While Dr. Milner is a great doctor and I would trust him to treat my eyes, the way his office double and triple books appointments is absolutely unacceptable. I used to see him years ago but had to leave this practice as I would have to take off from work the entire day to accommodate their terrible scheduling. Once I waited so long that the dilation in my eyes wore off and I had to be dilated again when the doctor was finally ready to see me. My parents have been going there the last few years and they are now leaving as well. My father’s appointment was scheduled for 10am this past Tuesday. He wasn’t called in for the first part of his exam until 11:45am. They were done at 12:30pm after seeing the doctor for all of three minutes. This is a typical wait time for this practice. At times it is even longer. The employees all seem irritable and discontent with their jobs. My parents say they complain at times right to the patient which is so unprofessional. Clearly there is something wrong within this practice. It’s a shame because I really liked Dr. Milner but I cannot spend a large chunk of my valuable time waiting for him or any other doctor.

I would not recommend Dr. Milner to any patient suffering from dry eye or meibomian gland disease. Although he may be an excellent surgeon, both Dr. Milner and his staff did not have the expertise, dedication, and organizational capacity to properly treat my chronic eye problems, which were so severe that they had put my life on hold. I could go into detail about a mishandled blood test result in which Dr. Milner's assistant told me one thing and Dr. Milner told me the complete opposite. However, my main issue was Dr. Milner's failure to properly care for my meibomian gland disease. The first time I saw Dr. Milner, he put me at ease, but in each subsequent appointment, he was increasingly rude, dismissive, and hostile towards me, almost as if he took it personally that my eyes weren't responding to his treatment protocol. When I asked him questions to try and understand my treatment plan, he was curt and hostile, and he often left the room in the middle of our appointments. While seeing Dr. Milner over this five month period, I was in so much pain that I could barely open my eyes away from a humidifier. By our last appointment, Dr. Milner had prescribed me 5 different medications to put in my eyes on a daily basis. I also used a warm compress twice a day, as per his instructions. When I reported back repeatedly that these treatments had barely made a difference in my symptoms, Dr. Milner developed the hypothesis that I had ocular neuropathy; as he told me, his treatments had helped, but my nerves were damaged, and I was stuck in a feedback loop of neurological pain and inflammation that is difficult to interrupt. The next idea he had for me was scleral lenses, which require a costly and lengthy process to acquire. That's when I decided to get a second opinion. While Dr. Milner had told me that "most" of my glands were open and thus I should not still have symptoms of meibomian gland disease, this second doctor explained to me that scar tissue had formed around my meibomian glands and was constricting them so that 90% were closed. That meant that each warm compress I had done following Dr. Milner's instructions had only damaged my glands. It also explained my pain--I had almost none of the lipids from my glands to protect the surface of my eye. This doctor explained to me that I was a good candidate for meibomian gland probing. This was a surprise to me as I had ask Dr. Milner about this procedure and he had insisted that I would NOT be a good candidate. Within a day of having my glands probed, my searing, burning pain was gone. It's been a month, and I now need NONE of the medications Dr. Milner prescribed me. My eyes are healing, and I have my life back. I remain haunted by the months I spent reckoning with Dr. Milner's diagnosis of neuropathy, trying to imagine how I would live with this much pain on a daily basis for the rest of my life. I remain haunted by his insistence that I not pursue probing, which I think had more to do with his ego than my wellbeing. No one should have to see a doctor who misdiagnoses them, acts from a place of pridefulness, and lacks the knowledge required to properly evaluate and treat their disease. This is why I would strongly caution prospective patients to seek another doctor.

Dr. Milner has the reputation among medical professionals throughout CT as the "Go-to-Optometrist" in CT! As an RN, working throughout CT, RI, and FL, for the past 16 years, from critical care to child & adolescent psychiatry, I can ask doctors and nurses, WHO, they go to for medical attention. Dr. Milner took FIRST PLACE in the category for Optometry and Laser Eye Surgery. My experience was absolutely EXCEPTIONAL from Dr. Milner and his staff. Dr. Milner is an absolute AUTHORITY, with proven expertise in Optometry. Reputation is a consideration, but, the actuality of one's practice is the real component of exceptional care. Dr. Milner, hands down, maintains to the standards of an expert, that everyone I referenced said he was!! Thank You, Dr. Milner & Hamden Staff!