We initially went to Dr. Soohoo, last year, for an unusual condition with my son's eyelashes. She was recommended because she is in research and specializes with pediatric dermatology. On our first meeting, Dr. Soohoo was very engaging and nice. She quickly went through all of the various possibilities and, ultimately, took a guess at my son's condition. We were prescribed a few things to try & slowly my son's condition improved. I can't really say that it was because of the treatment over the general fact that his body was healing on it's own.
Bill H's experience and ours is nearly identical, however, when it comes to the treatment for my wife. She has some minor adult acne & was prescribed a very specific type of tetracycline at a specific dose. We were also given a 'discount card' (similar to what Bill H. was given).
When I went to Walgreens, they wouldn't honor the card. They told me the med (at that dose) wasn't covered. They started to try and charge me $300 for the prescription & I told them that I'd get back to them when I can get it covered. Walgreens told me that all I needed was the doctor to provide a pre-authorization.
I went into the office and they told me that it's Dr. Soohoo's policy to not provide pre-authorizations, but they would call Walgreens and get it so they would take the card. Following up later in the day, I found that they did call the pharmacy and get the card to work, but the prescription would still be nearly double my deductible. When I tried to go through my insurance's mail order pharmacy, Dr. Soohoo's office informed me that they wouldn't honor their prescription request either.
Having worked in the medical industry for years, I know that these discount cards are provided to doctor's offices as promotions to move their brand name products through the office and combat the generic market. The doctor is always provided spiffs for the number of cards they can get activated and prescriptions filled.
Dr. Soohoo's office doesn't provide pre-authorizations because of one very specific reason. During the PA process, the doctor's office is required to justify that there are no suitable alternatives that can be prescribed. Dr. Soohoo's office would never be able to satisfy those conditions, because there are dozens of other alternatives. However, in Dr. Soohoo's case, those alternatives don't turn into a commission check.
We have terminated all care with her office and will not be able to provide any sort of recommendation.
One additional note, Dr. Soohoo has been known to prescribe Accutane. I have seen some posts and heard of her doing it. There is a huge debate on the safety of Accutane. I know, when I took it in the 80s for my cystic acne, it was new and the FDA was overly cautious. There was a multi-page warning that came with the medication & I had to sign it. There were SIGNIFICANT risks associated with Accutane & Roche has been paying millions in settlements. They pulled the med and no longer produce it. If you have any doubts, google Accutane birth defects or the affects of Accutane on young females. You will probably find that not many doctors are feeling good about prescribing that either. Dr. Soohoo obviously thinks that's ok. Not in my kids it's not.
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