Controversial eye-color surgery draws patients to Paris clinic

A Paris clinic is drawing people from five continents for a procedure that changes eye color by placing pigment in the cornea, a technique that major ophthalmology groups have warned can lead to serious complications and vision loss. The price tag is €7,000 including tax, and the clinic says the treatment is offered on Wednesdays for patients who are at least 21 and pass a preoperative eligibility assessment.

The procedure is known as keratopigmentation, or cosmetic corneal pigmentation. Francis Ferrari, a French ophthalmologist, says he performed the world’s first eye-color change operation using the technique in 2013, and clinic materials state he has since treated more than 2,000 patients from five continents. Ferrari and Prof. Jorge Alió are co-inventors of a newer version called femtosecond laser-assisted annular keratopigmentation, or FLAAK. Unlike iris surgery, the method changes the appearance of the eye without altering the iris itself, instead depositing pigment in the cornea.

The New Eye Paris clinic markets the procedure with color options that include green, blue, gold and gray tones. Keratopigmentation was developed to address post-traumatic eye damage and other disfiguring corneal conditions, but demand for purely cosmetic use has risen sharply.

That shift has put the operation squarely in a regulatory gray zone. The American Academy of Ophthalmology issued a warning on Jan. 29, 2024 against cosmetic keratopigmentation and iris implant surgery, saying both can bring serious risks of vision loss and complications. The French Academy of Medicine added its own warning on June 18, 2025, saying the procedure had become increasingly popular for aesthetic reasons while still carrying meaningful risk. Medical concerns include dry eye, glare, light sensitivity, infection, inflammation, loss of corneal transparency and later difficulty diagnosing eye disease.

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration has not approved eye-color change surgery for cosmetic use, and iris implants are used only for certain medical conditions, not elective color changes. Yet social media has amplified the appeal, including a viral TikTok video that drew more than 24.5 million views.