Print the value of index0
Lara Haun with Lone Star OB/GYN Associates Horrible service recevied by Lara Haun -DO NOT MAKE HER YOUR OB/GYN San Antonio Texas
Hello,
I would like to tell you about a horrible experience I had with obstetrician named Lara Haun. Granted some may be too much information but I want you to know what I experienced.
I decided to switch obstetrician to have someone closer to my home and work. So I went to my first visit with her when I was 3 months pregnant on Wednesday August 5th, 2015 at 4:00. After an hour I was able to see the obstetrician. Everything went good. She tells me that at my next appointment; the sonogram will be more detailed than the ultrasound and hopefully can determine the sex of the baby. I did tell her I was having some urinary tract symptoms earlier that morning so she ran a urine test. She said the test came back negative but would send to lab to confirm results. My symptoms were not that bad at that time, so I figured maybe it was something else. Before I leave, I give the nurse my (Family and Medical Leave Act) medical certification form. They charge me $25 and tell me it will be completed within 24 hours. (I work full-time so this is needed to cover any emergencies related to my pregnancy and/or doctor appointments. My work encourages us to have this done as soon as find out we are pregnant.)
The next day the symptoms came in full force so I called the obstetrician’s office and asked if they could prescribe something for the symptoms. They said, “No, we cannot.” and didn’t offer anything else. I asked, “So I’m supposed to be in pain until the results come in? She says try cranberry tablets but I let her know those didn’t work for me. Then she says, “I’m sorry”. The results should be back in a week.” I ask if they can rush them because I am in a lot of pain and then planning to go on vacation in a week. She says, “No, but you can check back early next week. “ I call my former obgyn and he prescribes me Uribel. I call on Monday to see if the results are in. The receptionist said, “Let me check. “ She put me on hold for approximately 15 minutes. She tells me, “You do have a UTI, we will send the prescription to your pharmacy.” Usually I call to confirm the pharmacy gets it but I was extremely busy at work that day and didn’t get a chance to call. After work, I pick up my son from the babysitter and I rush over to Walgreens. They advise they did not get a prescription and of course the office is now closed. I call the after-hours nurse line and she calls in my prescription. Walgreens is awesome and fills my prescription within the hour. But now I’m taking my son out of bed at 9:00 to go pick up this prescription.
A week later, I get a denial for my FMLA paperwork because the obstetrician office never faxed the paperwork. I call the obstetrician office and they apologize and advise they will fax that day. I call the FMLA contact center and they advise they received but there is no doctor signature, doctor credentials, office information listed, and one of the questions is not completed. I call the obstetrician office and they apologize again and advise they will resend. I call the FMLA contact center for a third time and they advise there is still no doctor credentials nor office information. By this time my appeal time period has run out and I have to resubmit the request.
The FMLA contact center refaxes the form again to the obstetrician office. I call the obstetrician office for the FOURTH time and apologize and say there are a lot of people who handle that form and some are new and don’t what they are doing. (Obviously) She assures me she will get the information completed and sent. I call the FMLA contact center and they state they changed my requested leave dates from 7/06/2015 to 7/06/2016 to leave not starting until 02/05/2016. I call for the FIFTH time in tears out of complete frustration. I am NOT one to cry so for me to be that upset, that means something. They assure me they will fix it and call me when the fax goes through which she was going to do as soon as we hung up. 5 hours later she calls me to tell me she faxed it. I call and speak with my FMLA contact specialists and he advises me that they fixed the dates but they faxed one of the previous faxes which did not have the doctor credentials on it. He tells me though he sees how many times the form has been faxed. He sees this has been ongoing for a MONTH and that we do have the doctors credentials. So he gets my FLMA leave approved by combining TWO forms. Thank you Jesus for kind souls.
By this time, my four month follow-up appointment has come up. I’m debating of switching obstetricians obviously at this point but I don’t for 2 reasons. The next appointment is to determine the sex of the baby which my husband and I are super excited to find out. Secondly, the doctor was good at the first appointment when I talked to her; it was just her office I was having issues with. I figured I can just let her know what is going on.
