Who Wants A Good Lasik Doctor?

By Lesley Chew

Lasik is a surgical operation that is getting more and more popular. Even though lasik is an operation with a high success rate, there should be no doubt in your mind that you should be getting a good lasik doctor at all cost. You must realize that this is a serious procedure as any mistake made by the doctor may cost you your eyes and ultimately your life!

How To Find A Good Lasik Doctor?

Since it is so important to find a good lasik doctor, you must keep your eyes and ears peeled. One of the best way to find a good lasik doctor is to find out from people who has done lasik before. Ask your family and friends. Who else better than your family or friends who had done the procedure and can tell you where they went for the surgery and whether is the center good? This first-hand account by someone you know will definitely be more truthful and accurate compared to research done by yourself.

Of course, if you do not know anyone who had lasik procedure done before, the next best thing is to do your research by using the internet as your resource tool. You can easily locate thousands of lasik centers and doctors from all over the world with a click of a button. Besides, you can easily find reviews of centers and doctor by people who had their lasik done before in lasik related forums. However, you must be careful about any information that you can find online especially those in the forums. Always check with authority sites to make sure the information given is true and accurate.

In general, a good lasik doctor must have performed at least 500 lasik surgeries before and has a high success rate. Of course, the more lasik surgeries he has done before, the better. Besides, you have to double check to make sure the doctor and the center he belongs to, is fully qualified and legit. If possible, call up the center to find out more about the number of operations they have performed and the success rate. This way you can find out for yourself how the customer service is like. Then arrange an appointment to consult with the doctor.

Here are some basic questions that you can ask:
1. How long have they been doing lasik surgeries?
2. How many lasik surgeries has the doctor done?
3. What type machines the center are using for the surgeries?
4. What happen if the surgery is not successful?

Make sure that the lasik doctor explain the entire lasik procedure to you and also perform all the necessary tests to ensure that you are a suitable candidate. If the center just tells you that you can go for the surgery without any tests, run away quick! The result can be disastrous for someone who is not suitable to go for lasik.

If the lasik doctor can fulfill the above criteria, he or she is probably a good lasik doctor. However, the ultimate decision will boil down to how comfortable you are with this doctor.

Lesley's Guide To Lasik blog, is a website that shares articles, resources as well as her personal lasik surgery experience. Learn about what lasik surgery is about, what are the possible complications, after surgery care and more.

Is it Ethically Right to Sue for Accident Compensation?

By Carolyn Clayton

Is it ethically right to sue for compensation? Yes, I believe it is, as my son had to have his finger amputated because of an accident at his school. If we had not sued then the school may have done nothing to prevent an accident like this happening again and he would not have been compensated. This is my true story:

When my son was 10 he used to walk home from school across a large field. The school had a large 6ft high iron fence with spikes at the top which went all the way around. There was a gate at the back which was the shortest route to the estate we were living on. Unbeknown to me at the time the iron fence would swell up in the summer making the fence stiff and difficult to open. In the morning the children could manage to kick the gate and lean on it enough to open it, but at home time this was a different matter as they couldn’t physically pull the gate open. Often the children would give up and walk around the front of the school. On the day of the incident my son’s class were kept in late as someone was messing around. One of my sons’ friends was in a rush as his mother was strict about him coming home on time. They all headed for the gate at the back of the school. As usual the gate was stiff and they were having trouble opening it. Rather than use the other way out which would have cost them more time, my son decided to climb the fence with the idea of pushing it open from the other side (he had done this before apparently). As he was turning around at the top of the gate a teacher saw him and shouted for him to get down. This made my son jump which made him loose his grip and he started to fall; as he fell he tried to grab the top of the fence to stop his fall but the spikes ripped into his finger. His shoe was on the top of the fence and it was only by a miracle that he didn’t rip his foot of and it was only his finger.

The teachers then came out and saw his finger hanging off and immediately called an ambulance and myself. At the time I was using the internet with dial up which meant the school could not reach me. Not long after there were some urgent knocks on my door. I opened it to see three of my sons’ friends telling me that my son had had a bad accident and to call the school. I could tell it was serious by the look of their faces so I called the school immediately. They told me the ambulance was already there and should they keep it waiting till I got there. I suggested I would meet them at the hospital. I got to the hospital before my son and saw him being wheeled in. He showed me his finger and it is a sight I will never forget. His finger was hanging on by one or two veins, the bones and the inside of his hand were visible and there was blood everywhere. The rip went from the knuckle right down through the centre of his palm. He was so brave and calm I couldn’t believe it. His teacher looked worse than he did! The doctor said he had to go to an orthopaedic hospital which was an hour away. I could only go in the ambulance with him if I was alone. I had my youngest son in toe and my looser of an ex partner would not help by looking after his own son for a few hours. So I had to leave him in the ambulance by himself follow the ambulance in my own car.

On arrival of the orthopaedic hospital we sat waiting for a doctor; I was a total mess crying uncontrollably. My son was so brave and grown up I couldn’t understand how he could be so cool. After a while he started crying. I stupidly asked him why he was crying he replied “it’s because you care so much”. Bless him! He was only upset because I was upset! What a star!

