At the time I became his patient, Dr. Abbott had a "New Patient" fee of $850 for which you were given two 45-minute sessions with him and two 45-minute sessions with a member of his team called a "Health Coach", who had no medical certifications.
I have been seeing alternative care providers for almost 50 years. After moving to the Charlottesville area, I had been looking for an opportunity to continue this with someone in the area. I paid Dr. Abbott's $850 new patient fee with the presumption that I would finally be able to resume my regular, semi-annual consultations with an alternative care practitioner.
After being his patient for less than 6 months, I had a dispute with the patient care coordinator in a chat message exchange. Dr. Abbott entered the conversation and said I could no longer be his patient. I told Dr. Abbott there was a misunderstanding, as can happen in such text exchanges. I asked that we try to resolve our differences because I wanted to remain his patient. Dr. Abbott ignored this request. Without future semi-annual visits with Dr. Abbott, being his patient for less than 6 months had negligible value to me. Because of this, I asked for a full (or partial) refund. This request was ignored. I went to great lengths to explain why I felt I should get a refund and that I might make a complaint to the BBB. Then Dr. Abbott accused me of extortion and threatened legal action if I continued. read more