

Her devastated colleagues at the WJBK news station, where she had worked since 2011, announced her death on Thursday morning. Starr, whose married name was Rose, left behind two young children and her husband of eight years, Daniel. On Thursday morning, her colleagues cried as they announced her death on the air. 'My feeling is that lasik surgery and other refractive surgical procedures exist solely to enrich doctors and the corporations that manufacture the laser equipment and not to benefit mankind.' In fact, there are several documented cases of post-lasik suicides. 'Two of these patients were so depressed by their post-surgical vision loss that they attempted suicide. Edward Boshnick of the Global Vision Rehabilitation Center who writes on his website: 'Over the years I've had the misfortune of examining hundreds of patients who have lost quality vision and suffered severe depression as a result of lasik surgery. Other doctors have specifically warned against the procedure.Īmong them is Dr. Paula Cofer, who underwent Lasik in 2000 and has suffered from severe dry eyes as a result, told CTV that at least nine others she knew of had committed suicide after having the procedure. He wrote a suicide note where he said he had been suffering excruciating pain for two decades years.

It remains unclear if Starr took her life as a direct result of complications from the surgery.įitzpatrick was unequivocally clear when he died. In October, Canadian father-of-two Paul Fitzpatrick killed himself and blamed 20 years of post-Lasik pain in his suicide note. PRK was approved by the FDA in 1995, then LASIK in 1996.Īn alarming number of Lasik patients suffer from agonizing, chronic pain following the surgery, according to Paula Cofer, the founder of a support group called Lasik Complications, which strives to educate potential patients about the risks of the surgery. This localizes the beam, making recovery quicker. Then the laser is beamed at it to better reshape the cornea. The technique involved making a surgical incision first to create a thin flap in the cornea. In 1991, two ophthalmologists Stephen Slade and Stephen Brint tried a new technique, devised and patented in 1989 by hall-of-famer retina specialist Dr Gholam Peyman. LASIK: adding a surgical slice to the laser for quicker recovery He contacted them to collaborate on the first medical paper showing a laser could sculpt the cornea to prevent refraction.Ģ. That same year he patented his technique as Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK). In 1987, they were still experimenting when ophthalmologist Stephen Trokel of Columbia University tried to use an excimer laser on a patient's eyes - and it worked. In 1981, after Thanksgiving dinner, they tried it on the turkey bones, and it did indeed produce a clear incision. Three IBM researchers decided to see if it could be used for other things.

Laser eye surgery came into being after IBM created a new excimer laser to use for manufacturing devices in the early 1980s. There are other forms of laser eye surgery (PRK and epi-LASIK), but LASIK accounted for 596,000 of the 604,000 laser eye surgeries in 2015.

It reshapes the cornea to allow light to be better focused onto retina for clearer vision. LASIK, an acronym for laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis, is the most commonly performed laser eye surgery to treat nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. On Friday, the Oakland County Medical Examiner confirmed her manner of death.Ī spokesman told Radar Online the coroner found a 'gruesome scene'. It is not yet known what time she was found, where she died or who found her. Ordinarily, patients take a few days to regain their sight but Starr complained on November 13, a month after her procedure, that she was still having trouble. She underwent the widely performed procedure in October to correct her nearsightedness so that she could stop wearing contact lenses. Questions remain over why she killed herself but her final public remarks were to tell fans that she was still struggling to recover from Lasik SMILE eye surgery. She was married with two young children and had a successful television career. Jessica Starr, 35, was found dead on Wednesday night.
#FOX 13 METEOROLOGIST TV#
Jessica Starr, 35, died on Wednesday by hanging herselfĪ beloved Fox TV meteorologist and mother-of-two who killed herself on Wednesday is one of 11 people to have taken their own life after undergoing Lasik eye surgery.
