Eye-Surgery Chain Lasik Vision Closes 28 Offices in North America.
From: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News Date: April 4, 2001

By Luke Timmerman, The Seattle Times Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Apr. 4--Lasik Vision, a discount laser-eye-surgery chain based in Vancouver, B.C., has shut down its 28 North American offices, including one in Bellevue.
The abrupt shutdown leaves Lasik's patients looking for alternatives on post-operative care, and leaves many customers wondering whether they'll get refunds for treatment they never received.
The shutdown was announced last week by Icon Laser Eye Centers, a Toronto-based chain that acquired Lasik Vision in February. In a statement, Icon explained its management was discussing what to do with the "deteriorating financial situation" at its new subsidiary, and that it was temporarily suspending Lasik Vision's operations because it couldn't afford to pay its employees.
The statement gave no indication if or when the offices might reopen under a new company banner. An Icon spokesman declined comment.
The financially troubled Lasik Vision had been offering laser eye surgery for $1,000 for both eyes, and it required patients to pay the full cost of the procedure before being examined. Refunds were promised within 21 days if the surgery couldn't be performed for medical or other reasons.
At the time of the shutdown, Lasik Vision estimated it took such surgery deposits from about 2,000 patients nationwide who never got surgeries, according to a report in The Washington Post.
James Watson, a spokesman for Lasik Vision, told The Post that Lasik considers paying refunds to those patients "of paramount importance."
For patients who still want the surgery, the alternatives won't be cheap. The average rate for laser eye surgery in the United States is $2,400 to $4,000 for both eyes, depending on the amount of correction needed for the patient, said Kristina Bainter of Pacific Cataract & Laser Institute in Bellevue.
Bainter said most eye-surgery providers require same-day payments for surgery, not advance payments.
In a statement released yesterday, Icon Laser Eye Centers assured patients that its clinics will remain open to Lasik Vision customers. Icon said it "sympathizes with Lasik Vision patients affected by the operating interruption at Lasik Vision clinics" and that it will provide more information to patients later. Icon has no offices in Washington. The nearest is in Beaverton, Ore., according to the company's Web site.