That night he went into theatre and they tried to save his finger but the damage was too bad and they amputated his finger from just below the knuckle. When he woke the next day his hand was all bandaged. He didn’t believe it was gone as he thought he could feel it still. But a few weeks later he had the bandages removed and he could see for him self that he had lost his finger.

The day after the accident we were let out of hospital and I went straight home to get my video camera. I went back to the school and videoed the whole scene. The gate was opening with great ease which was stange and then as I filmed I could see the fence had been fixed. I then went to speak to the head. He was upset for me and basically said it was his fault as the incident happened on school premises and he didn’t realise the gate was stiff. I told him obviously I would be seeking compensation for him and he shrugged and said that obviously he would be against me on that but he could understand why I would be sueing.

Months later and a court appearance later we won the case, it was touch and go as the school didn’t admit liability. In end he was awarded £8000. We took 25% of the blame because ‘he should have known better’, although this was my solicitor bowing down, I would have fought for the lot, but it was a stressful time and I was glad it was over. Luckily the video footage was a very useful piece of evidence and was shown in court.

The money is still in a special account and he will be able to have it once he turns 18. He is a very sensible child and is planning on using it as a deposit on a house or university fees. As much as we would rather have his finger back it is nice to know he got compensated and got this bit of security in the bank.

I believe I had every right to sue for compensation as it was the schools fault as if the fence wasn’t stiff there would have been no need to climb the fence. Now gate is fixed there is a warning signpost about climbing the fence. Also my son is used as an example when warning the children about climbing over fences etc. We both suffered because of the accident and for me, winning the compensation was justice and it made me a lot happier. My son was happy too as £8,000 is a lot of money for a young child. I wanted at least £20,000 but maybe that was wishful thinking.

It was quite a stressful time and we were very nervous about going to court but I had the belief that this was not his fault and we should be compensated. The only regret I have is that now my son wants to join the army in the engineering department but because of his missing right index finger he will not pass the medical and get in. I don’t find this much of a problem as I wouldn’t want any of my children joining the army. But he does and is at times annoyed that we didn’t bring this up in the court. We were asked about his further plans and at the age of 10 he wasn’t thinking of joining the army so it was never mentioned.

So my advice to anyone thinking of suing for accident compensation is just do it! If the case goes to court it might be a bit stressful but it will be worth it in the long run. And remember to think ahead to any possible problems the person with the accident might have in the future. And get as much evidence yourself as soon as you can and speak to a solicitor at the earliest opportunity.

Accident claims for the UK market contact Accident Consult for your no obligation Accident Compensation services. This article is free to republish provided this resource box remains intact.

Old Tires

By Tara Pingle

In July 2006, twelve people were traveling from New Jersey to Florida in a 12-passenger van. A few months before the trip, the van’s owner had replaced a tire as part of a tire rotation. The tire was 13 years old but looked brand new. Sadly, on this fateful trip, the tire’s tread separated from its steel belt and allegedly caused the van to roll over, killing three of the passengers.

This case highlights a problem with aging spare tires of which consumers are largely unaware. Spare tires are rarely used, if at all, and may look new. But over time they deteriorate within from factors such as humidity, heat and light. In other words, tire strength and performance declines with age, which increases the likelihood of tread separation that can result in a tire blowout and rollover accident.

A Massachusetts consulting firm has documented 115 injuries and 85 traffic deaths due to old, full-sized spare tires since 1992 (smaller, temporary replacement tires do not seem to be as much of an issue since they are not usually driven at the same high speeds and longer distances). According to the same group, close to one hundred aged tire lawsuits have been filed since 1999. The lawsuits involve claims of 57 deaths and 62 serious injuries.

Some experts are calling for tires to have simple expiration dates as many other products have. They also recommend that tires should not be used after ten years and that distributors not sell them after being in storage for six years or more. In Europe, auto manufacturers warn consumers to replace their spare tires after six years.

US tire makers do encode the manufacture date on their tires, but these codes are difficult to interpret by the average consumer. For tires made before 2000, the last three digits in the code represent the week and the year. For example, 121 would indicate the twelfth week in 1991. For tires made in 2000 and after, the last four digits represent the week and the year. 0307, in other words, represents the third week in 2007.

Some tire makers have argued that the solution may not be as simple as putting an easy to read expiration date on tires. They point out that there are many variables that affect tire aging and that there is no evidence that they deteriorate in a predictable chronological timeline. They argue further that consumers will dismiss the stamping of expiration dates on tires as a ploy by tire makers to sell more of them.

Although the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued new tire performance standards in 2003, it did not include an aging test because of a disagreement by experts on how to conduct such a test. They hope to have a new proposal on tire aging in the future. Meanwhile, however, fatal rollover accidents caused by the invisible threat of tire aging continue to occur across the country.

Click here for more information on car accidents, tire blowouts, and SUV rollovers.