Before I even met Dr. Noritake I passed out in his office. He was immediately attentive until 911 arrived. His staff contacted my husband and took care of my property. To my surprise, late in the evening, Dr. Noritake comes to see me at the ER to give me my first consultation I had intended on doing earlier that day. I nearly cried. He added crucial tests that help to diagnose what I was experiencing, and visited me each day. A doctor like this makes me hopeful again and I look forward to working with him towards getting well. read more

De Noritake has excellent bedside manners and he listens to your concerns. What more can I say... I just want a doctor to help me with my ailments. Find the problem and give options to fix it. read more

Outstanding in all areas of care & treatment! Over many years of excellent care, Dr Noritake & his team kept my mother alive & thriving until 91... w a complicated autoimmune disease & a host of other issues. read more

I have been going to this drs office for about 13 years. To me, they are the best. I used to live in Burbank but moved to Santa Monica. My husband says "why don't you find a dr in Santa Monica"? I said as long as he is practicing I'll find my way to him. He has kept my RA in check all these years. AND, his office manager, reception and everything else, Rene.... She is the best I don't know how she does all that she does but she does it with kindness and grace. So many patients, insurance companies, pharmacy's , patient scheduling. She's a medical angel!! read more

Dr. Noritake is a knowledgable, thorough, professional, kind Doctor who truly cares about helping his patients! He spent over an hour asking questions and examining me. I will definitely go back to him and I would recommend this Doctor 100%. read more

This is a Asian owned clinic. But it is not a Asian friendly due to the only MA there working for Dr Noritake. She name is Rene. I've been Dr Noritake s patient for over three years and have tolerated enough from she unprofessional work and "unintentionally mistakes". I have also witnessed other issues in the clinic. during the first two years I was treated there, Dr Noritake had two other front desk staffs, coworkers with Rene,. However they both only stay for a few months. Rene has often ask her coworker to turn me back for any of my request. The x ray technician changed once as well. Majority of Dr Noritake's Patient are senior white people. Barely see any Asian. I m probably the only ones that Rene is trying so hard to get rid of. This bitchy MA doesn't even deserve me spending extra time here writing down all details about her bullying. Please kindly refer to a previous review written by another patient of dr Noritake that I completely agree with. I m exactly have the same experience. But she has gotten a lot worse since covid pandemic starts. A few months ago,I had an in person talk with Dr Noritake specific regarding Rene and my poor experience with her. I also inform him that I m looking for another rheumatologist. He seems well aware of what s going on in his clinic and trying to backing off for his staff. As seeing my firm attitude, he said at the end, "right now it is still covid period. Need to give me more time... Rene has her own stress" well, I m not let her dumping her stress to me. Shame on her to be in scrub. read more

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Dean was a great friendly Rheumy with great bedside manners when he started, but later became more like the other crusty fossils in the Pasadena area. The last time I visited him, it was a sheer let-down. I had not seen him for 2-3 years and he wanted to establish me again as a new patient. He was very robotic and seemed to be just going thru the motions. His xray tech took the worst quality x-ray (grainy and underexposed) which was worthless really. I wanted to start taking Humira and I thought the $300-400 initial visit expense was worth it. Dean called me back later from his cell phone while driving and told me he "did not appreciate what I had said to his staff. I asked "what was the matter?" he said " you know very well what you've said!" I said "No, I don't." He got disconnected and I tried calling him again on that number to no avail. Blank accusation. I wrote a letter to Dean stating he had accused me of some wrong doing without mentioning what I had exactly said or done and how hurtful it is to be accused of something and not knowing exactly what. I explained how I had spent the following days trying to think of what could have happened. I never received a call or response from him and of course I did not feel like going back to a doctor that had treated me like this and had not bothered answer my letter with a simple email. I said good bye to the money I had spent and sought help on the Westside where doctors are five heads and shoulders above the village doctors in Pasadena. (*) He has inherited the staff from O'connor's office and those guys make a lot of mistakes. The blonde receptionist/nurse who is now aging is so bad that she makes up lies to the doctors to cover her mistakes. She had done the exact thing 20 years ago with Bryan O'connor. She had failed to leave a note I had given her for the doctor and made some lie to the doctor. Brian O'connor was a monster who would make you wait 90 minutes before seeing you for 90 seconds that included a phony smile for five seconds and would burn thru your wallet and insurance. His office was designed so he would make $100 per minute, which means undereducated staff do everything as much as possible and doctor does the least amount of work since his time is GOLD. People have no clue how varied doctors are when it comes to their attachment to money. Now Noritake has split off and brought that staff with him from Pasadena and the same attitudes. When I began seeing another doctor, I did not wish to be x-rayed again, so I showed them the xray taken at Noritake's lab, the new doctor could not believe how that could be called an xray or how any sane doctor could pass any opinion prescribe any meds based on such xray. So I had to be subjected to xray again within a month of the first. (*) Pasadena doctors would not survive in Beverly Hills and West Hollywood for a day. People would tear them apart on their crappy service. I am sooo happy to be away from that poor weather part of town. People who live in even worse parts of town like South Central, East LA etc are simply at risk of getting killed at the hands of some very ignorant doctors who practice in those parts of the universe. Welcome to LA. read more

