Dr. Weidman had been referred by a colleague. When I made the appointment, I told the scheduler that my daughter needed the state-mandated booster shots for the 7th grade and she had a few other potential health issues that I wanted to check out. The scheduler indicated that some of that fell under a "sick" appointment and some of it under a "well" appointment, but at no time stated that we couldn't take care of everything in one day.
Upon entering the exam room (a good 30-40 minutes past our scheduled appointment time yesterday), Dr. Weidman asked my daughter if she knew why she was there. She said to get her shots. He promptly said no. He stated that he was going to address everything else on the list and we'd have to come back another day for the vaccinations.
The appointment basically unraveled. I asked to do the vaccine today instead but that wasn't the order he wanted. I asked if he would please cut us some slack because we were coming to his West Hills office from Burbank but he defended his office policy. I said I'm trying to comply with state law and he countered that it's only my school district that requires the booster by May 4th. When he stated that he "can't" provide shots and a "sick" visit at the same time, I finally asked doesn't he own the practice? He could not overcome the logical implication of my argument - it's his practice, he could give a kid a vaccine if he wanted to - at which point he relented, but was visibly angry. I even stated that I wasn't sure why this had derailed so badly and maybe we should just leave. I wish he had taken me up on that.
Over the next few minutes, he openly doubted me when I said that I had tried for months to find a closer doctor but no one I contacted was taking new patients. He rolled his eyes when I could not remember how much my daughter weighed at the time I adopted her from China (11 years ago!). And he literally blurted out "I know in my heart of hearts that you're never coming back here." Aside from the fact that if you're going to act like a complete tool in front of my kid of course I'm not coming back, what is your problem?
Dr. Weidman, what, precisely, is your factual basis for assuming that I hadn't tried to find a closer pediatrician? I have a string of e-requests, browser history and phone log that establish otherwise. Likewise, what exactly is your factual basis for assuming that I wasn't coming back? You don't know me. I've got credit card statements that demonstrate I kept my Chicago doctor for several years after moving to California by scheduling appointments during an annual trip to visit family. At the very least, one would expect an experienced doctor to argue based on scientific method rather than unsupported accusations. And while you are entitled to run your practice however you want, couldn't you at least have the professional courtesy to ask me to step out into the hall if you were going to disagree with everything I said?
This pediatrician was repeatedly disrespectful to me in front of my daughter. Within 10 minutes, she began to cry so we left. I took back my records and told him to keep the co-pay. Suddenly, he was all about customer service and insisted - repeatedly - on giving the co-pay back. After pulling my kid out of school early, driving more than an hour across the valley and completely stressing her out, the co-pay was the least of it to me. I note however that while the state medical review board would never investigate a complaint for even the worst customer service, it would take seriously a dispute over as little as a co-pay.
I don't know what else what going on this man's life that prompted him to literally drive away a brand new customer, but it doesn't matter. Shame on you. It's time to think about retirement. read more