Worst experience ever! Never put yourself at risk in this place, health and money-wise. Simply put, profit is the first and only goal regardless of anything else. This is a long story, but I strongly advise you to read it before going there and/or sending anybody to that place. I don't want anyone to experience what I went through, so write below a request if you want me to tell you in detail what is the situation in this clinic.
In July, I went to Total Ey Care (Buffalo Grove) for routine cataract surgery. I was supposed to do it with Dr. Nagpal, a more respectful and meticulous doctor. Still, since she doesn't do the multi-focal lens, I had to do it with Dr. Wassia Khaja Ahmed, a very arrogant person who dealt with me as an object, not as a human being. She did the procedure on July 14, and my life changed after that bad day.
I knew that there is something seriously wrong after the procedure because of the pain, strong blurriness, severe light sensitivity, extreme redness, and tons of floating dark spots. Yet, for two weeks, she kept saying everything is perfect and that it's only a matter of time and my eye will heal.
Later, with her lack of knowledge and experience, she decided to try to do something/anything but make sure that she would derive more money. So, she chose haphazardly to do a laser session, then another one, and a third one, but my eye kept getting worse every time. Of course, they charged my insurance company $1800 for each session in addition to me paying $71.65 also for each session!
After the third session, they told me that she had a baby and made her disappear, and I never heard from her ever since! An esteemed doctor I saw later said: "I don't know how that lady doctor sleeps at night after doing this to you and not giving a damn!" That weird lack of care and empathy from somebody who performed the Hippocratic Oath was, sadly, a common feature of everybody in that place. This fact applies especially to Dr. Ahmed, the business owner Dr. AL-KHUDARI, and the office manager. The exception was a nurse and Dr. Nagpal, who kept meeting me and trying to help with "all kinds of drops."
Eventually, after several weekly visits that I and the insurance paid for, they told me in October that there is nothing else they can do for me!
Then, during November, I saw four other ophthalmologists who have an excellent reputation: Dr. Virasch, Dr. Sondheimer, Dr. Rubenstein, and Dr. Basti. Ironically, they all figured out, within an hour, what is going on, and what TOTAl EYE CARE doctors were unable or unwilling to tell me for three months. It turned out that Dr. Wassia Ahmed misplaced the lens (Dislocated IOL), and she mistakenly has one of the two haptics in the wrong place, scratching my eye all the time (One haptic in bag, one haptic in the sulcus.)
Ironically enough, when I told the Total Eye Care guys about what the other doctors found, they rushed and sent me a refund check for $3500. Obviously, they knew they made a huge mistake and wanted to silence me and "pay" for all my suffering and loss of time and money with that trivial amount of money.
What happened meant that I had to do a more serious and sensitive replacement surgery, which I did last month with a cost that exceeded $25K. Also, it meant that I lost, forever, the chance to have mono-focal lenses that will help me not use glasses.
As another signal of their greed, it worth mentioning that they told me, in the very beginning, that my insurance doesn't cover the costs. Therefore, they made me pay in cash in advance, but I found out later that they were actually paid more than $15K in addition to all the money I paid.
Now, after more than six months of the beginning of the ordeal, I can't see well, I can't drive, the cataract surgery for my left eye had been delayed for months.
In conclusion, Total Eye Care is the place encompassed, for me at least, everything that one shouldn't experience in a medical clinic: lack of knowledge and experience, absence of care and empathy, carelessness for patients, lack of follow-up, and boundless greed! read more
