Michael J Bermel, OD

I visited on two separate occasions, two years apart. During the first visit, I was seen by Dr. Bermel’s associate who was polite and professional, and seemed mostly okay at the time. I expressed some concerns to her about the prescription she came back with after my exam because it was off a lot from my normal prescription and my vision had hardly changed in 10+ years, I had quite a few headaches when wearing the glasses she prescribed so switched to my old ones. I later found out the prescription she gave me was incorrect. I had been wearing the wrong glasses for nearly two years!
After that experience, I had been hesitant to visit again, but the end of the year was approaching and I needed to use my vision benefit or lose it. During the second visit I saw Dr. Bermel himself, and it was that visit which cemented my determination to never go there again. Although the admin staff were all nice, and I was seen fairly quickly by the assistant, I was asked for my medical insurance information. I expressed my concern as to why they would need that when my vision insurance was separate, and was informed it was in case there was ever a medical emergency while I was being seen by the doctor and that it would not be accessed or my records pulled until or unless such an emergency occurred. I relented, but told her point blank that they did not have my permission to access my insurance, and even wrote it onto the consent form, initialing and dating where I made the note to that effect.
When I saw the doctor, the visit took nearly an hour. I had never had such a long eye exam. On three instances during the exam he walked out of the room, only to criticize his staff for not having pushed a specific service or product on me while I was waiting to see him. After the lengthy exam, he pronounced that I had a condition that would require eyelid cleansing cloths, which were around 30.00 per box. When I asked if it was serious and what would happen next, he told me it could also be treated by antibiotic eye drops. When I asked for the drops, he said he wanted me to try the pads first. I looked on my phone and saw I could get them elsewhere for around 8.00 per box, while he wanted around 30.00 so I told him I wasn’t interested. When I was checking out, he told the receptionist that I was getting the cleansing pads and forcibly put them into my bag when I reminded him I was going to get them elsewhere. He then proceeded to tell her to add them to my bill, which I of course did not allow once he walked away.
When I tried to check out, my bill was 35.00 more than it should have been. When I asked why, I was told that it was because of the medical eye exam that he performed… without my permission. When I said I had not approved such an exam (and I had been quite clear from the time I first made my appointment that I wanted a vision exam and contacts fitting only) she said «but your insurance covers it so why wouldn’t you want it?». I was obviously quite upset since I had blatantly told them earlier they did not have my permission to access my medical insurance. I pointed to the form that I had earlier initialed and dated showing that I had written they did not have my permission. When she told the doctor, he got so upset at her for not telling him before he did the exam (which was not scheduled in the first place) that she nearly cried.
Overall, the constant push of very expensive add on services that are not covered by insurance, combined with the attempt to force me to purchase products and services I had already point-​blank refused, resembled nothing so much as a used car salesman. I was eventually able to get my money back for all the services except the basic vision exam, and also eventually got my written prescription (which I had requested multiple times on the actual day of the visit, and which he was required by law to provide if I requested.) but only after many repeated calls and written communication requesting it.
This doctor engages in practices that make it a very unpleasant experience to go there. He ignored my expressed wishes on three occasions during a single visit. He left during my exam three times, all to curtly remind his employees about added (non insured) services or products they were supposed to have tried to push on me before I ever got to the exam room. I would definitely not recommend him to anyone, and in fact would encourage those who have been there in the past to visit another doctor at lest once to make sure they are not also being treated for conditions they do not have (or are not wearing the wrong glasses for nearly two years, potentially doing damage to their vision). While it is possible that you may have gotten acceptable care from him, based on my experiences, it is just as likely that you have been treated for conditions you may not have.