I went to Dr. Noritake based on a referral by my general doctor for a second opinion after leaving the horrid office of Dr. Horizon in Beverly Hills. I was a bit cautious because of the lack of a large number of reviews here on Yelp but... Dr. Noritake was genuinely interested in solving my unique case of unexplained symptoms. I was in the office for 2 1/2 hours for a thorough conversation, update and scans. He looked at my X-rays from Dr. Horizon's office and did a bone density test because he thought I may have Osteoporosis. Turns out I have it and very badly for my young age. It needs to be treated. Dr. Horizon simply told me I have some degeneration to my bones based on "hyper activity" and left it at that. I made no sense since I'm not "hyper active". He completely missed this condition and treating it! Aside form that, Dr. Noritake is doing more blood work to figure out what's wrong with me because he listened to my symptoms and didn't try to fit me into a diagnosis box that he knows. I felt like Dr. Horizon among other things (if you read his Yelp reviews) was trying to do just that. His diagnosis did not resonate for me and Dr. Noritake said he would have a hard time seeing that diagnosis fit and is further investigating. He also gave me some insight as to what he is investigating and how if the blood work comes back positive, it could explain my symptoms. He seems to care about solving my problem and I'm grateful for his time. He is a rare find. I'll chime in with an update after he confirms a diagnosis. read more

I think he is nice and he listens to you. Wasn't overly impressed with his confidence to diagnose. I know it's just a wait and see game but any education or lifestyle suggestions would have been helpful to cope with my discomfort in the meantime. read more

Dr. Noritake is thoughtful, and diligent physician. In my years as a patient he has been right on the money as a diagnostician and precise as a treating physician. He has made no mistakes in treating my autoimmune disorder, for which I am eternally greatful. He is a good man and a wonderful doctor. He has also treated my wife very successfully for osteoporosis for which she is also very thankful. Our lives would be very different without Dr. Noritake. The blonde receptionist is also the most helpful, gracious, professional and efficient medical office staff member I have encountered in my many years of going to doctors. fjk read more

Dr. Noritake seems caring, although my adult son has not improved much since he started seeing him years ago. That I won't blame on the doctor, as rheumatoid arthritis is difficult to treat. What I will say is that my son is on my medical insurance, and the doctor has billed over $6,000 every 2 months for years. All claims have been paid, and all patient responsibility has been paid, except for this March and May's infusions. The office staff notified me late on Thursday about the 2 claims not being paid by insurance. I was in the process of trying to get this straightened out, when they called Friday and said they were canceling my son's infusion the following Wednesday because of the insurance denying the 2 claims (but insurance paid a subsequent claim in July). I called to say they didn't give me any time to clear this up, and the response was that they told my son the last time he was in (July). My son is over 18, but it's my insurance, and I pay his medical bills - and they know this. My son, being unfamiliar with medical insurance jargon, thought they were asking for a payment from me - he didn't get the part about insurance not paying. After all the money we've paid to this doctor, I find it very offensive that they withhold treatment for my son because there is a problem with the insurance. I have NEVER had a doctor's office call me to fix a denied claim. They gave me no time to resolve the problems, then denied treatment to my son. That's why I'm giving 1 star. The doctor is good when I go with my son and ask questions it seems like he's very responsive and will look further. I'm not sure how the appointments go when I'm not there. But they definitely don't care about the patients if they deny service - especially when a subsequent claim was paid. It's not like the insurance was canceled. read more

I saw Dr. Noritake about 6 months ago with a painful shoulder, which I thought was arthritis. He immediately diagnosed me with a rotator cuff tear, which he followed up with x-rays. He suggested I go to physical therapy, which I was sceptical of, at first. However, I was pleasently surprised to find that was just what I needed, and was able to avoid other more invasive and painful procedures. read more

I have been seeing Dr. Noritake for a few years. His staff is one of the worst in any doctor's office I have been to. I started reading some of the past reviews and see that these complaints have been expressed for years. I don't know why Dr. Noritake does not do anything about the treatment his patients receive from his staff. They do not want to do any work and pass on the work to the patients. If you ask any medical insurance question, they expect you to get the information from your insurance company. When you call your insurance company, you can't get any info since you do not have the procedure codes which describe what was done and therefore what needs to be charged. After many back and forth calls between Dr. N's office staff and the insurance, I found out that all the procedures would be free. Dr. Noritake does not realize that he is losing customers and charges for procedures because patients are not told that it will be free or of little charge. What a shame !!!! read more