I want to write a book about my appointment with Dr. Cecchi and his staff today, but for now I will keep it brief. Let me just say that I have a complicated medical history. I ALWAYS do my research before I see a new physician, and I did my due diligence before making my appointment. My visit with Dr. Cecchi was without a doubt the most compassionate, efficient, organized, thorough, professional and above all medically informed and proficient that I have experienced in my 53 years. Dr. Cecchi himself was direct and to the point. I do not expect to go to any doctor and expect to be coddled or felt sorry for. I want the facts and I want to get well. I am 100% confident that I am in the best hands possible with Dr. Cecchi and his staff! read more

He was very kind to my mother, took good care of her and always lifted our spirits. He also referred me to a fantastic dermatologist! read more

He is the most ethical doctor who will do his best to help you. Maybe he may not seem like he is caring but he is and will always do his best for the patient. I have seen so many healthcare professionals. So many ofvtg Could care less and lie and are so unethical . Dr Cechhi is an honest kind doctor and you are lucky to have him read more

I only saw him twice for anemia but I really liked him, I am sorry to hear he is leaving Marshall.

Not even sure if Yelp is the appropriate space to leave a review about a Cancer doctor / Oncologist / Hematologist but I wouldn't recommend being treated by Dr. Gary Cecchi to anyone. The lack of follow through from him and his staff, the consideration for his patient's time (3+ hours waiting to be seen for an appointment they scheduled for me???!!!), and his patient demeanor are downright horrendous. This guy has cussed in front of me, asked me about my menstrual cycles (then responded with a "well, I can't fix your broken vagina...") WTF?. My last visit he looked me up and down and questioned my insurance carrier then walked out of the room. He fidgets, talks fast, seems bothered by having to treat / see patients / human beings who need some help. If your expecting a call back w lab results or follow up call, don't hold your breath. His staff lacks follow through there too. Save yourself your time and frustration and see someone else who can bring dignity to their practice and has kind bedside manner, because this is definitely not Dr. Cecchi. read more

This rude man acts like it is a privilege to see him. I accompanied my father and listened for an hour to most of the patients in his waiting room complaining about outrageous wait times to spend two minutes with you. His bedside manner is non existent. He feels insulted if you dare ask him a question and the whole appointment with him lasted less than 5 minutes. He barely said hello, and this was for a 75 year old man with stage 4 metastatic cancer. He refused to speak to me in person on the phone and told me to go through his assistant, who did not have the answers I wanted. I would never send anyone to him. Update3/8/18 If you value you or your family's health and sanity, run don't walk away from this office. They don't return calls, even with life and death hanging in the balance. I have left impassioned messages to get them to call me with crucial life changing information and my calls were repeatedly ignored. He wore his Trump supporting hat into the office and made a Chelsea Manning joke. Update 6/27/18. My family member ended up passing away a few weeks ago. The chemo was too much. The office was notified of the death. Not one word from Dr. Cecchi or anyone on his staff. But you can bet the bills are still coming. read more

I would have to say he is the worst doctor I've ever seen. My wife saw him first for a potential rare hematologic disease. He set out to prove that she didn't have it because it was rare. He said if he had a dime every time someone thought they had this disease... He ran many tests and scans and did a very painful bone marrow biopsy, bragging that he was the best at it. He concluded that she did not have the disease. Turns out he was incorrect and he didn't have the appropriate test done on the sample and missed doing another diagnostic test. A hematologist at UCSF figured this out over a year later. Then I saw him myself for a cancer diagnosis. I often waited for two hours to see him then was rushed and told I had too many questions. There was a question of staging and we had a second opinion of a PET scan done by an expert in another country. He was furious about how that isn't done, he said images on disc are crap and he generally grumbled, sputtered and stated his opinions in an elevated voice. He called the radiologist here who wrote the report and left an angry message. Turns out the second opinion was correct so he let me know that I had stage 4 cancer by text message with no apology for his behavior or remorse that he was going to send me to have surgery under general anesthesia to remove lymph nodes that was completely unnecessary. If I hadn't sought out a second and correct opinion I would have had to endure a completely unnecessary surgery when I was already very ill. When we discussed treatments. He said that was his job and I had to trust him. In short, he is arrogant, egotistical, a bully and often incorrect. If you want a partner in your healthcare, someone who you can ask questions and a doctor who will treat you with respect, look elsewhere. read more

