Cataracts

There are 600,000 cataract surgeries performed each year in the United States. Television and the print media have made the prospective cataract patient increasingly sophisticated regarding recent advances in the field including intra-ocular lenses and same-day surgery. Unfortunately, there is still a widespread misconception that cataracts can be removed using the “laser method.”

Actually, lasers cannot remove cataracts and have never been used for this purpose. Lasers are used to remove “secondary cataracts” that sometimes occur after the original cataract is removed. The original cataract must still be removed using conventional surgical techniques.

STEVE JACOBSON MD Sherman Oaks