Dr. Morris Waxler, who as a federal health official was instrumental in approving laser eye surgery as a quick fix to replace eyeglasses or contact lenses, and then reversed himself a decade later after concluding that the operation could actually impair a patient’s vision, died on Jan. 2 in a hospital in Madison, Wis. He was 88.

Patients who had undergone Lasik surgery soon began complaining about how their sight had been distorted by halos, dryness, glare and chronic pain. Dr. Waxler revisited the original data and found that what had been claimed as temporary and treatable side effects were, in fact, untreatable, permanent complications.

Although most studies note high levels of success after Lasik, Dr. Waxler said that “even if it’s two percent who are at risk for sight-threatening problems, that’s thousands of people being put at risk every year. What is an acceptable level of risk when you’re operating on healthy eyes?”