I have to update this because I ended up hospitalized on an IV with antibiotics for a week with an infection. The reason why you see a specialist like this guy is to prevent a hospitalization. But his ego was more important than my lab work or symptoms. Glad he ignored all of them! read more

This is a long overdue review. My understanding is that Gary Cecchi MD is no longer at 2001 Dwight Way practicing medicine. I don't know where he is. I initially saw him in 2013 for a presumptive diagnosis of Carcinoid Syndrome. This is an exceedingly rare diagnosis and there are two GI Oncology specialists in the Bay Area who treat it. He proceeded to act as if he were an expert in this. He dwelled on getting a PET scan to locate the tumor and scheduled me for weekly appointments, for which I waited hours to see him for 10 min, during which he did not perform a physical exam, ask review of systems questions, or review all of the tests he had ordered at the prior visit. He did proceed to order an increasing number of tests and procedures for the next visit. He had an army of nurses who would complete the tasks he rudely barked at them as he walked out of the room. During this time frame he graciously and freely prescribed narcotics, per patient's requests, the nurses filled out the rx pad, and he signed. Eventually, I became acutely aware I was not going to 1) get a diagnosis one away or the other for Carcinoid Syndrome (though he kept telling me something was really wrong) 2) Get treatment for whatever was wrong because he just kept testing everything under the sun, much of what seemed unrelated. At this point, I transferred my care to Susan Kao who is now working in concert with John Muir and I can't recommend her enough. After one appointment she had me see Emily Bergsland at UCSF GI oncology and I was given a diagnosis of Carcinoid Syndrome and treatment with octreotide was started. Dr. Kao noted my pattern of recurrent dehydration, elevated lactates, and poor labs related to dehydration and illness and coordinated care with the infusion clinic to keep me out of the hospital. When I began to get frequent kidney stones due to undetectable levels of Vitamin D despite a prescription level replacement she arranged for multimodality comfort measures and fluids. When I got pancreatitis and the ER did not see a reason for admission, she arranged for pain and nausea control at the infusion clinic and more frequent hydration in addition to labs. When I was just coasting I just got labs and fluids. Dr Kao left to John Muir and I was assinged to a new Oncologist at the CCC and I proceeded to have infusions of intravenous immunoglobulin due to immunocompromise and she arranged premedication for this. Then the DEA started to crack down on the whole practice. I assumed because of the prescribing practices I discussed above re: GC and now anytime I had my once monthly IVIG I couldnt have any premedication. Even medication not controlled by the DEA. So I switched providers back to Cecchi. This was a mistake but there was so going back. Cecchi did not believe I had kidney stones, low levels of IgG, or any of the health conditions I reported and stated that I must be psych but continued to look through my chart and stated that he wanted to call me a psych patient but there was too much objective proof and that was annoying. That day I happened to be in pain and scheduled for IVIG. He stated I needed to get a CT to prove I had kidney stones. I already had 10+imaging studies with different stones and had stone analysis in my chart and my low vitmain D and high parathyroid hormone was not resolved and there was always blood in my urine. The CT show kidney stones and he still said no to anything. Narcotic or non narcotic. No nausea meds. No hydration. At the time I weighed 300lbs. I asked if it was becaues I was fat. I asked if it was because I was a woman. I asked if it was because he did think I was psych. He told me my only choice was to do IVIG with no premedication and he did not care about the kidney stones or fluids, nor my history of dehydration related to Carcinoid. He stated that was UCSF's diagnosis and he doesn't work for them. Dr. Kao has previously worked together WITH them. He said he would prescribe nothing to treat carcinoid they recommended. He stated that IVIG wasn't an oncology/hematology drug. He stated that he wasn't a primary care physician (he is boarded in internal medicine). He was dropping me from his practice and though I had private insurance, he was referring me to Highland General Hospital and showed me the door. read more

