing. I think you had a flap. Yep. Because it wasn't pain right away.
Starting point is 00:20:19 And it was, I remember, like, sitting in my bedroom closet. Because it was the darkest place I could be because any light made my eyes burn for just about 24 hours. And it was like gritty. It felt like I'd sand in my eyes. And so I think that's what it was. They said that I was the hardest, most difficult patient they'd ever had because anything near my eyeball freaks me out. And, you know, you're awake and you're seeing this stuff come at your eye. And they gave me, they had their whole staff holding me down.
Starting point is 00:20:46 And I was crying. And they gave me a giraffe stuffed animal. That's what happened to me. And they said it was the craziest patient story they've ever had. They said, nobody's reacted this way. And I had taken volume. Nothing worked. I was freaked out.
Starting point is 00:21:01 So when you squash down an eye and you increase the pressure to 70 times, it goes up from about oh, 10 to 20 millimeters of mercury to 70 millimeters of mercury, you're distorting the whole eye. You're stretching the retina, the back part of the eye that sees. and that's why the retinal detachment is more common. And you're also distorting the lens of the eye, the part of the eye that focuses when you're young, so you can see from far to near without reading glasses. And there's also probably other things that cause cataract, including the light of the laser itself.
Starting point is 00:21:47 But it's not a healthy eye now. It's been through trauma. Right. It's been squashed. It's been cut. And it's sick. So for people like me, now I'm not doing this ever again, obviously, but for somebody like me who's had LASIC and it's starting to wear off and they're thinking like, oh, well, maybe I need to do it again. What are the risk factors for somebody who's had LASIC?
Starting point is 00:22:10 It started to wear off and then they opt to go in again. Don't have repeat LASIC. That's the message I want to get out. loud and clear. Don't have LASIC to begin with, but don't have repeat LASIC. If you had flap LASIC and the flap was laid off and then put back on, there were no stitches put in that flap. It was attached to your eye just like a contact lens is attached to the eye and it can dislocate. if you raise that flap and laser again and the flap goes back, it's much more likely to dislocate.
Starting point is 00:22:59 You're more likely to have flap complications like cells coming in from the outside of the eye growing underneath the flap. That's what it is. They said you had cells growing in from? It's cells on my eyeball. I said scales. It's cells. Sales, right. Okay, well, we have a story in the book of a person who had that problem, and I just hope they don't keep growing. But whatever you do, don't have that flap raised because it's a second trauma to an eye that's already had trauma.
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Starting point is 00:25:48 The crowd has your back. And I know what you're thinking. Is this legit? Yes, I had Andy, the CEO, on this show. And trust me, he knows his stuff. Crowd Health is for people like us. Smart, savvy, not buying what big insurance is selling. Let Crowd Health help with your health care needs.
Starting point is 00:26:04 Get started today for just $99 per month for your first three months by using codeculture at join crowdhealth.com. That's code culture at join crowdhealth.com. Crowdhealth is not insurance. Learn more at join crowdhealth. That's join crowdhealth.com code culture. How do surgeons typically sell LASIC and what is wrong with the way they're doing it? Well, they sell it as if it is a completely risk-free procedure that will be a miracle and will make you see better.
Starting point is 00:26:40 LASIC doesn't make you see better. It always makes you see worse. You'll lose contrast sensitivity. You have trouble and dim light. So that's not true. And then the consent forms don't give you the percentages. If you knew you had a 75% chance of having an incurable, untreatable, forever dry eye, would you have wanted LASIC?
Starting point is 00:27:15 Hell now. If you were told there was a 10% chance of chronic neuropathic, pain, where the pain signals get running through the nerves and you can't get rid of it. Would you have had LASIC? Now, and these nerves aren't there for decoration. They're there because they're helping the eye be normal. They're helping the tear film. They're keeping the eye healthy.
