Manitoba eye doctors are throwing their support behind a private member’s bill to ban the controversial practice of eyeball tattooing and eye jewelry.
The Manitoba Association of Optometrists (MAO) and Eye Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba (EPSOM) said Tuesday that passage of the bill – introduced by St. James MLA Scott Johnston on Thursday – would make Manitoba the second Canadian jurisdiction after Ontario to ban these types of cosmetic procedures.
“The process of scleral tattooing and implantation of eye jewelry involves injecting dye or inserting an object between the conjunctiva and scleral layers of the eye. The thickness of these two layers combined is less than 1 mm, making it very challenging and risky,” said the MAO and EPSOM in a joint release.
“The potential for serious complications from this procedure gained international attention in 2017 when a young woman from Ottawa went public with her story.
“Scleral tattooing of her eye caused significant inflammation and damage to her vision. Another recent case of complications from a scleral tattoo led to removal of a young Alberta man’s eye. ”
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