My experience with dr Cecchi has been HORRIBLE!! I've never met a professional doctor in his capacity to be so rude and not caring about his patients emotional state with everything that goes on with having cancer. I've spoke with other patients who talk about his terrible bedside manners. If you're looking for a doctor with absolutely no manners, he's perfect!! I thank god I experienced his assistant, Robin, who was quite caring and knowledgeable. I was also treated by Dr Irwin, who was nurturing and his treatment worked quite well. He went to another hospital and I was seeing Dr Cecchi again. He is a nightmare!!!! read more

Sadistic Doctor. Treated my grandmother and grandfather. Really hope in the future he can understand that it's about the patient, not about himself. However, his staff member Robin was very sensitive, caring, and thorough, she deserves her own rating of 5 stars. read more

I got some scary, abnormal blood test results so travelled from home in the Bay Area to L.A. so I could see a specialist. The specialist did a complete workup then tried (emphasis on "tried") to do a bone marrow biopsy. No luck with the biopsy. He couldn't get a good sample. The worst thing was the pain. Unrelenting pain for 15-20 minutes. (As in equal to child birth. Seriously.) The specialist in L.A. suggested the biopsy be done under a general anesthetic with fluoroscopy. He referred me to a hematologist/oncologist who was closer to home in the Bay Area, Dr. Cecchi (pronounced Checky btw) in Berkeley. I met with Dr. Cecchi last Thursday. He told me he was very good (he's not modest) with bone marrow biopsies, that the general anesthetic was expensive and would require a wait. I didn't want to wait so, with great fear (again, seriously!) I agreed to proceed with the biopsy. I saw him the next day for the biopsy. Well, let me tell you. I was still waiting for the biopsy to begin and it was over. Much less pain than a visit to the dentist. And nowhere equal to the pain of the first attempt. Not even close. Not even in the same ballpark. And the first doc was a specialist...had probably done thousands of bone marrow biopsies. Doctor Cecchi is my hero. I have heard from others how painful bone marrow biopsies can be. I was prepared (and scared) but determined to get it done as it was an important part of the workup for the condition I was being seen for. Dr. Cecchi made it pain free. He is a character. I see that not everyone likes him. He gets either 1-star or 5-star reviews, and not many in between. Several of the 1-star reviews said he was rude. I didn't find him rude but he's not the Marcus Welby M.D. type who will pat you on the back and murmur, "Everything's going to be fine." I vote for frank and direct every time. Combine that with awesome skills (not just in the bone marrow biopsy department but across the board) and he's the doctor for me. I did wait over an hour to see him for each visit so be prepared. read more

Dr Cecchi is rude, dismissive, defensive when questions are raised, trys to talk about Trump as a positive role model for medicine. His young rotating group of nurses are afraid of him, though talk about him behind his back. The wait to see him is very long. In a crowded waiting room when a woman's name was called, she said, "I feel I won the lottery". Everyone in the room applauded. Once when I went to see him he was playing his guitar and acted like I interrupted him. I have worked in medicine for 35 years and have never met a doctor with such arrogance and disdain. read more

He saved my life when no other doctors could figure out how to treat the infections that I got after being treated (by other doctors) for uterine cancer. I would have died if it hasn't been for his knowledge and care. He is a god in my world. Period. read more

Let me just put it this way: This man does not have one once of empathy for patients. He is combative and for your pleasure here is a running list of behavior and incidents. I repect the position but not the man. We "fired him"! - Rude behavior: - Does not look in the eye - Addresses family as defensive and attacking when asked questions about status or treatment - Staff is afraid of him and I asked them if they were afraid of him. - Makes inappropriate comments, " Did everybody vote for TRUMP?" in mixed company and without prompting. - At one appointment he states ' "You are all messed up!' And it was repeated twice while he was looking at the MRI summary results. - First day reviewing the bone marrow tests, " You have MYELOMA!", without looking at the patient and said," Good thing is I can fix you! I'm going to fix you!. All this without looking up from the computer. - Family created a list of questions prior to the appointment. He was given the questions and rudely flipped through them, looked down through his glasses and said, ' was I married to you once?" " I can not answer these, where did you come up with this? " (The questions were all about the status and care for our family member) - He never touch or physically examined the patient but in the doctor's notes he stated he did exam her. - Infusion Nurse, while giving infusion she spoke to him and asked about Lasik amount and she turned to me and said, " I don't agree with his orders, but he doesn't listen to anyone." - The radiation doctor after letting the Dr. know we were going to another oncologist because we were not happy with him, the statement was," It's ok, he doesn't listen to me either." - As a support person and her Durable Power of Attorney for her medical, I had questions about the treatment approach. I read in several places the dosage he was giving her was double the amount for a person of her age and other complications such as acute kidney disease and diabetes, and anemia should have. He refused to even explain to us why he chose the treatment therapy he did and just kept saying, "We need to agree to disagree!. In turn my response was we just disagree. (Even though the intent was just to have a conversation about the approach). read more

