Sheldon Cowan, MD

Beware of Sheldon’s «Lipiflow» procedure!
It costs $ 1700 and is an out-​of-​pocket expense.
Cowan will rave about it before you make the appointment for the procedure. He believes it the best thing for dry eyes.
When you show up for your procedure he will have his assistant do certain tests before, this to determine the strength of your «blinking» power. Then he will examine your eyes, scrape your eyelids, and before beginning the procedure (with his assistant in the room as witness) he will tell you this procedure will make the eyes healthier, though it may not do much for your symptoms (i.e., tearing problem).
What was I paying $ 1700 for but to clear up the symptoms? He knew this was my concern from the beginning. (Likely he wasn’t listening, he is usually talking about himself. Who cares about his personal life and the plays he likes to see?) I had invested over an hour and a half of my time in his office by now — I went ahead, hoping for the best. (He was still encouraging.)
Six weeks later, my eyes are no better; in fact, they are even a little worse.
I am still tearing, despite the procedure, and the warm daily compresses, and every 20 minute eye exercises that he mandated in order to assure the treatment would be effective. (Without this, he says, the treatment doesn’t work! He tells you this AFTER the treatment.)
I have since gone to another eye doctor (University of Washington) who told me the Lipiflow procedure is highly questionable and most often a worthless technique for improving dry eyes.
Lipilfow is a scam.
And Sheldon Cowan is a shyster.

I have been seeing Dr. Cowan for a decade. I believe he is very intelligent and for most medical concerns, he tends to stick with conservative care.
For cosmetic/​lifestyle surgery, I think any doctor who performs this surgery is rather caviler. I’ve been going to him, since before he started performing Lasik and his demeanor changed once he offered that procedure.
I have had a few communication issues with him in later years. In these uncomfortable instances he said things like «you just have to trust me!» and got angry when I asked for specifics about my eyes. Once he stormed out of the room, when I asked for specifics why I could not wear a type of contact lens (because I had Lasik years earlier, not performed by him).
Overall though, his office staff is caring and Dr. Cowan is thorough. If you are wanting a knowledgable Ophthalmologist to screen for eye disease, he is very good.