CLOSE On average, there are more than 128 suicides per day in the United States, attempted by people with and without known mental health conditions. USA TODAY 
 
 Buy Photo Ultraviolet fluorescence (the blue light) is seen on the corneal tissue as it is vaporized (removed) by the laser as it reshapes the contour of the cornea based on predetermined measurements during Lasik eye surgery performed in 2008. (Photo: Patricia Beck, Detroit Free Press file photo)Buy Photo 
 
 A month before taking her own life on Dec. 12, Jessica Starr, the Fox 2 Detroit (WJBK-TV) meteorologist, shared that she was still struggling with complications such as dry eyes and blurred vision from her Lasik-type eye surgery in October. 
 
 "I do still need all the prayers and the well-wishes because it’s a hard go," Starr, 35, a mother of two young children, said in a video on her public Facebook page. 
 
 Fox 2 meteorologist Jessica Starr. (Photo: Fox 2 Detroit) 
 
 The role that those complications played in Starr's suicide — if any — remains unclear, but her comments spawned nationwide headlines after her death and new attention to potential dangers of the popular eyesight procedure that has been available since the 1990s and is widely perceived as safe. 
 
 News reports and websites such as Lasikcomplications.com have cited nearly a dozen instances of Lasik patients who were driven to suicide by the unbearable pain and vision impairments that followed their procedures. 
 
 The physical pain was often accompanied by the psychological regret of having opted for a roughly $4,000 elective procedure that, if only they had stuck with glasses or contacts, wouldn't have been needed. 
 
 More: Fox 2 Detroit meteorologist Jessica Starr takes her own life 
 
 More: Fans, viewers mourn after Fox 2 meteorologist Jessica Starr dies by suicide 
 
 Starr said in Facebook posts that she had undergone a newer Lasik-like surgery known as SMILE, or small incision lenticule extraction. That procedure uses a different laser and eye-reshaping technique. SMILE was approved in 2016 by the Food and Drug Administration and was performed last year for the first time in Michigan. 
 
 SMILE procedures are "fundamentally the same" as Lasik and both are very safe, according to eye surgeon Dr. John Vukich, chairman of the Refractive Surgery Clinical Committee for the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. 
 
 Buy Photo Close-up view of a Lasik eye surgery. (Photo: Hugh Grannum, Detroit Free Press file photo) 
 
 “Lasik is the most common elective surgical procedure in the world," said Vukich, who is based in Madison, Wisconsin, and has personally undergone Lasik. “It is a procedure that has enhanced the lives of many many people, but like in any surgery, there is never a zero risk." 
 
 A detailed New York Times story this year about the potential dangers of laser eye surgery highlighted the Lasik-related suicide of a 27-year-old military veteran as well as the sufferings of a Cleveland kindergarten teacher who needed a pain pump implanted in her abdomen for her constant eye pain and a Houston man who said he is "almost suicidal" because it feels like there is hot grease in his eyes 24/7. 
 
 Paula Cofer, who operates the Lasik complications website and runs a support group on Facebook for Lasik complications sufferers, told the Free Press in a phone interview Monday that since the first media reports of Starr's passing, her support group has been contacted by friends or relatives of four Lasik-related suicide victims. 
 
 "What they’re not telling you is there are complications to this surgery," said Cofer, 60, who lives near Tampa, and who has had severe complications from a 2000 Lasik surgery. “If you were to inform patients of everything I personally believe they should be informed of, nobody would have the surgery." 
 
 She said the worst possible side effects — albeit rare — can be incredibly painful and ruin people's lives. Some complications may only emerge years after surgery because structures in the eyes were permanently weakened by the laser resurfacing. 
 
 “The typical (complaints) are chronic dry eye, eye pain, horrible night vision — people just get depressed," said Cofer, adding, “and you’re dealing with a surgeon who is telling you, 'Oh, you’re a success. Your vision is now 20/20' " despite being in pain. 
 
 A study published last year that involved 574 participants and the FDA, the National Eye Institute and the Department of Defense found that less than 1 percent of the individuals reported difficulties performing their usual activities following Lasik surgery. 
 