Runs late (one time kept me waiting 2 hours), barely has a moment to answer your questions, requires your credit card before you can even see him, schedules you to come back for no apparent reason other than to keep collecting payments and then his accounting department screwed up and without even a single call or letter sent me to collections. Seriously?!? read more

Dr. Cecchi has been my doctor for about 3 years. I had 3 episodes of cancer during that time. I was in his waiting room many times past my appointment, I feel for those that precede in those situations, because whenever he was letting me know about bad news -- he spends whatever time it takes to explain everything -- from the diagnosis to the testing, the treatment alternatives. He shares his experiences and knowledge to help. Even spent time talking politics with my brother. He helped me through an unusual treatment, he helped with all the arrangements, put me in touch with the doctors who perform miracles. There is no magic, but he is a person who cares when you need it most, and he will do the best for you. It takes a number of people to cure an illness; Dr. Cecchi brings them together. It has been 3 years, I have been very fortunate, and hope that he does not retire. This is life and I am confident that he will vigilant for all the best ways to deal what comes. read more

Dr. Cecchi saved my life!! I went with my mom to see Dr. Cecchi when he gave her the diagnosis that her breast cancer had returned. During the appointment he asked me what I did about getting checked. I told him I had mammograms. He said I should have MRIs and told me to have my primary care doctor refer me to him. I did. Dr. Cecchi ordered the BRCA 1&2 test. I tested positive for BRCA 2. By the end of the year I had my ovaries and tubes removed and a double mastectomy with reconstructive surgery. The pathology on my tubes showed pre-cancer cells and the pathology on my breasts showed cancer in my left milk duct. Thanks to Dr Cecchi I dodged two bullets and am now cancer free. He is a caring, no nonsense doctor who really cares and gets his patients the best care. I am forever in his debt. read more

Gary Cecchi is a fantastic physician, brilliant actually. He was chosen above his peers for the medical director role and oversaw a family member's medical chart, providing preventative and alternative medicine, nutritional therapy. His beside manner is worth it because he is aggressive in his treatment plans. read more

Cannot say enough positive comments about the care Gary has shown...from his thorough research in diagnosing my cancer, to after care and follow up. As I deal with other health concerns post-treatment, Gary has always been terrific in working with my other specialists, even when I could not get the necessary attention of the other doctors. Dr. Ceechi is brilliant in his field and works very hard for his patients--I truly believe he saved my life. I am most thankful to have him on my side. read more

Went in for my post-treatment follow-up. Despite the fact that I had somehow gotten the wrong appointment date his assistant reassuringly just fit me in. Dr. Cecchi was warm and friendly and pleased I was doing so well. We discussed my current health, and the physical/medical things I need to be doing in the future. He reassured me he would always be my doctor, and that if I ran into any medical problems,to please not hesitate to contact him for help. Again, I would not hesitate to strongly recommend him to a family or friend. Strong advocate, extremely competent, and a caring individual. read more

I was referred to Dr. Cecchi by my family doctor to investigate an anomaly in my blood tests which showed I was anemic. Dr. Cecchi put me through a series of 6 different blood tests, a CAT scan of my brain, a PET scan, a Bone Xray and a Bone Marrow biopsy. His work, particularly when doing the bone marrow biopsy, was impeccable. He was great at telling me when it would feel more pressure, and made the whole (rather terrifying at first) process seem painless. The good news was that I had low iron in my blood, but no worry of lymphoma or cancer. What a relief. His thorough and complete investigation and diagnosis made a worrisome concept seem trivial at the end of these 2 months. Yes, he has a tendancy to be brusque, but not maliciously. I found him refreshingly helpful and a great doctor. read more

