I told my coparent about an upcoming dr appointment for my child to be seen, and 6 days later/ the day before her appointment my coparent said he was unable to attend due to scheduling issues and wanted to cancel it. I've taken my child to nearly all her dentist and pediatrician appointments since birth. This time it's different due to my coparent seeking a modification of custody and now wanting to attend appointments.
Kidfixers told me on the phone they "wouldn't get involved" when I explicitly said she needs this appointment to find the cause of her GI issues and to please not cancel it if her dad attempted to do so. I arrived to the appointment to find that Kidfixers canceled my child's appointment at my coparents request. This is delaying her care significantly because my coparent scheduled an appointment for another 9 days out for when she could be seen by Lepore and not a nurse practitioner.
In my opinion, in recent history Dr Lepore has taken a biased stance to favor my coparents complaints, although he tries to seem as if he is not. He scolded me for allowing my daughter to have hot lunch at school, while saying nothing about my coparents list of unhealthy foods he reportedly feeds her, consisting of mostly high starch, high fats, and processed foods which has caused a history of constipation. He said "You're going to start packing her lunch, right mom?" Ignoring the reasons for me allowing hot lunch. I packed her nutritious lunches every day until only recently when I saw benefits to allowing her to have lunch at school. It lessened the weight in her backpack, and allowed her to try different foods that she actually found out she enjoyed (she's been a picky eater).
God forbid, if you are a parent that relies on hot lunch due to your socioeconomic status. He may berate you too. The negative stigma surrounding school lunch must stop. It meets all nutritional guidelines, and if he were up to date on school lunch standard, he would know this. It's not like when we were children. You actually get a menu in advance, know what they are eating, and it is much better food with more options each day.
Pediatricians are required very few hours of education pertaining to nutrition, and Lepore clearly has an old school way of thinking about nutritious foods and what is acceptable. Furthermore, when I tried to explain when and what she eats, he condescendingly formed a circle with his fingers and stated that I needed to close the gaps of the "wheel of nutrition". If he would have listened without interrupting me, he would have understood when I spoke of "snacks" it wasn't in lieu of a full meal, but in addition to 3 meals, because she doesn't eat very much at one time. She is small by genetics and has never fallen off the growth curve, and another pediatrician with the same qualifications said she was thriving. Lepore didn't listen to me fully without cutting me off, because he had already spoken to my coparent before the appointment. As a result of my coparents alleged "concerns" she's malnourished she had a bone age test that came back normal. In my opinion he is sexist doctor with double standards for moms.
I found Dr Lepore through Yelp reviews (which at that time were glowing) over 12 years ago, when I was 6 months pregnant. I trusted him. He was a little weird and seemed to be a bit too touchy, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt. It takes a lot for me to make a complaint. It takes a lot for me to get upset, but denying my child timely care because it doesn't fit within dads schedule is incompetent and possibly unethical. I had reservations in speaking about my experience on this forum, because I don't believe his ego can handle a poor review without retaliation, but more people need to know how biased and incompetent he is. If he wants to speak to me personally and actually listen to me, I'm all ears, however, that is doubtful as he's allowed my Ex to fill his head full of unsubstantiated false claims while ignoring my concerns of my child's ongoing GI issues.
If retaliation occurs due to this review, I will have no qualms about reporting him to the ABP and seeking legal counsel to do so. Healthcare should be provided in a timely fashion, and not delayed. Pursuing a cause and finding a solution for child's complaints is my right in which he has deliberately delayed. There are many competent and intelligent pediatricians out there with reputable practices. This just isn't one of them.
The only thing I have to say that is positive at this moment is that they removed the rude and abrasive office staff they once had, and they "newer" receptionist is very competent, thorough, kind, and efficient. read more