Starting point is 00:27:44 You've cut off all these nerves. You have chronic information. 100% of LASIC patients have inflammation in the cornea, which is easily seen on scans. The inflammation never goes away. Why do LASIC clinics operate on both eyes at once? Because doesn't that amplify risks? Like, are they doing this because it's about profit over safety? The patients that I've seen in my office who have had LASIC are the most unhappy,
Starting point is 00:28:18 are the ones who've had LASIC in only one eye because then you're seeing out of your normal eye and then you're seeing out of the LASIC eye and the LASIC eye has this distorted division and blurs and dazzle and you're not really seeing well. I'd probably rather wear an eye patch. I mean, honestly.
Starting point is 00:28:47 Why do you have? Most ophthalmologists stay silent about LASIC's risks. What pressures are keeping them quiet? Well, many, many ophthalmologists feel exactly the way I do. They don't let their patients get LASIC. They haven't had LASIC. They don't let their family members have LASIC, but they won't speak out. and I had long conversations with two the most eminent cornea specialists who have made it their specialty to treat LASIC patients. And they see all day long these patients coming in with horrible pain, with disturbed vision. And I said to them, we're writing a book. would you like to make some kind of a statement? Would you like to say maybe LASIC complications aren't explained well enough? And they wouldn't speak out. I have two friends who I really respect. They're
Starting point is 00:30:03 both very good surgeons. One of them took a cataract out of my right eye. He doesn't do LASIC anymore. I asked him why he didn't do it. And he said, because if something goes wrong, there's nothing you can do about it. And another friend of mine is a highly respected cornea specialist. He was one of the first doctors in the United States to do LASIC. And he doesn't do it anymore. So why won't they talk? You will have to ask them, I don't know.
Starting point is 00:30:42 Was evidence and complications regarding LASIC hidden from the FDA in the approval process? Yes. The first person on the list of four people who wrote the LASIC book is Marse Waxler. And he was the chairman of the committee that approved LASIC. And he was the one that forced them to follow the patients for, a year. They wanted to just do immediate outcomes. They told him there's no problem. Some people have a little dryness. Some people have a little problem with starbursts. But it all goes away. After he retired from the FDA, he met Paula Koffer. And she started introducing him to LASIC wounded patients.
Starting point is 00:31:42 Starting with herself, Paula was a very successful banker. She's a really super smart woman. She's completely disabled now. When we went to testify before the FDA, when we walked out of the hotel, she couldn't see. I never forget her hand coming up and grabbing my arm because she couldn't see. When we got into the restaurant, which was dimly lit with candles, she couldn't read the menu. I had to read her the menu. I was cutting up her food.
Starting point is 00:32:18 Morris met her and she introduced him to other LASIC damaged patients. So were these people deliberately hidden from him when he was looking at stuff to approve it? He approved it on the basis of only a year's follow-up, and the surgeons had assured him that all the complications were, were temporary. But he, after he met Paula, he went back to the original data that the FDA had used to approve it.
Starting point is 00:32:55 And between one year, between the initial surgery and a year later, he found there was a very high risk of complications, 70% chance of fluctuating vision, dry eye, he realized he'd been hoodwinked. That's the word he used. And he went on to become an advocate against LASIC. You testified to the FDA in 2011 and 2018. Right. But they have done nothing. So my question is, is the $4 billion LASIC industry buying the FDA's silence? They're sure not doing anything. And if you get the FDA to act, you would be saving lives and saving eyes and doing the world a great service.
Starting point is 00:33:50 ASA, is that what the flap thing is? Advanced surface ablation. There are several newer techniques. There's smile, for example, where instead of taking the cornea and lasering it on the top with the laser, They laser the inside of the cornea, and they pull this stuff out of the cornea. Advanced surface ablation, smile, any of the other techniques, all cut the cornea. They have to cut the cornea because what they're doing is reshaping the cornea, which does 70% of the focusing of the eye.
