When the laser surgery devices were first approved by the Food and Drug Administration in late 1995, the vision-correction business looked promising. Analysts predicted as many as 1.4 million operations by 1998. Only one seventh that many operations were actually done last year. But they weren't. Yet with an estimated 350,000 laser procedures forecast to be performed in 1998, up 75 percent from 1997, major providers could move into the black this year.
Patients can choose either of two surgeries.
RK uses incisions done with a scalpel to reshape the cornea. Less invasive, PRK substitutes an excimer laser for a scalpel and burns off corneal tissue. The flap is then folded back into place, creating a newly shaped cornea. Fees, fees, fees. The Laser Center, a publicly traded company based in Mississauga, Ont.