Family of police officer who died by suicide after LASIK eye surgery files wrongful death lawsuit

The family of a Pennsylvania police officer who died by suicide after laser eye surgery has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

Ryan Kingerski, a 26-year-old officer with the Penn Hills Police Department outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was found dead in a wooded area off Old William Penn Highway in January 2025, just over five months after undergoing LASIK surgery, according to a lawsuit filed by his family.

The lawsuit, filed by Kingerski’s parents, Timothy and Stefanie Kingerski, claims he suffered from ‘severe and debilitating complications’ from the elective five-minute procedure, including excruciating pain, double vision and persistent headaches.

Kingerski’s parents claim in the lawsuit that their son was never fully informed of the risks of the procedure and that the effects led him to take his own life. 

‘He left us a note that said, “I can’t take this anymore. LASIK took everything from me,”‘ Tim Kingerski told KDKA-TV last year. ‘That’s the note that we got.’ 

The lawsuit, filed Monday, names LASIKPlus Pittsburgh, its parent company LCA-Vision and Dr Michael Rom, the ophthalmologist who performed the surgery in 2024. 

Rom’s biography on LASIKPlus’ website claims he has performed more than 35,000 LASIK procedures since 2006.  

Kingerski’s family is seeking unspecified damages under Pennsylvania’s wrongful death statute, which allows a personal representative of a deceased person’s estate to file a lawsuit to recover financial losses and emotional damages. 

Representatives for LASIKPlus and Rom could not be immediately reached by the Daily Mail for comment. LASIK.com posted a statement on May 29, 2025, in response to news reports of Kingerski’s death and his family linking it to LASIK. 

‘The news reports of Ryan Kingerski are devastating. A 26-year-old officer from Penn Hills, Pennsylvania, described by those who loved him as witty, charming, and full of life, is no longer here,’ the statement read. 

‘The emotional weight of these news reports have led some to imply that LASIK is inherently unsafe, that it “took everything” from Ryan. It’s a heartbreaking statement. But it is also a statement that fails to reflect both the broader reality of LASIK outcomes and the complexity of suicide causality itself.

‘What we need is balance, not fearmongering or blind defense. We need doctors and surgical centers to continue to take every patient’s concerns seriously, to continue to provide consistent follow-up, and to continue to ensure informed consent is not just a formality but a meaningful conversation. We also need compassion and nuance when tragedies like this occur. 

‘Suffering often craves an explanation. It’s human. But we must remember that sometimes the most painful truths are also the most complicated, and that no headline, no statistic, and no single story can explain the full depth of someone’s mental or physical suffering.’

LASIK surgery – which stands for Laser-Assisted in Situ Keratomileusis – is an outpatient surgery that permanently reshapes the eye’s cornea to correct vision issues such as nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism. 

Patients are given numbing drops rather than general anesthesia and can return home immediately after. 

LASIK typically costs $4,000 to $6,000, depending on the type of laser used and the severity of eye conditions being treated. 

About 600,000 to 800,000 LASIK surgeries are performed in the US each year. 

The procedure typically causes dry eyes, visual disturbances like spots or sensitivity to bright light, inflammation and possible infection, all of which tend to resolve within several weeks or months, according to health authorities.

However, experts warn patients with pre-existing eye conditions like dry eye and thin corneas, as well as autoimmune conditions, may experience more severe forms of these side effects.

The lawsuit claims that ‘at no time prior to the surgery did Dr Rom inform Mr Kingerski of the general or individualized risks of LASIK.’ The lawsuit also alleges that the surgery center ‘undertook a deceptive marketing scheme to lead consumers like Mr Kingerski to believe that LASIK was entirely safe and without consequences.’

According to the lawsuit, Kingerski had nearsightedness – also known as myopia – and thin eye tissue, which means more tissue often has to be removed during LASIK. 

The lawsuit alleges that Rom never examined Kingerski himself prior to the procedure and only met him minutes before starting surgery. 

Attorneys wrote that Kingerski was not given the informed consent paperwork until he had already paid for the procedure and had his eyes dilated. 

The surgery took place on August 14, 2024, and the lawsuit alleges that ‘almost immediately after surgery, Mr Kingerski began experiencing significant and painful complications.’

By August 19, according to the lawsuit, Kingerski ‘reported feeling like he could not function.’ He reported vision loss, dizziness, headaches, blurred vision, eye strain and nausea. By September 9, Rom had allegedly written a letter on Kingerski’s behalf seeking short-term disability benefits.

The lawsuit claims Kingerski began speaking out about his experience in online reviews and on social media in November 2024. 

The lawsuit also alleges by the time he sought a letter for long-term disability benefits in December, LASIKPlus and Rom had dropped him as a patient due to his online comments. 

According to the lawsuit, Kingerski’s mental and emotional health began suffering as his symptoms worsened, even though he ‘had no prior mental or behavioral health history.’  

‘The direct and proximate cause of Mr Kingerski’s suicide was LASIK and the associated complications he experienced with the procedure, all of which were the predictable consequence of his preoperative clinical picture,’ his family’s lawyers wrote in the lawsuit. 

If you or someone you know needs help, please call or text the confidential 24/7 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US on 988. There is also an online chat available at 988lifeline.org.