The appointment is set for 2:45 on September 2nd, 2015. My husband and I arrive excited. The doctor is running late. They take my vitals at 4:00 and I ask about the sonogram. The nurse informs me that the doctor did not request a sonogram. I explain the doctor had told me last time I was there, that I would have a sonogram at this appointment. I explain this is the reason I brought my husband so we can find out together. She sees I am starting to get upset and says “Ok, I’ll see what I can do.” They squeeze me in and we finally get to know we have a beautiful baby girl! My happiness is short lived.
At 5:00 my husband leaves for a meeting and the obstetrician sees me. She tells me, I’m sorry about the mix-up with the sonogram, looks like the “girls” didn’t request it. We go over results. Then she asks me if I have any questions. I say no but I did want to let you about some issues I have had with your office. She says “Ok, let me know.”
So I proceed to tell her about the UTI scenario. She tells that she does not prescribe a prescription unless the urine test is positive. I told her that I understand that but was wondering if she prescribed anything for the symptoms like Uribel. She said I don’t prescribe that for pregnant women. I told her how I had asked if there was anything else I could get besides the cranberry tablets since they didn’t work for me and was informed no. She said you could use this over the counter medicine which is like Uribel (forgot the name she said). I advised her, that when I asked if there was anything else for the symptoms, I was not informed of that option. Instead of apologizing for not being informed of the over the counter medicine, she asks me who was the person I talked too? She says, “Without a name I can’t do much.” I can see her change in demeanor towards me by this point. I told her I have talked to alot of people since then so not sure. She said well in the future; make sure you get a name so I can talk to them. I can understand that so I didn’t get upset. She started talking about how she had a substitute and they don’t know her recommendations but now they have one dedicated person who will run all questions by her directly so that should help. So I’m okay with that even though at this point I am feeling she is pushing off any responsibility for her office.
I then told her that when I went to the pharmacy to get my prescription it had not been sent. She got very offended (I found later she is the one that submits the requests) and said if we said it was sent, then it was sent. I said I went to Walgreens and it was not there. She then says well not sure what happened; sometimes Walgreens doesn’t get my requests although CVS always gets them! I haven’t had any problems with CVS.” I understand there are sometimes issues with the transmission so I let it go. She then says, “When we called you, to give you the result, that’s when we sent it.” I say, “Ya’ll didn’t call me. I called your office to get the results so maybe that’s why the prescription didn’t get sent (allowing for an out).” She looked at me like I was lying, to the point I asked her outright if she thought I was lying?! She said, “I don’t think you are lying but that’s not how we do things around here. “ She then says, “When you called you THEY told you, you had a UTI? I said yes. She said,” They don’t know unless I tell them so I don’t understand how they told you, you had a UTI,” shaking her head. I said very calmly, “I don’t know how she knew, but she put me on hold for 15 minutes, came back told me I had a UTI and said the prescription would be sent to my pharmacy.” She looked with an incredulous look and said “Wait! WE didn’t call you?” raising her voice and throwing up her hands. I tell her she needs to calm down because I am not raising my voice and not mad. I said, “That’s right, I wanted to know the results as soon as possible and I called on Monday.” She once again just looks at me like I’m lying. I tell her this not the only situation.
I then tell I had to fax my FMLA paperwork 5 times. She then cuts me off before I can finish explaining the situation. She raises her voice again and looks me directly in the eye and says “Wait! WHY do you need FMLA for now” FMLA is for when you deliver the baby.” (I am astonished assuming FLMA is common for working pregnant women and would assume she would know why it’s needed, especially since she did FINALLY sign my paperwork. So at his point, she signed my paperwork without reviewing it since the last form provided leave from 8/21/20 to 2/05/2016) By this time, I am getting upset and I raise my voice too and answer that I need it to cover my doctor appointments. She looks at me like she can’t believe I just said that. She then asks, “Do you want to TRANSFER doctors” I can’t believe she just asked me that as I thought the issues I was bringing up were minor! I said, “Yes, I would love too. “ She said, “Ok GREAT! Let me get you paperwork.” so I follow her to the front office where there is like 4 receptionist/nurses sitting. She tells one of them to send me my release paperwork to me certified. THEN she says. “Because I just FIRED this patient!”, In front of everyone. They all turn to gawk at me and I say, “YES and I APPRECIATE IT!” and walked out.
This day was supposed to be a joyous occasion for me and my husband but she ruined it for me. Instead of telling all my family and friends, I was so emotionally upset, I didn’t tell anyone. I am truly appalled with her behavior as it was totally uncalled for and unprofessional. I understand we all have bad days, but for her to be like this towards me is beyond reprehensible. I am filing complaint with the Texas Medical Board/her Board of Directors and everyone I know.
