Lasik Company Settles Ad Suit
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
SPRINGFIELD (CNS)- A Florida company's advertisements for corrective eye surgery will have to clearly state the range of possible prices under terms of an agreement between Lasik Vision Institute LLC and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
The settlement, or consent decree, does not constitute an admission of guilt by Lasik Vision Institute. The agreement was filed Monday in Sangamon County Circuit Court.
Madigan had filed a lawsuit against the Lake Worth, Fla.-based company a week earlier. The suit alleged the company violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act and the Illinois Administrative Rules on Retail Advertising.
The lawsuit also said that between June 2003 and June 2004, LVI advertised surgeries for "as low as $299" in various Illinois newspapers, including the State Journal-Register, the Peoria Journal Star, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Rockford Register Star. Advertisements that ran after June 2004 promoted "Lasik $499 per eye."
In the suit, Madigan alleged that the ads failed to adequately disclose the limitations on the advertised price. The ads also failed to specify the range of prices on surgeries and the conditions for each surgery, according to the lawsuit.
Because of the ads' shortcomings, many consumers wound up paying more than the advertised price for eye surgery, Madigan said.
"Patients considering a surgical procedure should never be swayed by deceptive advertisements or false promises," Madigan said in a news release Monday. "This settlement will provide that Lasik's future advertisements reflect the actual cost of procedures."
Matthew Zifrony, LVI's general counsel, called the agreement a "very amicable" resolution to the lawsuit.
"It wasn't a fight in any way," said Zifrony.
If the company's ads violated any Illinois laws or rules, it was unintentional, he added.
LVI also agreed to make a voluntary contribution of $17,500 to the attorney general's fund for consumer enforcement and education.