Beware of Dishonest Doctors

[momof4 0]

I just want to come on here and post a warning to anybody in Las Vegas considering getting the lapband. I had the lapband with a doctor who promised that the first year's worth of fills were free (on his part). I developed dizziness shortly after getting the band and couldn't get any fills until I was over a year out. My doctor told me that my fill would be free since my medical problems kept me from being filled during the first year.

Shortly after my fill, my dizziness came back and worse than before. So, I had an unfill by the same doctor and a few months later had the band removed by DIFFERENT doctor. It has now been 8 months since I had my band removed and I have just received a bill from a collection agency for those two doctor visits. When I talked to them, they had the office manager call me (who happens to be the doctor's wife) and she said that fills are considered a "surgical procedure" and that's why they billed me $1,000 each visit ($2,000 total). This was not performed under fluoro and there were no problems finding the port either time. $1,000 for the fill and another $1,000 for the unfill. This is robbery. When I told his wife that he said that my fill would be covered she told me that he would never say that without clearing it with her first since she does the billing. As it is, they have the whole process set up to where he won't even consider a fill for several months out and then he won't give you another fill for months after that. He makes sure that you have to keep going to him beyond that year to get any kind of restriction. He basically sets you up for failure. The funny thing is, that since I got my band removed, all my health problems disappeared. Make sure you get EVERYTHING in writing before choosing a doctor and make sure their signature is on it so you have proof.

Tricia H

[anonemouse 1]

Eek! That's horrible!

[momof4 0]

What's even worse is that I NEVER even received a bill directly from the doctor before he sent it on to the collection agency. My husband even called the collection agency and asked how they received the bill for collection when we had never even received one. It's not like we don't have the money--we do. But how can we pay for something we were never billed for? (We weren't billed because they know that at least one of those services was supposed to be free).

[blulili 0]

What an awful experience! You know, you should really look into reporting that physician and his "business" practices. I have no idea to who you would report him to or file a complaint with, but it's just not right. Good luck to you.

Take Care,

Lili

[momof4 0]

Thank you Lili. I have thought about it, the only problem is that I don't have PROOF that he said that my fill was free. I wouldn't even mind paying for that fill, but $1000 is outrageous. I could have gone to most anybody else and gotten a fill for $100 - $350. He never said that fills in his office were $1000 either, he quoted me like $150 but I didn't get that in writing either. My husband is so angry that he said they aren't getting one penny. We have good enough credit that one little glitch isn't going to hurt us. He already robbed us by putting the band in and being absent during the after care, why should be pay him an inflated price for the fill and unfill!!!

[anonemouse 1]

Believe me, one glitch in your credit CAN hurt you, once it goes on your credit report. I know this from experience. I cut my hand a few years ago and went to the emergency room. Did you know that you are billed twice at the ER? I didn't. Once from the hospital and once from the doctor that you see. Apparently, the doctor failed to get my correct address and insurance information from the hospital workers (I know the hospital had it because I got mailings from them later and my insurance was billed for their portion). Since I never got a bill from the doctor, I thought everything had been taken care of. I got a couple of calls from a collection agency, telling me that I had hospital bills that had not been paid. So, I did what anyone would do, and called the hospital. Those were all paid. So, I thought everything had been taken care of. Not so, apparently.

I got a copy of my credit report a few months later, and it had a delinquent medical bill on there. That one single bill dropped my credit rating from excellent (around 780) to verging on bad (around 625). And the credit rating continues to go down as long as the bill remains unpaid. So if you don't get that resolved, it WILL affect your credit. My credit is still recovering. It doesn't matter that the bill would have been paid if the doctor had bothered to get my correct address or had gotten my insurance information. Once it's on your credit report, it stays there for 7 years, even once you get it paid. It will affect your credit for the entire time it is on there.

[momof4 0]

Wow Lauren, thanks for the information. We have been on vacation all week and so I haven't had a chance to come back on. I plan on calling the doctor's office first thing on Monday to work something out. The screwy thing is that after the fill, the doctor's office tried billing my insurance and I called the office manager (doctor's wife) to remind her that the doc said he wouldn't charge me for that fill. She said she'd talk to the staff member who bills the insurances and get it taken care of. However, now she doesn't remember the doctor telling me there was no charge.

