Dr. Samson G. Vimalananda, MD

Stood me up several times and never called and would'nt take my calls. I never heard from him again. He let me run out of meds.

He is a script writing machine only. He has never taken the time to understand my illness and diagnose me properly. Over the last 3 visits he asked "who put you on these medications?". Then is astonished when I tell him 'You did!'. He likes to prescribe name-brand medications (pharma influenced?) and I have to re-educate him about my situation every time I see him. Does he even review his own chart before seeing a patient? The last visit he wrote script for a medication in which I a bad reaction just 4 months ago! I didn't realize it until I got home. I'm firing him and moving on to another doc.

I've been seeing Dr. V for roughly 4 months and he has helped me in this period more than any other doctor in over a decade. He takes a conservative approach to medications, starting small and incrementally altering dosages. He doesn't jump into addictive medications, which is why I think he gets negative reviews - he isn't a dealer. He genuinely tries to help. And he has helped me a great deal and for that I'm thankful.

Dr. V went on a month's vacation with no coverage. I admit I accidentally missed my last appointment with him which happened to be his last day before his vacation. I called his office the day of the missed appointment and received a return phone call the following day. I only had a weeks worth of my medications left so I asked who was covering his patients while he was on vacation. I was I was told that Dr. V had no one covering his patients. I was told to contact my primary care doctor which I did. When my primary care doctor's staff called Dr. V's staff they were told that I missed my last appointment and that they didn't think it was necessary to have my prescriptions filled. Thus, my primary care doctor would not write me a bridge precription until Dr. V returned. Please note that the prescriptions I was taking were Nortriptyline 75mg and Clonazepam .5mg 3x/day. Dr. V's staff made the decision that stopping these meds cold turkey would be fine and not an emergency. … Fortunately I was able to find a doctor at a Patient First facility that would fill my prescriptions until I could see a new doctor to manage my medications.

Dr V kept no records on me. When I had to go on long term disability, he claimed my file hadn't been seen for three years and he had no idea what became of it. He never knew what meds I was on, I always had to tell him the dosage, and names. I probably could have gotten him to prescribe anything, he just signed the pad.

I think people misunderstand what psychiatrists are allowed to do these days. They cannot bill for the fuzzy stuff, the therapy etc that we all want. they are paid for psychopharmacology. This is a legitimate field in its own right but i don't think people realize this when they go. For psychotherapy we have to see therapists. So with that context in mind you can see why the visits are fast and people feel rushed because they have the wrong expectations of a psychiatrist. I like him and think he is very smart. He knows his medicine. I see my therapist for the chitchat.

I felt very rushed by Dr. V. He had me out in 5 minutes...even though I had questions and concerns with my medications. I was having horrible reactions to one med in particular, and the staff wouldn't pass along a message to him--I couldn't get in for 3 weeks. I found a new doctor immediately.

Most psychiatrists nowadays do a rush job, and Dr. V is no exception. They're pill-pushers- listening to patients is relegated to underlings (social workers/psychologists). I found the division between the two St. Joseph's Hospital offices - "Psych Associates Care" (psychologists/social workers) and "Psych Associates of Maryland" (psychiatrists) to be deceptive and confusing. Ostensibly they're two separate companies, but they're really one and the same, merely two offices at either end of the same hall. I implored Dr. V and my psychologist to stop raising my dosage and wean me from meds, to no avail. Could this have something to do with the unending parade of pharmaceutical company reps always around pushing their expensive wares? Dr. V revealed that he sees 30 patients a day. If you think you'll get individual attention, you'll be disappointed. Dr. V is an ice cube wrapped in velvet- a soft fuzzy exterior masking a cold interior.

Dr. V as he is more commonly called, is a kind gentleman. He appears to lost some degree of caring in his 31 years of experience. He never reads up to familiarize himself with me before calling me back to his office. He takes no notes what so ever which has caused me a considerable amount of problems when trying to get reports or notes to forward to other parties concerning my progress. He has even gone so far as to have me take a letter when I requested it home to type and bring back for his signature if I needed a typewritten letter that badly. I felt that was totally unprofessional and I should have at least received some discount on the cost of my visit. He always has to confirm the medication and dosage that he has me on because he keeps no notes for himself. When I've articulated unusual side effects he never responds to tell me if this is normal or common. I suffered for 5-6 months with an increase in my blood pressure unaware that it was a new medication that was causing it and… migraines. I feel he has become to lax in his care and attention to his patients and simply rushes them through.