5 Updates & Rebuttals
Dear AlenaG
#6Author of original report
Thu, September 10, 2015
First I would like to comment on how you think my story rings untrue because of what the doctor commented on the sonogram. First off, there is a difference between a sonogram and an ultrasound. Feel free to look it up. I didn’t know there was a difference either until she told me that at my next appointment I would have a sonogram which was more detailed than an ultrasound. I really didn’t care as long I was having something that could determine the sex of the baby. The reason I got upset was only because when I went to next appointment, the nurse blamed the doctor for not ordering and the doctor blamed the nurses for not ordering. Secondly, I can understand she may not know how my company’s fmla works but what I cannot understand is why she had to raise her voice to me and very rudely ask me why I needed it now. Especially, since she had already signed the paperwork. Maybe she should have asked prior to signing it. Then for her to very snidely ask if I wanted to transfer doctors after I told her I needed it now in case I need to use for doctors appointments is beyond me. You know the first visit with her went good so for her to be this rude was a shock to me. Thirdly, my previous obgyn did prescribe the Uribel because I did have a previous long history of UTI and understood my situation. I was informed of the risks and the reason I only took the tablets as needed. I am not mad that Lara Haun does not prescribe the Uribel , that is her medical opinion and I was not upset about that. What I was upset about, was how I was told to wait a week for my results before they could offer anything for the symptoms and even after I told them the pain I was in, they couldn’t do anything and when they finally did get my results, they didn’t send my prescription to the pharmacy as they said they would. Only to find out later, that the Lara Haun does recommend an over the counter medicine. When I did mention to her what happened her basic reply was in the future I needed to get the name of the person I talk because she can’t do anything without a name. I can understand it would be much easier with a name and I probably would have remembered it if I didn’t have to call her office 5 times after that for the fmla form. And she could have still told everyone who was answering the phone what her UTI recommendation was so at the end of day, she COULD have done something. If you want to wait an hour or more to see this doctor, feel free to do so. On my first visit she was good and answered all my questions She told me if I had any more questions or concerns to feel free to call her. I called her office and asked to speak to her after 3rd time the paperwork was not faxed. I got a call a week later from her nurse, telling me I had to make an appointment if I wanted to talk to her . That’s great that you have never had a problem, I just hope you never have to raise an issue with her. Because then you will a side I would never have thought I would see in a doctor. For her to say “I just fired this in patient!” in front of me and and her staff is completely unprofessional.
Now on your last comment where you think I lost my mind because I posted a letter to let everyone about her behavior is ridiculous. If you want to see losing your mind, please feel free to turn on the 6:00 news where people are stabbing and shooting eachother. That is losing your mind. Writing a letter to all my family and friends and any woman out there to not have to experience what I went through is the least I could do. Like I said, her practice manager agreed and has refunded my doctors visit. So, if you want to take chance on this doctor, feel free to do so but at least you have been warned.
AlenaG
San Antonio,Texas,
USA
Dr Haun and Lone Star OB/Gyn
#6Consumer Comment
Thu, September 10, 2015
I've been a patient of Dr Lara Haun. Reading the complaint, I have to say I found a couple of points I would like to comment on. First, the patient says that the dr said something that seemed to differentiate between a sonogram and an ultrasound. Sonogram is an ultrasound. I cannot believe that a doctor would ever make the mistake like that, which makes the story ring untrue, or at minimum embellished to sound more tragic. Second, using fmla for pregnancy visits is not as common as using it for maternity leave; I can see how that could be confusing to someone, even working in a dr's office, and I can imagine that errors happen for that reason.
I cannot imagine changing a doctor because of it. Third, I find highly unlikely that another provider would take responsibility to prescribe a medication contraindicated in pregnancy to a pregnant patient like described. If the situation really happened as mentioned, I believe Dr. Haun's office acted correctly not to give medications before all results were in. I'd rather suffer some discomfort than expose my unborn child to a substance that could cause him harm. Dr. Haun is an excellent physician, very well trained in her field, very compassionate, friendly, and caring.
