$12K to Change Your Eye Color . . . and Possibly Screw Up Your Vision?

There is a growing number of people who are permanently changing their eye color through cosmetic surgery.  Many doctors say the surgery hasn’t been proven safe and warn it could cause lasting damage.

The procedure, known as keratopigmentation or corneal tattooing, is typically completed in about a half-hour-- and the effect is immediate.  Some people getting the procedure say they want to look better and feel more confident. Others did it to look more like family members. One young man changed one of his brown eyes blue to copy the mismatched eyes of his beloved Siberian husky.

Dr. Alexander Movshovich, who emigrated from Russia, is among a few U.S. doctors who offer the procedure. Movshovich, who operates his clinic in New York City, is the first doctor in the U.S. to offer keratopigmentation for nonmedical reasons. “People said I was crazy. But in Russia, they say if you’re not brave, you don’t drink Champagne,” he told the Wall Street Journal.   Movshovich treated about 15 keratopigmentation patients in the first year. This year, he is on track to treat some 400 people, he said. He charges $12,000 per surgery. It isn’t covered by insurance.

Keratopigmentation is irreversible. Movshovich invented a technique that can remove some pigment soon after surgery, but patients can’t return to their original eye color.  Lasers the Food and Drug Administration approved for vision-correction procedures are being used off-label to perform  keratopigmentation procedures. The pigments used by Movshovich haven’t been approved in the U.S. for use in the eyes. 

Doctors can use keratopigmentation to treat people with diseased or injured eyes.  But in the 2010's, doctors in Europe began experimenting with the procedure for cosmetic reasons. Many eye specialists say it is irresponsible for doctors to perform keratopigmentation on people with healthy eyes. The benefits might outweigh the risks for patients with diseased corneas, but there isn’t enough evidence to say the same for healthy people, critics say.

“I’m very surprised that these surgeons are doing this in the United States. They are taking a risk,” said Dr. Guillermo Amescua, an ophthalmology professor at the University of Miami.  The American Academy of Ophthalmology issued a warning in January that cosmetic keratopigmentation carried “serious risks for vision loss” and other complications including light sensitivity and bacterial or fungal infection. The safest way to lighten the appearance of eyes is with prescription contact lenses, the academy said.