Is anyone familiar with Dr. Antoine Garabet?
I'm considering have lasik done at the laser eye center in Newport Beach, California. I have his resume and testimonials. Is there anything I should look for in his resume, and are there any particular questions I should ask former patients that I call on the testimonial list? Also, is anyone familiar with the "Laser Eye Centers". They seems to have several all over the state. They also have an office in Mission Viejo, but the doctor at that location has only performed 500 operations and does not have a testimonial list? Her name is Dr. Audrey Schwarzbein. She did have an in-house testimonial list with patient comments, but no actual phone numbers of patients to call. This office is closer to my home, but I was a little leary about her qualifications? How do you know who's the best doctor to go with?

this facility is nothing more than a low priced laser mill. you don't get to meet the surgeon until the day of surgery and a different doctor- not an ophthalmologist- examines you at each visit. remember that you get what you pay for.

you should at least visit other surgeons to see what your comfort level is with them. none of this matters until there is a complication, and then it's too late.

debra tennen, md

Thank you for your response. I did get to meet the surgeon on my first visit at the laser
eye center (Dr. Audrey Swartzbein)in Mission Viejo. But she is new to their office and has only performed approx 500 lasik operations. I really don't know who to go with. If you know anyone in the southern Orange County area or San Diego area, please let me know. I live in Capistrano Beach, California. I'm about 1/2 hour North of San Diego. I have a 6 month old baby so traveling far for followup visits, etc is hard for me so the closer the better. Thanks for your time.

Testimonials, fancy ads, etc. are in no way an assurance of quality care. What they do is attract attention and generate business$$$.

As far as being a good LASIK surgeon, there are more things to consider than shr numbers alone. Like driving a car, as you a better driver if you've driven for over 20 years....yet you've gotten in over 100 accidents? Or maybe if you've only driven for a few years with a completely clean record?

What you need to do is meet your prospective surgeons. See how well they address your concerns. Call some of their former patients to see how their experience went. Don't, however, call the people in their testimonial. They may have "incentives" for being listed. Just be careful not to be "sold" on the hype. Hopefully you'll find someone you feel comfortable with.

Good Luck, Dean Hu

I'd recommend that you look up and research Dr. Tom Tupa. I think his office is in Newport Beach. The surgeon I work for has spoken very highly of him. I've been to his office and met his staff. Everything I saw was first class, and his staff was very professional. To my knowledge, he has done a high number of LASIK proceedures, (several thousand).

Good luck!

Rod

I went to Laser cntr Newport when I first began the odyssey of Lasik back in Sept 99. I went in and got checked and was told I was a perfect candidateas was my roomate who has heavy
farsighted/astigmatism and huge pupils. Right after that I began to research what I was getting into. Their pre-op was shoddy at best- no pupil measure-and their counselors never even returned call. My roomate cancelled day before surgery after I dragged him to my optom. and had him re-evaled and they gave him poor- candidate status. I am sure the doc G is great but I recommend checking a couple sites. WWW.Tooma.com
is site for dr Tooma a very experienced and expensive doc in Newport Beach. I will be going in two weeks to Long Beach Laser Center and I felt very comfortable their at thorough pre-op and professional staff, as well as meeting with Dr. for 20 minutes at least during pre-op. They also have by far the best deal $$$ wise out there and that was sure a nice kicker. Email me at if you want more info but they may be worth the drive for you.

Sorry about that. The above post is right. It's Dr. Tom Tooma, (not Tupa). Looks like I got a doctor confused with an old Cardinals football player. My apologies.

Rod