Yes you may wait over an hour for your appointment on a bad day. But what you dont know is that Dr Cecchi sees over 100 patients a day! He is one man doing the best he can to tend to his patients. He may come off a litte strong but he has a serious job, to get the patient healthy. His deminer may come off rude or stern but that is him taking your life seriously. If he sat and made small talk for the entire appointment he could never see all of his patient in one day. We have learned to give him a little bit of a hard time with jokes. Like ask him about his crazy printed shirts he always wears or tell him man you scare me with how you deliver your words. He will stop and give you a hug and apologize. Dr Cecchi is one AMAZING man. You would be lucky to have him as your dr because he truly cares about you as a patient. read more

I wish that I could leave no stars but obviously Yelp does not allow that. Dr. Cecchi is the WORST doctor I have ever seen in my entire life. Not once did he ever ask me what my concerns were or what my symptoms were but he never did a physical exam as well. He completely disregarded what I came in for and even though I have been treated for the same issue for 14 years, he came to his own conclusions about what is causing the disease which had no base and does not even make sense. If you want to be treated like cattle, have someone not even look at you the whole time you are in their office and then have someone not even ask how you feel or what has been going on with you then this is your doctor. As for me, HE SHOULD NEVER SEE A PATIENT AGAIN! read more

Rude and dismissive. Barely looked up from his computer He .actually talked about how poorly he was reimbursed. We went elsewhere - quickly.

This doctor is just in one word RUDE. He has no interest in his patient. No respect for past treatment and did not even want to listen about our sons health history. Without even looking at his paper work. He told our son his cancer treatment was old fashion and had to completely be retested. Then he told him he needed antibiotics and send a prescription to the pharmacy. He is not even sick! Never ever would go here again!! read more

I have to concur with the other reviewer about wishing that there was a negative or no star rating allowed on Yelp. I have honestly never felt so unheard, dismissed and frankly ignored. First let me say that I did not choose Dr. Cecchi, he stepped in for my doctor when my doctor was away from the office and that is where the trouble began. I needed to be admitted to the hospital for my illness (not cancer and therefore not Dr. Cecchi's specialty). When I inquired why I was not being given certain prescribed medications Dr. Cecchi told me that he wouldn't discuss the matter with me. My own doctor, though temporary would not discuss with me my treatment plan. Then to make matters worse when I questioned one of the nurses at the hospital, he called her in and berated her in front of me. I understood this behavior as teaching a two-fold lesson 1) that he was king of this domain and how dare I have the audacity to question him and 2) he treats his employees worse than dirt and blames them for his inadequacies. Finally, to make matters worse, he tattled on me. Without my permission (and thereby violating HIPAA) he called my mother and convinced her that what I would have described as a simple misunderstanding prior to this, was in fact some sort of a psychological break. To say that I felt betrayed and misunderstood is an understatement. Anyway, long story short, I did have a meeting with a hospital therapist where I was assured that this is not the first time that this particular doctor has acted in this manner and that I should not take his behavior towards me personally. So I continue to bide my time until I can be discharged out of the hospital and can be assured of his total and complete disappearance from my life forever. This is the kind of man who seems to get off on making others feel badly, which to me, is unacceptable behavior for any human being, let alone a doctor. So very long and painful story short, Dr. Cecchi is the very last doctor that I would ever have treat me and I cannot wait to be as far from him as humanly possible. read more

I went with my sister for her apptment. . She has bone marrow cancer. I am speechless. As others have pointed out, the doctor is rude and doesn't like to answer questions. He may be very good as others have pointed out, but if you need someone who is patient and will take time to answer your concerns, this is not him. There are other good doctors out there without the ego. Too late to change doctor for my sister as treatments are too far along So at least he's not incompetant read more

I have only encountered Dr. Gary Cecchi one time and it was enough for me. As my daughter was having a chemo treatment at Alta Bates Comprehensive Cancer Center, prescribed by another Dr, we had the misfortune of having to put up with his arrogant attitude. After apologies from some of the staff, we clearly got the picture that his negative behavior is very common. read more