Even when running late, she finds time to talk to her patients about their concerns during every visit. I never minded the wait, because, frankly, when she is late, absolute majority of time it is because she is taking care of a patient in labor. When that patient was me, I was definitely expecting her to take care of me and my baby, and she did, even if someone in her waiting room probably had to wait a bit longer. Children don't wait. During my pregnancy, our care was always first class. Every time we visited the office, we always received her full attention. Well before the due date she discussed every facet of the pregnancy and delivery with me and my partner. She (and everyone in the office) have always treated our family with nothing but respect.
When the time came for the delivery, she acted very professionally, and compassionately explained what needed to happen. Without her prompt and skillful intervention in the right time, my baby might not have been the healthy and growing young man he is now. Her surgical skills are highly commendable, too. I don't think I've ever seen such a lovely scar as I have post c-section; very even, and healed flawlessly and quickly. I would never consider any other doctor for my ob/gyn needs. I can understand frustration with faulty paperwork, but not losing my mind and posting bad reports like this to tarnish someone's reputation because of a clerical error.
Dear MLCordero
#6Author of original report
Wed, September 09, 2015
I am happy that she has treated you well. As I mentioned, I did not have any problems with her previous to this inicident. Things just quickly changed when I wanted to address some concerns with her. I just pray that you never have to expereince what I went through. Obviously, there is merit to my concerns as I have received a response from her pratice manager and she has apologlized and per her exact words, "will be speaking to all the staff invovled with my care and teaching them how to better serve thier patients." I also informed her, I will not be paying for that doctors visit because I will not pay anyone to be treated in such a manner and she AGREED and will be refunding my insurance the doctor visit charge. As for my FMLA. I work for a wonderful company that allows me use my FMLA as soon as I found out I am pregnant for doctor visits if Im out of paid time off, etc. It is called intermediate FMLA. and I know exactly how it works, thank your very much, as I used it with my first child. In the future, please don't assume how every company's FMLA works. God bless you.
anonymous
San Antonio,Texas,
USA
In response to Dr. Lara Haun's negative complaint
#6Consumer Comment
Wed, September 09, 2015
I am also a patient at Lone Star Ob/Gyn. I have nothing bad to say about Dr. Haun. However her nurses are rude, airheads, and do not know what they are doing.
MLCordero
San Antonio,Texas,
USA
In response to a complaint about Dr. Lara Haun, Lone Star OB/GYN
#6Consumer Comment
Wed, September 09, 2015
I've read your entire complaint and have to say that I do not find merit in it. Yes, everybody is entitled to their opinion but I believe you went above and beyond and are even toeing the line at slander.
In my personal experience, Dr. Haun has been the most knowledgeable, patient, comforting physician I have ever had the pleasure to see. I do not see her in the obstetrician regard, but as a GYN. I have not had the pleasure to have experienced pregnancy care with her, as I have health issues that are posing some difficulty in achieving conception. With that being said, I have been through Hell and back with these issues and Dr. Haun has stood by my side every step of the way, for over 6 years. She always takes the time to explain situations I may not understand and ensure I understand them before moving onto the next issue. I have never had any issues with response from her office, even when scheduling and preparing for a surgery that was a month in advance. She does not sugarcoat anything and is very forthcoming and maybe that's not what you were expecting but that's what I happen to appreciate about her the most. She tells it like it is.
Not sure about the necessity for the FMLA paperwork so early in your pregnancy (your employer must need EXTREMELY advanced notice of your leave) but I understand your frustration in not recieving the completed form in a timely matter; I also get why she was shocked because FMLA doesn't apply until after you've exhausted your short term disability and THAT doesn't kick in unless you have to extend your maternity leave. Sounds to me like you need to re-visit your HR department in that regard.
About the UTI, I'm VERY surprised that the obstrician you consulted when Dr. Haun's office informed you to wait for the results prescribed you Uribel as it is contraindicated in pregnancy and may harm your fetus. You would have done just as well as taking OTC phenazopyradine (AZO) and waiting for the results as advised. You may want to ensure your baby is ok; I suggest making it a point to inform your new OB about taking that medication.
In conclusion, I guess my take away is that you had one experience that you deemed "horrible" because you went into it expecting to be coddled and because it didn't proceed down the path you imagined, you decided to take it out on a wonderful physician and staff. Shame on you. Good thing she is as awesome as she is so that this ONE bad review won't even c***k her stellar reputation.
Good luck finding a physician who gives you what you feel you need.