Dr. Leela Raju, MD

From Day 1, Dr. Leelee Raju provided an environment where I was treated as an individual and not a case number. Having the Patience to listen to my concerns, Providing info and explanations on Cataract Surgery, and giving the Honest outcome to expect in my case were what made me Confident that I found the Right Doctor. Professional, Respectful, Truthful, Caring!

outstanding!! Incredible bedside manner, very skilled and talented surgeon, very responsive and easy to reach with questions. Highly recommend

She performed catract surgery on April 5 and April 19,I have 20/20 vision able to see in the dark Thank you Dr.Lee Raju for the great medical care

I have been with Dr. Raju for many years. When her practice moved from Brooklyn to Staten Island, I trekked out to SI so that she would continue to take care of me. (Good Doctors are hard to find). She is very experienced, courteous, & professional. She throughly & professionally answers all my questions and gives me the necessary medical advice based on my test results. When time permits we even chit chat a bit. I will 100% recommend her to anyone interested in their health.

Dr Raju is extremely condescending and rude. I have seen many doctors and she has absolutely no beside manner. I returned to her after a year for an exam for cataract surgery. She was completely annoyed and I was told that she would not see me and do tests unless I booked surgery. She kept saying that there were other doctors who could do my surgery. Also that she could not do it for a few months. Clearly she did not want to give me care. I still left there with the intention of going ahead with the surgery with Dr Raju but the more I thought about it I decided that I should not. If she was that rude and was more worried about the fact that I hadn’t returned in a year than my actual care that is a red flag to me. Her surgical skills I cannot comment on because I will most definitely not been having surgery with her. I have to say her assistant Maria was wonderful. She did the exam not the doctor. She was professional and efficient. Not sure why she is working for such a rude woman.

I have seen many excellent doctors in New York City and Dr. Raju is not one of them. As a patient experienced in dealing with doctors and the medical system (I am a caregiver to my elderly friend who has over 15 doctors for various conditions), I can confidently say that Dr. Raju should not be in a patient-facing practice. I have no ideas as to her abilities as a surgeon, but as a doctor, she is one of the rudest and most hostile doctors that I have ever had the displeasure of meeting. Some people just should not go into healthcare. I visited Dr. Raju because I had been struggling with getting a correct prescription for my eyeglasses from my local optician. I had two pairs of glasses made, and each time, the prescription did not seem correct, even after weeks of use. The optician suggested that I visit an ophthalmologist. I made an appointment with Dr. Raju to check my eyes. I told her office when I first scheduled the appointment that I needed to check my eyeglass prescription, and was told I'd be charged an out-of-pocket fee. I arrived at the appointment and her assistant measured my vision after I described my issue with my glasses -- I told her that the prescription seemed much too strong and that the glasses were so uncomfortable that they were unwearable. I was there for a new prescription. Dr. Raju visited with me for perhaps five minutes. Those few minutes that I had with the doctor were completely rushed. She showed absolutely no interest in my issue with my glasses, was dismissive, and curt. I explained that I was having trouble with my prescription and that my glasses felt much too strong. She rushed through and concluded that the glasses were tilted and should be fixed, and then told me that my brain was probably having trouble adjusting to an eyeglass prescription that was much higher than my contact lens prescription (she measured the glasses' prescription). She then said I would be better off sticking to the same prescription I had in my lenses and have the optician fix the tilt in the glasses and the prescription as well. As a result, I went back to the optician and asked them to change my eyeglasses to the same prescription as my contacts. They did so, without requesting the prescription from the ophthalmologist. The glasses came back and I still had trouble. I wrote back to Dr. Raju and said that the prescription in the glasses was not working -- and shouldn't eyeglass prescriptions be slightly higher than contacts? She then responded through her assistant that she had NEVER told me to change my eyeglass prescription to the same prescription as my contacts -- she had told me to keep my contacts the same. But I never asked her for a contact lens prescription. Because she was so rushed, what I understood was that I should make my eyeglasses the same as my contacts since, as in her words, my brain could not catch up to a stronger prescription in the eyeglasses. She told me to check her notes in MyChart – which I did – and I saw that the new eyeglass prescription she had given me was in fact even stronger than the one I came in with – though I had specifically told her the glasses were much too strong for me. I went back to the office to clear up the confusion. Dr. Raju came in, barely listened to what I had to say, argued that she knew what she had written in her notes, she hadn’t told me to change my eyeglasses to the contact lens prescription. The bottom line is - because she was so rushed and uninterested, she could not be bothered to even address the concern I came in with: my glasses were too strong for me. She even gave me a prescription that was much stronger (by a lot) than the glasses I came in with. She was very rude, hostile, short and aggressive with me -- interrupting me -- and telling me (I see in other reviews she has said this before) "This is the best that I can do. If you don't like it, go to someone else." She was more concerned with being defensive than actually hearing my problem. Her very kind assistant was able to help me find a more appropriate and comfortable eyeglass prescription. Had Dr. Raju taken the time and had patience and interest in her patients -- I would not have had to come back a second time to get the correct prescription. I'll be very happy never to return to this doctor again and I would strongly recommend to anyone considering visiting her to look for another ophthalmologist. I haven't often felt so little care from a doctor -- and have rarely felt so disrespected. Rude, defensive, rushed, condescending, unhelpful doctor.

I was referred to her through a friend who also had his cataract surgery done by her, so I had a good head start. I can see how her bedside manner can come off a bit cold to some, but she's a professional, thorough and knows her stuff. Since I am a disabled senior with other health issues, she took great care before my first surgery to ensure that everything would go well, including performing the surgery at Tisch Hospital to make sure there would be plenty of post-op personnel available in case anything went wrong. Thankfully, it all went well. Second surgery was performed at the regular NYU outpatient facility on East 38th St. and again, the surgery was a breeze. I would definitely recommend her.

The doctor’s nurse practitioner / assistant did the majority of my eye exam, so it was fine but if it’s just a regular checkup you might as well just go to a LensCrafters or Cohen’s.

I got very lucky finding Dr. Raju. I had two cataract surgeries with her recently. She was professional, laid out my options, answered all my questions. She is also a pleasure to be around, very nice, with a caring, professional way about her.

Rude, arrogant - she may have good experience bit she was no help to me. It's her way or no way. She has no compassion or understanding for the patient. I felt horrible leaving her office. She makes you feel like there is no hope or cure for your conditio. Nor is she interested in trying to help. Awful experience.