As far as the unfill, I will gladly pay a "reasonable" price. I refuse to pay $1000. I know he quoted my fills at less than that, but then again, I didn't get it in writing. If he refuses to budge, then in all honesty, we'll take the chance. We have been told that our credit score is at the top 1/2 of 1% in the country. It might take our score down but I can't just sit by and let the doctor and his wife rob us either.

I'll keep you posted on what they say when I talk to them on Monday.

Thanks for your help.......Tricia

[Reesh 0]

Tricia, your situation is unbelievable, my only suggestion is pay $5/month, then it won't go on yr credit report because u are paying them something. Good Luck!!!

[momof4 0]

Thanks Reesh. I have no problem paying them what I owe them, but what they're asking for is way too much. Besides that, now that they know that I had an MGB, he's taking back the "free" fill. He's doing this out of spite and for no other reason. Before they knew I had the MGB, I never received a bill or anything. (Actually, I still have never received a bill from his office, only the collection agency). Maybe it's stupid for me to refuse to pay the whole amount, but it's a matter of principle.

[VegasJen 0]

Hi Momof4... I am getting ready to have surgery in Las vegas (I live here) and was wondering if you would mind telling me who your surgeon is? I am paying cash for the surgery, so I am really trying to get them to nail down all the costs for me. What would you have sone differently before your surgery? Thanks so much for your warning, and any more info you can give me.

Jen

[Amelia40 0]

You could report him to the better business bureau. You may not have proof that he said the fills would be free but you do have proof that he is charging $1000 for fills which the most I have seen before your post on this board was $500.

Good Luck!

[sharon2u 0]

did you know what actually caused the dizziness by chance? I got a letter from my Insurance company yesterday telling me that everything is covered all my post office visit and fills etc but any other in hospital things will ahve to be resubmitted for approval.I have that letter glued in my binder so I will not lose it and downloaded the thing to my documents never can be too safe that is like money to me.

[Chele 1]

why dont you have a friend call and ask about surgery etc...go to a seminar...and record it ? ask about how much fills are etc?? (past the year,,how much do they charge?)even if there are complications how much are office visits...if they want to be sneaky crooks and unethical, beat them at their game. Just cause someone is a dr doesn't give them a pass to be a jerk. Sounds like the wife is the bad cop ...confront the dr directly not just the wife, they hate confrontation ...he probably knows what his wife is dong..and glad she is doing it for him...but if you ask him...dont you remember saying that to me..i bet he would admit it. What a jerk!! 1,000 for a fill is robbery, i dont care if you could pay it 5 times over...a rip off is just that. I would let the wife know that you are going to post your experience and that this dr charges 1.000. per fill on every message board you can find...if they pay for advertising say you will do it for free...but it is probably not the advertising they want!!! She doesn't give a dang about you....they do not want to play nice.....go on the offensive...if you lose, you will not be any worse off than you are right now!! Good Luck!!!!

[soulful Grandma 0]

mom of 4 could you PM me? I'm moving to Las Vegas in a few months and don't want to get my fills from the wrong doctor!

[momof4 0]

Sorry for not coming back on sooner. We have pretty much spent the entire summer on vacation. Just a quick update. I called my insurance company to report him. It turns out that he put "false codes" on my pre-op paperwork for the lab stuff so the insurance company would pay for it. He also tried billing the insurance for my fills and when they were denied because the codes were unknown, this doctor's office would bill them again and change the codes--knowing that they were NOT covered by my insurance!!! They are very crooked in the way they run his office. His wife is greedy and handles all the billings.

I tried to talk to him but his wife wouldn't let me talk to him. She only said that he denied ever telling me that my fill would be free. I wouldn't lie about this and I wouldn't be going through this hassle if he didn't say it. We haven't paid the bill yet and we haven't received anything else from the collection agency or the doctor's office. I'm waiting to see what happens. He's so quick to get people in to get the lapband, but once you've got it, him and his wife don't want to be bothered with the aftercare. If they do happen to be there, then look out because they charge way more than the going rate!!!

One more thing. When I talked to the doc's office manager wife, she said that since she already billed the insurance company, then she couldn't lower the price because then that's considered FRAUD. I'm sorry but isn't billing them and changing the codes over and over again to see if the insurance will pay fraud too? Isn't putting down that I am having gallbladder problems for my UGI, X-rays, etc. BEFORE the surgery considered fraud (when he knows that the labs were for the lapband)? Funny what they will do to get paid and what they'll FORGET in order to get more money.

Thanks for all your responses. soulful Grandma, I PM'd you the name of the doctor, let me know if there's anything else I can help you with.....