LASIK marketing: honest claims, risks, guarantees and financing

LASIK is an elective procedure that patients research for a long time, usually pay for themselves, and decide on with their own eyes at stake. Advertising for it has a long history of bold promises: perfect vision, no more glasses, guaranteed results, low prices per eye. Many patients now arrive skeptical because of it.

That is an opening for a practice that markets plainly. This guide covers what the FDA tells patients about LASIK, the claims the FDA warns patients about, how FTC rules apply to claims and patient stories, and how to present price and financing. It does not cover clinical decisions about who is a candidate, which belong to the surgeon.

Start where the FDA starts: risks and limits

Patients who search for LASIK risks often land on the FDA’s consumer pages, so it helps to know what they say. The FDA’s risks page says most patients are very pleased with the results of refractive surgery, but that, like any other medical procedure, there are risks, and patients should understand the limitations and possible complications. It lists, among others:

• Some patients lose lines of vision on the vision chart that cannot be corrected with glasses, contact lenses or surgery.
• Some patients develop glare, halos or double vision that can seriously affect nighttime vision.
• Only a certain percent of patients achieve 20/20 vision without glasses or contacts, and some patients still need glasses or contacts after surgery.
• Some patients develop severe dry eye, which may be permanent.
• For some farsighted patients, results may diminish with age.

The FDA also tells patients to weigh the risks and benefits based on their own values and to try to avoid being influenced by friends who have had the procedure or doctors encouraging them to do so. Marketing that pushes patients toward a quick decision works against that advice.

Claims the FDA warns patients about

The same FDA page includes direct advice about advertising. It tells patients to be wary of eye centers that advertise 20/20 vision or your money back or package deals, and says there are never any guarantees in medicine. It also tells patients not to base their decision simply on cost and not to settle for the first eye center, doctor or procedure they investigate.

For a practice, that is a simple rule: if the FDA tells patients to be wary of a kind of ad, do not run that kind of ad. In particular, avoid:

• Promises of 20/20 vision, perfect vision or freedom from glasses.
• Guarantees of any visual result, including money back offers tied to results.
• Package deals that make the procedure sound like a commodity.
• Pressure tactics such as limited-time prices or a consultation that ends in a same-day sign up.
• Words like painless, risk-free or permanent.

FTC rules on claims

The FTC Health Products Compliance Guidance says claims about the health benefits or safety of health-related products and services require competent and reliable scientific evidence, and that advertisers are responsible for implied claims as well as express ones. An ad showing someone tossing away glasses implies a result as clearly as a headline would.

Comparisons need the same care. Claims that one laser, technique or surgeon is better or safer than another need support. The FDA itself notes that risks and benefits vary from procedure to procedure, from device to device and from surgeon to surgeon depending on their experience with a particular procedure. Describe your own technology and experience accurately rather than ranking yourself against others.

Guarantee and enhancement wording

Some practices offer free enhancements or retreatments for a period. That is a policy, not a promise of results, and it should be described as one. Under 16 CFR 239.3, terms such as satisfaction guarantee or money back guarantee should be used only if the full purchase price is refunded at the purchaser’s request, and any material limitations or conditions should be clearly disclosed.

If you offer an enhancement policy, say what it covers, for how long, and what conditions apply, such as follow-up visits, and note that additional treatment is not always possible. The FDA’s risks page says the same: patients may require additional treatment, but it may not be possible.

Patient stories and photos

Patient stories are powerful in LASIK marketing, and they carry the same rules as in any health ad. Under 16 CFR 255.2(b), an ad that relates one patient’s experience on a key point is likely to be read as showing what patients will generally achieve. Without substantiation that the experience is representative, the ad should clearly disclose the generally expected results. Given what the FDA says about who reaches 20/20 vision, a story about perfect vision is hard to present as typical.

Patient photos and stories held by a practice are protected health information, and 45 CFR 164.508 generally requires written authorization before using them in marketing. Our guide to patient testimonials and before-and-after photos covers both rules. Many practices do better showing the process: the evaluation, the technology, the surgeon and the follow-up schedule.

Price and financing

The FDA’s candidacy page lists cost as a consideration and notes that most medical insurance will not pay for refractive surgery. Patients will compare prices, and that is reasonable. The problem is advertised prices that do not match what most patients pay.

• If you advertise a price, say exactly what it includes and excludes, such as the evaluation, the procedure, follow-up visits and any enhancement policy.
• Do not advertise a starting price that applies only to a small group of patients without saying so clearly next to it.
• If you see self-pay patients, the federal good faith estimate rule may apply; see our guide to good faith estimates for self-pay patients.
• Financing offers carry their own disclosure rules; see our guide to advertising patient financing.

Cataract practices that offer upgraded lenses to Medicare patients face separate billing and notice rules. See our premium cataract lens marketing guide.

Candidacy: let the evaluation decide

The FDA’s page When is LASIK not for me? lists people who are probably not good candidates, including those whose prescription changed in the past year, people with certain diseases or medications that affect healing, people who take part in contact sports, and anyone under 18, noting that no lasers are approved for LASIK on persons under 18. It also lists other risk factors the doctor should screen for, such as large pupils and dry eyes.

Marketing should not imply that everyone qualifies. Say that candidacy is decided at an evaluation, and make the evaluation feel like a real medical assessment rather than a sales step. Some practices also explain alternatives they offer when LASIK is not the right fit.

What tends to work, inside the rules

1. An honest procedure page. What LASIK is, who may not be a candidate, the risks in plain words, recovery and follow-up, and a link to the FDA’s pages.
2. Surgeon information. Who performs the procedure, their training and how long they have done it, stated accurately.
3. Clear pricing scope. What a quote includes and how the evaluation works.
4. Search ads that invite an evaluation. Factual ads about the practice and the evaluation, not results. Our Google Ads for practices page explains how we keep ads and landing pages consistent.
5. Fast, calm answers. Prompt replies to inquiries, without pressure to book on the first call.

Sources

• FDA: What is LASIK?
• FDA: When is LASIK not for me?
• FDA: What are the risks and how can I find the right doctor for me?
• FTC: Health Products Compliance Guidance (December 2022)
• 16 CFR 255.2: Consumer endorsements
• 16 CFR 239.3: Satisfaction guarantees and similar representations in advertising
• 45 CFR 164.508: Uses and disclosures for which an authorization is required

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