 However, up to 46 percent of the participants who had no visual symptoms before surgery began having some visual symptom three months after surgery. And up to 28 percent of the participants who didn't have dry eyes before Lasik reported dry eye symptoms at three months post-surgery. 
 
 Still, more than 95 percent of all the participants were satisfied with their vision following Lasik. 
 
 Vukich, the eye surgeon, said that dry eyes is indeed a common side effect for some Lasik patients. However, those symptom almost always resolve after three months, he said. 
 
 Overall, significantly less than 1 percent of all Lasik patients will report bad experiences, he said. 
 
 Buy Photo A close-up view of a Lasik eye surgery. (Photo: Craig Porter, Detroit Free Press file photo) 
 
 “There have been 7,000 clinical studies published in peer-reviewed journals and the patient-reported satisfaction rate is 96 percent or greater," Vukich said. 
 
 He added, “Literally millions of people's lives are enhanced. It is so safe that when something does happen, it causes a lot of attention." 
 
 Contact JC Reindl: 313-222-6631 or jcreindl@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JCReindl. 
 
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 Local doctor says suicides linked to Lasik eye surgery is far from far-fetched (WPEC) 
 
 A mother and well-known TV personality is dead after committing suicide. 
 
 Speculation is swirling connecting the wife and mother of two’s suicide to Lasik eye surgery gone wrong. 
 
 Intelligent and full of personality is how co-workers describe 35-year-old meteorologist Jessica Starr. She committed suicide on Wednesday after complaining about her Lasik surgery for months. 
 
 “Eye pain is really something that catches your attention because it doesn’t allow you to go about your daily activities because it’s there all the time and it can be totally debilitating,” physician Kenneth Maller said. 
 
 Maller specializes in fixing botched Lasik surgeries, and his patients come in from around the world with a variety of vision problems. 
 
 “As a result, some of them are angry, some of them are frustrated, some of them seem depressed, some of them have really lost all hope,” he said. 
 
 Starr took her life one month after telling fans on Facebook that she was struggling so hard to recover from the surgery that she had to stop wearing contacts. 
 
 Maller says a decade ago, he treated Paul Fitzpatrick, a father of two from Canada. Maller was able to help Fitzpatrick’s vision, but not his pain. 
 
 “Which is heartbreaking. In the end, he wasn’t able to deal with the pain, so he committed suicide,” he said. 
 
 The support group "Lasik Complications" claims 11 people killed themselves over issues with the surgery. 
 
 Maller says people need to be aware of the risks associated with this surgery. 
 
 He says if you’ve had Lasik surgery and you’re experiencing pain and suffering, don’t give up hope. He says there are solutions, but the first thing you need to do is reach out to a specialist.
– While it hasn't yet been established whether the Lasik-type eye surgery a 35-year-old meteorologist had in October contributed to her Dec. 12 suicide, Jessica Starr's death is putting the surgery's rare complications into the spotlight. The Lasik SMILE surgery Starr had was approved by the FDA in 2016 and first practiced in Michigan a year later; it uses both a different laser and technique than Lasik, though an eye surgeon tells the Detroit Free-Press the two procedures are "fundamentally the same." Starr, who had been with Fox 2 Detroit since 2012, had said she was struggling with dry eye and vision issues a month after the surgery and tweeted in mid-November about it being a "struggle" and a "challenging time." The Free-Press cites a June New York Times article that featured people who had experienced complications, among them a 35-year-old who says the aftermath is like having "paper cuts in her eyes" and a 36-year-old who likens his pain to "hot grease in my eyes, 24-7." CBS 12 speaks with Florida's Dr. Kenneth Maller, who specializes in treating those who have suffered complications. Among his past patients: a Canadian named Paul Fitzpatrick. Maller was able to mend his vision issues but not the pain; Fitzpatrick ended up committing suicide. Starr leaves behind a husband and two children, 5-year-old son Noah and 3-year-old daughter Riley.