ABSTRACT
There are sufficient techniques available today and applicable to cornea and lens to offer a refractive, surgical solution for virtually any refractive problem. Patients inclined to investigate these possibilities should seek advice from those who practice a wide range of solutions, but not from clinics which only offer one modality of treatment. Investment in expensive lasers demands a pay-back, and the pressure to find patients for therapy by making exaggerated and therefore insupportable claims about the efficacy of treatment must be resisted. Refractive surgery is a real and important speciality which, by its nature, is generally practised in the private sector. This should not preclude an academic approach to the subject, so that knowledge, based upon accurate experience, can be passed on for the collective good.
