--- title: "Trending Surgical Procedure That Changes the Color of Your Eyes Alarms Scientists" description: "A French ophthalmologist is performing surgery that permanently changes the color of your eyes, but his colleagues aren't sure it's safe." date: "2026-06-28" modified: "2026-06-28" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/health-medicine/surgical-procedure-eye-color" categories: - "Developments" - "Health & Medicine" --- # Trending Surgical Procedure That Changes the Color of Your Eyes Alarms Scientists ![A color-treated close-up photograph of a man's eye where the iris color changing from brown to blue.]() *Shutterstock / Futurism* A French ophthalmologist is performing surgery that can permanently change the color of your pupils. But not everybody agrees that it's safe. Called Femtosecond Laser-Assisted Annular Keratopigmentation, or FLAAK, its creator Francis Ferrari has invited plenty of controversy since inventing the procedure over a decade ago and opening his clinic in 2019. The American Academy of Ophthalmology has issued two warnings against the procedure, and it's still not approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, according to a [recent *New York Times* piece]() on the trending practice. Sometimes called [corneal tattooing](), it involves coloring the cornea, the eye's crucial protective barrier and outermost lens, which puts the rest of the organ at risk of suffering lasting damage, some experts argue. "I think there's a lot of fear among ophthalmologists, especially because there's not really any long-term data on the procedure itself and the pigments that are used," Amita Vadada, an ophthalmologist and a clinical spokesperson for the AAO, told the *NYT*. "The eye is a very sensitive organ, immunologically," she added. According to the *NYT*, the surgery goes like this: first, Ferrari numbs the patient's eyeball. Then he uses the eponymous femtosecond laser to carve a tunnel in each cornea, which is then widened using a surgical hook. From there, he uses his trademark "Ferrari scalpel" — a tool he designed and patented — to shovel pigment into each of the waiting corneas, before painting them with careful brushstrokes. And voilà: your eyes are now "Riviera blue," "honey gold," or an uncanny shade of green. From the way Ferrari describes it, your eye color is really determined by the iris, the ring shaped muscle that controls the size of your pupil. So his technique works by "hiding" the iris by coloring on top of it, almost like a contact lens. Yet, this is still incredibly risky, Vadada argues. "Unlike other parts of the body, even low-grade inflammation of the eye can lead to permanent scarring, light sensitivity and pain." she told the *NYT*. Keratopigmentation is "potentially altering the function of the eye." But any physical damage that may be incurred pales in comparison to the mental anguish that Ferrari's patients have to endure for living with their boring, decidedly not-paled-colored eyes. And besides, FLAAK is absolutely safe he says — as safe as LASIK. "There's real suffering," he told the *NYT*. "Of course, it would be better to accept one's natural eyes, but there are some patients who aren't able to." **More on cosmetics:** [*New York Accuses Company of Smuggling Injectable Substance Made From Cadavers*]() ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()