A hand-held, manual, ophthalmic surgical instrument intended to be used to cut an intraocular lens (IOL) during IOL removal. It comprises two pivoted blades which cut with a shearing action directly adjacent to the handles (i.e., not a probe-like device). It is typically metallic with tweezers-like handles, and is available with various blade designs and sizes. This is a reusable device intended to be sterilized prior to use.