Caring and competent Dr. for catarac surgery

I had a Staar toric iol put in my left eye april 25, 2011. My eye came out 20/60, which I believe is beyond what it shoud have been. What is the standard? Also I was told by 2 Drs that they wouldn't change the lens. So all this time is passing and any hope to change it is going. In addition, I am unsure of who to chose to do my right eye with an outcome closer to 20/20. The Dr."s I've seen have an attitude to accept whatever you end up with and if you don"t like how it turned out go to someone else to correct it. Do you know who I could see about both issues? Any ideas will be welcome. Also no Dr. wants to give me a copy of my file. Thanks, freeworld1941

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

First it is the "corrected" vision that is important after cataract surgery. So if your vision is 20/70 without glasses and 20/20 with glasses you've had a good result and you need to wear glasses.

Second when you have cataract surgery you get a new lens but not a new eye, like replacing one part of an older automobile. Thus the most important and common cause of reduced corrected vision after cataract surgery is other eye disease especially macular degeneration or glaucoma or diabetes. You need to know if you have any of these.

Third if the prolbem is the IOL the most common cause is opaque posterior capsule and that is cleared easily with yag laser capsulotomy.


4th you can demand your records. You may need to pay a copying fee and it may take a few days but you can definitely get them if you wish.

5th  You need to ask and answer questions 1 through 3.  

If you are not comfortable with the MDs you've seen find another near you at www.aao.org

JCH MD