Update (They made it worse): Was finally able to get the call center from India to give me the number for the owner of the clinic, Dr. Lukose. I called him, thinking that he would care about his own clinic and would want to make things right, but instead I was yelled at for 15 minutes about how much money this guy makes per hour and how it is not even worth his time to speak to me. He refused to correct the billing charges and told me he would only do that if I deleted this review, and if I didn't then he might just cancel the insurance billing and send the $800 bill directly to me ($400 for the visit I went to, and another $400 for the 30 second phone call regarding the needless test results).
I told him that was not going to happen, then he proceeded to tell me multiple times that he was going to sue me for defamation. I asked him to name one part of this review that was false, and he refused to do that and just told me again
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Horrible experience, this place should be investigated for fraud. Go anywhere but here! I went in for a yearly checkup and to get a referral for a physical therapist who I had already been seeing (Texas law requires a referral to be treated for more than 10 days). I had already been successfully treated by the same physical therapist for the same issue 2 years ago.
I explained all of this to the doctor and simply asked for a referral and he dismissively told me that I was wrong and there is no way that a physical therapist would be able to help with that issue. He said in his experience, the only two causes could be Diabetes or low Testosterone. I explained to him that I have a very healthy diet, I workout 4+ days per week and there is no chance I have either of those.
He would not give me a referral without running labs for both of those, even after I reemphasized that the same physical therapist had already fixed this exact issue before (sure seems like the doctor is getting a kickback for these unnecessary lab tests he forces onto patients). The doctor also didn't bother telling me these labs would be an additional charge and not included in the yearly exam.
After I agreed, because I didn't have time to find another doctor to get a referral from before my physical therapy appointment the next day, he begrudgingly wrote the referral and told me "You can waste your money however you want". (FYI doctor... It's a month later, treatment is complete and I'm back to 100% so maybe try opening your mind once in a while and stop assuming you know everything).
A week later, the office called me to confirm that the tests were normal, over a 30 second phone call and told me I did not need to come into the office for a follow-up. A week later, I received a bill from my insurance that The Little Lantern Clinic charged them $400 for a follow-up visit, and not even the correct charge for a regular, primary care physician visit. They billed it as a "Specialist visit" so they could charge even more! I called the clinic and they told me "We consider that phone call as an in-person office visit and that's how we bill it".
After some arguing back and forth (I can't even comprehend how greedy you have to be to try to justify charging $400 for a 30 second phone call), the billing department finally agreed to cancel the charge, but it would take 15 days and they will call me back when it's removed. Not going to hold my breath since they promised me a call back twice last week and never bothered calling.
On top of all of that, the doctor wrote a prescription for my Psoriasis (skin rash) and I was told by the pharmacy that it could not be used in the area around my eyes. I had a spot pop up just below my eyebrow and called the clinic to ask if the doctor could write a new prescription for a lower strength version that I could use in that area.
I was told he couldn't do that without me coming in to an office visit so he could see what it looks like (and so they could bill another $400 for something completely unnecessary). Guess what doctor.... It looks exactly the same as every other Psoriasis spot on my arms that you looked at! Not something you have to see me in person to know what it is.
Avoid this place at all costs, or it will cost you more than they advertise! read more
