Getting LASIK eye surgery: 1 in 10 million chance it kills you

~0.1 micromorts. 1 micromorts. Like taking the train 1,000 km. Estimate.

Mortmeter: Worth it. You face vastly worse odds driving to the clinic with your terrible uncorrected vision.

Assuming: Bilateral LASIK surgery under topical eye drops and mild oral sedation.

How we got this: LASIK uses topical numbing drops rather than general anaesthesia, making mortality essentially limited to idiosyncratic anaphylaxis or fall injuries from fainting. We price this against minor outpatient interventions like blood donation at roughly 0.1 micromorts. The sum is 1 procedure times 0.1 micromorts per procedure = 0.1 micromorts.

What gets you: Severe anaphylaxis to topical drops or prophylactic antibiotics, Adverse cardiovascular event triggered by extreme vasovagal syncope, Accidental fatal head trauma from fainting post-procedure.

Cheaper version: Stick with spectacles or daily contact lenses to cut the surgical pharmacology risk by 100%.

Sources and method: how Mortmeter prices things, and the Atlas of measured risks.

More priced risks: Sharing a bottle of Flor de Pingus, Riding Polyppen at Bakken in Denmark, Eating 2 whole pizzas, Drinking a bottle of red wine, Winter bathing in the Øresund, A week of off-piste skiing, Texting while driving on the motorway, Cage diving with great white sharks.