By Ameet Sachdev | A Deerfield ophthalmologist was charged with insider trading in the options of LCA-Vision Inc., a provider of laser eye surgery, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday.

Gerald Horn, 57, the medical director of LCA’s Schaumburg facility, faces civil charges by acting on nonpublic information and buying options on the shares of Cincinnati-based LCA to make a profit of about $870,000, the SEC alleged. Horn also avoided a loss about $533,000 by exercising stock option grants and immediately selling this stock on the basis of nonpublic information, the SEC said.

Horn could not be immediately reached for comment.

According to the SEC, Horn accessed internal company reports that listed the number of eye surgeries performed companywide. The reports also allowed him to compare those figures to monthly targets set by the company.

Between December 2005 and August 2006, Horn purchased large quantities of LCA options on four separate occasions. The SEC alleges that his trades were timed to take advantage of movements in LCA’s stock price causes by the company’s earnings announcements.

“It is particularly striking that in all of his purchases in LCA calls and puts, Horn never lost money on a trade,” the SEC said in the complaint. The securities regulator later noted that “the probability of obtaining such results without reliance on inside information is very low.”

SEC also alleged that Horn had never traded in put and call options prior to the trades in LCA options. In addition, SEC said Horn provided false explanations for his timely trading.

Horn is both an employee of LCA and the owner of an Illinois corporation that operates company facilities in the Chicago area, the SEC said. He is also the lead surgeon for those outlets.