Dr. Cecchi looks at each patient from a fresh perspective and doesn't just rely on the diagnoses of other health care professionals. This means that you may have a battery of tests that were not done before, and might have a radical change in your treatment. I had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, had major surgery (which I don't doubt was necessary), and was in chemotherapy. For reasons I won't go into, I decided to change oncologists and made an appointment to see Dr. Cecchi. He read my lengthy online chart carefully, and commented that no one had done anything (not sure what he meant by that, except that assumptions had been made without fully exploring my condition). Saying that he didn't want to keep putting poison in my body if I didn't have cancer, he stopped all treatment and ordered a battery of blood tests, an M.R.I., and a PET scan. All tests came back showing no evidence whatever of any cancer or infection remaining in my body. Chemotherapy has not been resumed, I feel well, I've gained weight, and I'm grateful to be on the road to full recovery after a nightmarish, seven-months-long ordeal, all thanks to Dr. Cecchi's meticulous approach to diagnosis and treatment. Complaints about Dr. Cecchi's bedside manner seem irrelevant to me. I was not looking for a new friend or a father figure; what I needed was an excellent doctor, one who would provide a complete, in-depth assessment of my cancer and how treatment should proceed, and that was what I got. He may seem abrupt, but when I had questions, I had no difficulty in contacting him and always had prompt responses. I know that if I feel the need to talk about anything I am experiencing during my recovery, I can rely on him for help. When I see him for my follow-up appointment I know that he will be as concerned and attentive as he was the first time I saw him. read more

Dr. Cecchi is an excellent Oncologist. His practice is very busy so you might have to wait occasionally. I see that as a good thing, I want my doctor to be in demand. In my opinion he is the best and that's what you want when your dealing with cancer. Can't say enough good things about his staff at the Berkeley Office they are very nice and supportive. read more

Dr. Checci saved my life and I was an ass the last day of Chemo. He wanted to put all this potassium in me. I just wanted to go.. I'm still alive thanks to him. read more

I have been a patient of Dr. Gary Ceechi for over 3 years. He is excellent. Straight forward, knows what is he is doing and explains it to you in plain English. I most highly recommend him. read more

My husband was diagnosed with cancer and went thru treatment for about 2 years with Dr. Cecchi. Dr. Cecchi suggested that he see another doctor because his lungs were filling up with fluid and he could no longer receive chemo until then. We went to the other doctor but I still had some questions for Dr. Cecchi, when I called his office the receptionist told me that my husband was no longer his patient. I was like what did I do or maybe my husband's family yelled at him. Even the doctor we went said that it was like he just pawned him off to him. My husband decided against the surgery since the doctor said he might die on the operating table because he was too weak. Well my husband shortly after went into hospice care and passed away. And guess who's name was on his death certificate, Dr. Cecchi. I mean at least show some compassion and talk to me directly. I called his office more than once and every time got the same response. "He is no longer his patient." Thanks a lot mr. robot. read more

I am a new patient for Dr Cecchi. On my first appointment with him, my tumor markers were elevated so he immediately ordered an MRI, blood work and a PET scan - which showed a second occurrence of breast cancer. He then gave me his cell phone number and email address and told me to contact him with any questions or concerns. He also contacted a Radiation Oncologist who has new groundbreaking treatment even for those of us who have already had radiation to an area. He talked with her about my case and referred me to her. I always prefer my doctors to be friendly, approachable, kind and full of information. If you go to Dr Gary Cecchi with those expectations - you will be disappointed - but - if you want a super smart Doc who can save your life - he is the Doc for you. My internist hits all the marks for a kind, informative, friendly super Doc so I have that covered. What I want from Dr Cecchi is genius level care - he provides that. My partner and I talked about this issue and decided that my need for Outstanding Medical Care far exceeded my need for warm fuzzys. My internist said Dr Cecchi is a genius. I'd have to agree. I have had 4 separate primary cancers and completely understand how scary it can be and how fragile you can feel. It is never more important in your life to have top notch medical care than when dealing with cancer. Always make sure you use the best tool for the job. Dr Cecchi is a great tool... smile! read more