Reuben Zimmerman writes the NYT:
To the Editor: Although very pleased with the result of my own Lasik procedure, done two years ago, I advise friends and patients who ask about the procedure to be careful, and to find a doctor they like and trust (''Laser Eye Surgery's Turf War,'' Aug. 1). Too many Lasik surgeons have stopped being doctors and now act only as technicians; they never see the patient (oops, they are now ''clients'') till she is lying in the operating chair, under a fog of Valium-numbed terror. And follow-up, of course, is out of the question: you will see an ''affiliated optometrist'' who will check your eyes at 24 hours, one week and one month. You will not see the surgeon, whether to complain, ask a question or thank him. I'm happy with my own eyes, but dismayed that they were treated on the assembly line. Hips and knees, at least, still get fixed by real doctors: people who not only talk but also listen, who acknowledge fear and worry, and who care as much for their patients as they do for their pocketbooks.
