I went to Dr. Papa because she was referred to me by another doctor who said she was very good at getting medications right. I have been seeing her since January 2010, and had high hopes at first, but have just written her a letter letting her know I would no longer be requiring her services.
The initial diagnosis was very expensive (something like $325), but I think she did a good job. She doesn't take insurance, but I decided to take a leap of faith since she was highly recommended and I wanted badly to figure out the right thing for me. She did take some time to figure out the medications that would work for me and the complaints about the side effects I was having, but she was always pushing the brand name pills instead of generic. I told her that her monthly fee was getting to expensive for me ($125 per 20-30min) because I'm a full time student, but she never offered a sliding scale. Every time I went to an appointment, I felt like she was in a hurry to listen casually for a few minutes, give me my prescriptions, and pencil in my next appointment.
I was always on time and very polite to her. I didn't say anything about how I was feeling because I felt she had some kind of authority over me, but I realize that I should have spoken up months ago and stopped seeing her. I am, however, feeling better...though it is probably due to a change in my lifestyle as much as it is the medication.
The worst is how she communicated with me via email. I emailed her only a few times and kept them very brief and very courteous, but never really felt like she gave my questions or worries any thought or time, simply saying that we'll talk about it at our next appointment. Her tone was always very cold, which seems weird to me for her career choice. The straw that broke the camel's back was an email in which she asked me "Are you coming at 3:30?????" exactly like that, just that sentence with the 5 question marks. I had already confirmed that I was indeed coming to that appointment in a previous email, but she must have overlooked it even though it was right there in the thread. I wrote back telling her that her message was rude and very unprofessional. I don't know if she just didn't like me or what, but I wouldn't recommend her to anyone. read more