Starting point is 00:34:38 to change the focus of the eye. You have to cut the cornea to reshape it. If you cut the cornea, you're making it weaker. You're cutting through corneal nerves. They'll be healing with scarring. None of these, quote unquote, advanced techniques. Get away from the fact that you're massacring the cornea. You can't change the focus of the cornea. without cutting into it. If you cut into it, you're going to harm it permanently forever. 12 million people suffering from complications from this. How does that compare to another routine surgery? People get like breast implants and having complications. Like how does the LASIC complications compared to other routine surgeries we see people get? Because the eye is what you are using to see,
Starting point is 00:35:37 see the world. And if you cut the corny of the eye and you ruin your vision, it's going to be more serious than if you have a breast implant and the nipple isn't in the center. It's the eye. The eye is an outpouching of the brain. One of the most search beauty questions right now, how do I get thicker hair and reduce bloating? And guess what? The answer might actually be the same thing, Cowboy Colostrum. I started taking Cowboy Colostrum for immunity during cold and flu season, but within a few weeks, my hair was noticeably fuller, shinier, that stubborn end-of-day bloat, gone. Turns out, colostrum is loaded with immunoglobulins and natural growth factors that help repair your gut lining, reduce inflammation, and boost hair and skin health
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Starting point is 00:37:08 begging for. Cowboyclostrum.com, code Alex. You ever stay in a hotel and think, okay, I would literally pay someone to ship this bed to my house. You know, same. I travel a lot. I've had nights where the sheets felt like silk-wrapped clouds. I've also had others where it felt like I was sleeping inside a cringly potato chip bag. So trust me when I say, do not underestimate the power of high-quality cooling ridiculously soft sheets. That's why I love cozy earth. Their bamboo sheets set made from 100% premium viscos from bamboo is the upgrade you need. These sheets breathe. They sleep several degrees cooler than the atmosphere and the air around you, which I need living in Arizona.
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Starting point is 00:38:05 They even give you a 100 night sleep trial and a 10-year warranty, so you literally cannot lose. Go to cozyearth.com, use code Alex for 40% off. That's cozyearth.com, code Alex for 40% off. Cozy Earth, a better year starts with better sleep. Are scientific journals suppressing studies on Lasix adverse effects? There is some evidence that that's so. What I do know is when I go back and look at the literature, most of the literature on Lasic complicated. comes from the British Journal of Ophthalmology, the French Journal of Ophthalmology.
Starting point is 00:38:45 There's more in Europe than in our U.S. journals. And in Europe, they have some studies going to treat LASIC. For example, LASIC pain can respond to the drug amatryptylene. And I know that because it's being used in Europe. And I had a LASIC patient coming in who was from the pain and off label. It hasn't been approved by the FDA yet because studies haven't been done because nobody wants to admit that it exists. I gave him amytriptylene a very low dose just myself. And his pain went to.
Starting point is 00:39:38 away. So is that what people need to be asking for who are suffering from LASIC pain? The LASIC surgeons aren't able to manage the complications. There are very fine doctors who are managing LASIC complications. One is Ed Boschnik, who's helping people to see. But they need to be studies. It would be simple. You just get, you know, 100 people with. with chronic lacy pain, you give half of them amatryptylene, you give half of them a placebo, and you see what happens to the pain. And with chronic neuropathic pain, you can actually show it on an MRI. There are characteristic changes in the MRI, in the brain.
Starting point is 00:40:30 So you can tell very simply if the drug has worked or if it hasn't worked, That's a very simple study that hasn't been done. What studies, what tests, what should the FDA be looking into in regards to LASIC and how allegedly safe and effective it really is? The studies have been done. They're in the book. There are 158 of these studies in the book, 11 pages worth. So the studies have been done. What the FDA has to do is not do more studies.
Starting point is 00:41:08 they've got to start getting the truth out. This is like a mass dilution. So it's like oxy cotton. Where they knew it was harming people, it took forever to get that label on there. Right. That's an excellent example. Another example would be concussions causing brain cancer.
Starting point is 00:41:28 Another example would be smoking. You know, everybody was smoking. They were smoking on airplanes. Doctors were smoking. now you can't even smoke in a rental car. The truth has penetrated, and the LASIC truth is going to penetrate thanks to people like you who are helping to get the truth out. If somebody is listening and they are suffering so severely from Botch LASIC and their eyes are ruined, what should they know? Is their hope?
