Cornea Specialist - Riverside, CA

"I took my wife to see this ophthalmologist due to a vision problem. We could not get an appointments with any other ophthalmologist for weeks, but this one had an opening in just two days. Figures ! When we got to the office it was closed for lunch. A lady came is about 10 minutes after the appointment time. We thought it was the assistant as the lady proceeded to lead us in and start the registration process. The office used an online virtual nurse support system. We were instructed to speak to a virtual nurse on a tablet monitor. The virtual nurse began to ask questions and almost immediately the "assistant" began to continually interrupt the nurse. The virtual nurse tried to move on with the registration but the "assistant" continued to interrupt and "correct" the nurse. It all was very confusing and hectic, which is the opposite that a patient needs. Once we were able to get registered, the lady "assistant" proceeded to lead us into the doctor's office and at that time we learned that the lady was actually the doctor herself. There was apparently no assistant and no support staff . A new virtual nurse appeared in a monitor to ask questions about my wife's medical history for the next 15 minutes. That time went without any problems, that is until the doctor walked in. The doctor proceeded to take over the questioning and admonish the virtual nurse and correct her in, what I perceived, a rude and condescending way. The doctor told us that she may seem "militant" , but that if she does not behave this way , she would be working until 10PM at night. The whole environment was very uncomfortable. We still went on trying just to get the examination done and hope to for guidance on how to treat the condition. The doctor performed a variety of tests and continued asking questions. When my wife (the patient) wanted to add some more information , the doctor told her to stop, that she had her chance to speak and now it was the doctor who would speak only. Her point was she had enough information to determine which medical path to follow and did not need the patient to add anything else. She did not like to be interrupted at any time. After finishing the examination, no medical problems were found with the vision, although the original symptoms were still occurring. The doctor then proceeded to ask more questions about the medical history. Then the doctor said that my wife needed to urgently see a neurologist , have an MRI, and see a geneticist. That there could be some major underlying condition causing the vision problems related to all of the other historical problems that my wife had had in her life and also the life of her parents and ancestors. She then stated that this matter is a "Life and Death" issue. Needless to say, my wife was crushed and became extremely nervous and afraid. the doctor was implying my wife had a serious neurological illness (like MS, or Parkinson, etc.). My wife has no symptoms nor history of any of those illnesses. Her worst illness was thyroid cancer which was treated successfully 16 years ago . For the next several days, my wife became depressed and in a constant state of insecurity and fear. Three days later we decided to visit the emergency room of a major eye institute (Bascom Palmer). In that visit, four qualified doctors performed several tests, including an MRI, and found no problems with my wife's vision. They advised that the condition would subside on its own. At no point during the 7-hour emergency visit did the doctors appear worried or make my wife feel nervous. Doctor Garima Lal, MD, may have been granted a license to practice medicine as an ophthalmologist. But her treatment of others, including patients and co-workers, is atrocious. In addition, her intended immersion into the areas of neurology and genetics were highly improper as she is not qualified to provide medical opinions in those matters. And her statement of a "Life and Death" matter was grossly inappropriate, inconsiderate, mean, and frankly ignorant. I would not wish this experience for anyone else. There are plenty of good, caring, qualified ophthalmologists around. There is no need to visit the wrong one, as we did. Lesson learned !"