Pirated software miscalculates IOL power

Santa Monica, CA-Four doctors are urging ophthalmologists not to download free software supposedly available on a Russian Web site that purports to calculate IOL power using their formulas.

The physicians-Wolfgang Haigis, PhD, of Wurzburg, Germany; Kenneth J. Hoffer, MD, of Santa Monica, CA; Jack Holladay, MD, of Houston; and Donald Sanders, MD, of Chicago-say they downloaded the program to check the accuracy of their power calculations against their original formulas.

"[We] wish to warn the ophthalmic community worldwide that the Haigis, Hoffer Q, SRK/T, and Holladay I & II formulas are all in error on this program," they said in a prepared statement released through the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. "They do not calculate the correct IOL powers. There is a great risk to patients by relying on this program for IOL power and additional liability on the part of the practitioner who should do so and result in an error for their patient."