Florida based sight center offers free eye care

July 1, 2010

Center for Sight, a Sarasota, Florida eye care center, recently teamed with Mission Cataract to provide Florida residents who needed eye surgery, but could not afford it, with the care they so desperately need.

The Bradenton Herald reported that the program helped patients like 59-year-old Monica Weidmann. Weidmann, who does not have health insurance, was suffering from worsening cataracts in both of her eyes before her ophthalmologist informed her about the opportunity to receive free treatment.

"I really couldn't do it any other way," Weidmann told the news source.

William L Soscia was one of two doctors who performed the surgeries and told the outlet that the procedure can cost between $600 and $800. Soscia estimates that he performs 500 and 1,000 cataract surgeries a year.

Cataracts cloud the eye's natural lenses and make it difficult to see. The source claims that they are most common in people over 60 but can also be caused by smoking or air pollution.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a 2006 study showed that 14.8 percent, or 48.3 million Americans were uninsured.