I struggle with acne and saw dermatologists before moving to LA. My friend recommended Dr. Saperstein's office. A year and a half ago, I made an appt with Dr. Berkman - one of the doctors in this shared office. I went in to ask for accutane treatment since I had tried everything else under the sun with previous drs. I was also feeling pressure to resolve my acne because I'm getting married in September of 2015.
My 1st appt: they made me wait a hour in the waiting room past my appt time. I had to reschedule because I would be too late for work. A week later I came in for my 2nd-1st appt. I spoke with Dr. Berkman, who is very nice. She immediately pushed for other forms of acne treatment, I figured she has good reason. After a year these treatments not working, she approved me for accutane in May of this year. I was so relieved - I really want clear skin on my wedding - is that too much to ask? I call this strike 1.
I did my blood work the same day and scheduled the next appt in June. The office called me the day before my 2nd appt to say that there was something wrong and they had to reschedule me a month later for July.
They made up many excuses: First, they said my blood work came in too late. I challenged them on this - they refused to offer me the date my blood work was sent to them. Second, they said it was because they didn't receive an approval letter from my therapist within the first week of approval - Berkman just told me that I needed it done before my 2nd appt. If I knew there was a "rush," I would've called him instead of waiting for my next appt with him. Third, they blamed it on the iPledge system and said it was just the way the system scheduled me. For those who don't know - accutane is strictly regulated for female patients. You have to participate in the iPledge system, and the dr's office has to complete your registration on their end before you receive your login information.
I don't believe the excuses above. I think what actually happened is that the staff forgot to complete my registration with the iPledge system on their end after I was approved in May. Why? Because the welcome letter from iPledge with my information was suppose to show up fews days after I was approved. The letter only showed up in June after they called with excuses as to why I had to delay the process my another month.
Strike 2. I'm convinced the staff screwed up and they are lying about it to cover their butts.
I had no choice, I was 3 months away from my wedding at that point and didn't want to track down a new dermatologist and go through the whole process with another dr. I rescheduled for July. I showed up last week to get my prescription. I had my blood work done the same day and waited over the weekend. Another note - you have seven days to fill the Rx, otherwise - it's back to square one. On Sunday, I tried to get it filled. I couldn't because you have to take a quiz every month through the iPledge system - and I wasn't allowed to take it because the dr's office had not approved me to do so.
I figured this was because my blood tests weren't in. I called the dr's and the lab's office to straightened it out on Tuesday. I took the quiz. When I got back to the pharmacy, my insurance rejected my Rx. The pharmacist informed me that it was because the DR'S OFFICE is suppose to contact my insurance to get the approval for my medication, and they didn't do it. They faxed the rejection letter to the office and told me to call them the next day ASAP.
So, I called the office today to figure out what happened. They made an excuse - stating that they would have no way of knowing if my insurance would reject the Rx or not until I tried to fill it. I call bull $--t. I've never had a problem seeing an outside specialty dr or getting Rx approved as long as everything has been lined up my drs. Again - they dropped the ball. This isn't their first time prescribing accutane. They should've known to go through the approval process with my insurance. Strike 3.
What's worse is that the nurse told me that the approval process takes 3-4 days, even when rushed. Which means I'm missing the deadline for filling the prescription according to the iPledge system. I'm out of luck and back to square one.
It's 2 months away from my wedding and 2 months after I was approved for accutane and I'm still not on the medication. This office has pushed me around. Now it's too late to do anything about it. There isn't enough time to seek out another dr. I still have acne and I've spent way more money than I care to share on treatments that haven't worked.
Bottom line, they don't care about what you think or what you need. They just want to squeeze as much money out of you and your insurance company as they can. It's a racket. DO NOT GO TO DR. SAPERSTEIN'S OFFICE. read more