Starting point is 00:41:59 Yes. We give in the book a list of doctors who specialize in treating. LASIC. And they should go to one of those doctors. There's a very good one in Boston. There's another in Miami. They're in different places around the country. They need to find help. Is there any nonprofit or organization they can reach out to for help and support? Yes. Paula Kofor, in addition to forming the LASIC complication support group on FACAX. has a vision advocacy group, which is a not-for-profit that will help people who don't have the money to get the treatment they need. We'll guide them to the right people and will help them if they can't afford to get the right treatment.
Starting point is 00:42:59 Can you look at the camera and just address the person who is thinking about getting lazy? Maybe they have the appointments scheduled, the surgeries on the books. What does that person need to know? Don't do LASIC. Wear your glasses, wear contact lenses. Don't do LASIC. You're messing with the most important part of your entire body, which is your vision. Don't risk your vision just for the cosmetic purpose of getting rid of things.
Starting point is 00:43:36 your glasses. I ask every guest this question. If you could offer one remedy to heal a sick culture and it could be physically, emotionally, or spiritually, what would your remedy be? To do your homework, don't take advertisements at their face value. There is something called Google that gives you answers. You can look it up in Google. Be a truth seeker. Try to find out the truth. And if you want the truth about LASIC, buy the book. Yes. So what is the name of your book again and where can they get it? It's called the unsightly truth of laser vision correction. LASIC makes healthy eyes sick. every cent of profits from this book goes to Paula Kofer's vision advocacy to help LASIC damaged patients.
Starting point is 00:44:41 We have made the e-book available for 99 cents on Amazon. Perfect. So people who don't have any money can get the book on Amazon practically free. And are you on social media or have a website? Absolutely. My website is I, Doc Mackay, E-Y-E-D-O-C-M-K-Kai. I am also on Reddit. I'm also on X.
Starting point is 00:45:15 And now, thanks to you, I'll be on YouTube. Oh, yay! That's right. Yeah, you can watch every episode of CulturePathcare on the Real Alex Clark YouTube channel. Thank you, Dr. Mackay, for your incredible activism. Thank you for risking, I can't even imagine, so many professional relationships and everything speaking out about what you speak out about. And just being there for these, you know, hundreds of
Starting point is 00:45:42 thousands of people, I'm sure millions maybe even that are suffering. So just incredible. I'm so happy to have you on the show. And I really help that this helps people. And we want to get the attention of the FDA. So, you know, really be blowing up this conversation on Instagram, on YouTube, on Reddit, on X, posting this interview and trying to get the FDA's attention that we really need to be addressing this while we have these four years in office to make America healthy again because our eyes are a very crucial part of having true health in America. So you would miss them if you didn't have them. Exactly, exactly.
Starting point is 00:46:16 Alex, thank you. You are brave and bold and outspoken and you're helping the cause, which is so important. Did you love Dr. Cynthia or what? Oh, what a crucial interview. This has just got to be, I think, one of the most important ones that I've gotten to do since podcasting with Turning Point in the last, I mean, four years now. So I hope that this is shared far and wide that it gives you some clarity if you have been experiencing things, but you weren't sure. Like, could this be from LASIC? Could it not?
Starting point is 00:46:53 I have been experiencing things. I mean, my team and everything, like, we've got my teleprompter on and it's like size 20 because I'm. I can't see crap when I don't have my glasses on. Sometimes I wear them. Sometimes I don't. I do fine with people sitting right in front of me, but distances definitely at night. It's not looking good for me. And I'm really freaked out by this, and I've never talked about it.
Starting point is 00:47:14 And I never considered that it could be permanent damage. So this is all very eye-opening, pun intended. Leave a five-star review and tell others why this is the most important show in the health and wellness category. We're on a mission to heal a sick culture twice a week with expert guests, just like Dr. Cynthia bringing their own unique remedy to do that. Mondays and Thursday 6 p.m. Pacific, 9 p.m. Eastern. Subscribe to Real Alex Clark on YouTube and follow me on Instagram at Real Alex Clark. I'm Alex and this is Culture Apothecary.

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