My wife has been a patient of Dr Cottle for a while now. We are very happy with the medical treatment she has received and we recognize that Dr Cottle is a great doctor.However...This office is very frustrating. It seems like they are always overbooked. Any time we have an appointment we have to prepare for 1.5 to 2 hours. Add to that the fact that it is so far out from the center of town, each visit means we need to commit half a day.If you have plenty of time on your hands, this is the place for you. If you are very busy, like most of us are, be prepared for a lot of frustration.

Age discrimination is insidious and often not recognized by the victim or the perpetrator. The elderly cannot always advocate for themselves especially in this age of technology. I could not find any reviews on this doctor prior to my encounter. The following is an account of my experience and the conclusions I drew based on my opinions and observations. I write this review of Dr. Annie Chan of Lake Austin Eye and their practice administrator, Mayra Velasquez. The practice is located in Austin, Texas. I will bullet point the ongoing issues I had then end with a disturbing last conversation with the manager. o Unwillingness to accept self-advocacyo Oppressive, belittling and disparaging judgement for defensive reasonso Lack of truthfulness/information on a need to know basiso Refusal to accept the unusual nature of a numerous amount of side-effects I complained of due to my intolerance of steroids, disclosed at the first meetingo Lack of surgical notes, inaccurate notes, writing notes to support themselves CYAo Lack of disclosure on many subjects/inaccurate timelines.o Misdiagnoses or inability to diagnose, or refusal to discloseo Inability to see glaring mistakes, for weeks, in prescriptions causing their technician, the optician and my ophthalmologist to be in awkward situationso Dismissive communication with me and the opticians attempting to remedyo Writing the third prescription without me present to confirm conclusiono Charging office visit before glass prescription properly fittedo Blaming my lack of experience with progressives for their mistakes. I have worn progressives for 25 years.o Suggesting I wait months to get used to a prescription that had my reading power at +6o Unwillingness to accept their technicians account that the math on the prescription was wrong, dismissing her and me.o Response to all vision concerns later explained by my ophthalmologist, "Your retinas are fine"After months without glasses, three prescriptions with glaring mistakes (as identified by opticians and my ophthalmologist's office), and a misdiagnoses or missed diagnoses, and after conferring with my ophthalmologist of 27 years, I called Dr. Chan's office. Mayra Velasquez interrupted my attempts to explain what the second opinion doctor had discovered by saying, "I love my mother very much. I am going to say to you exactly what I would say to my own mother. You cannot doctor hop from one doctor to another until you find the outcome you are looking for. We made a prescription for you that all of us agreed would work, you need to give it time." I told her returning to my optometrist of 27 years for a second opinion was not doctor hopping. When I explained that their doctor notes were inaccurate to my concerns, my attempts to explain what was wrong with my vision had been ignored multiple times, and the second opinion doctor had discovered I now have secondary cataracts in both eyes that are causing the issues I was describing all along, she scoffed dismissively. Ms. Velasquez told me that the doctor could only go on what I had said and that I had used the word floaters. To which I responded, she is the doctor that does secondary cataracts surgeries and should have been able to diagnose the problem. To which she replied, "I'm sure Dr. Chan knew you had secondary cataracts but did not broach the subject because it was not time to address the issue." I asked her if the practice was in the habit of cherry-picking patient information on a need to know basis. At the end of this ridiculous, callous, dismissive, patronizing conversation, Ms. Velasquez said, we always tell our patients to seek out their ophthalmologists for more accurate prescriptions. I am certain that neither doctor in the practice knew what their office manager said in this conversation.I contribute all the problems I had with the practice to three things, lack of communication unless one is very insistent, dismissive nature toward the aging, and an inability to consider their own fallibility/unwillingness to own their mistakes. I am quite sure they like the thrilling surgery aspect of the job and find the aftercare drudgery.In most situations with a few exceptions, if my concerns did not shine a positive light on them or took too much time, I was made to feel inadequate and bothersome. At no time did I feel like I was being heard because every concern I had was followed by a self-protective accusation, a rebuttal, or an excuse. I was inaccurately told numerous times that I was seeing 20/15 and could not possibly expect more. My near vision was never fully addressed. Age discrimination is an insidious, oppressive, cruel way to run a practice. I feel sorry for those who cannot advocate for themselves and wonder how many of their patients settle for less. It is not enough to have knowledge and the ability to do the surgery. When patients have concerns, a practice and a doctor should listen, consider the possibility of mistakes, and be honest.