Bradley David Anawalt

I was a patient of Dr. Anawalt for about 5 years. For the first few years, although he was busy and often late for appointments, which I was ok with, he always answered my questions and took time to listen to me during appointments. However, this year something changed. As a previous reviewer has mentioned, he discouraged me from asking questions during my visit and made comments like "I'm the doctor, I know what I'm talking about," "you ask too many questions," and "I don't have time for you/this." When I tried to speak, he cut me off and his tone of voice became angry and loud. He spoke to me as if I was a child and he was the parent disciplining me, rather than a collaborator on my journey to health. Even though I was the one paying him, he acted as if he was doing me a favor just by having a visit with me. I don't know if Dr. Anawalt is tired of seeing patients, or if the UWMC is placing a back-breaking workload on him, but whatever the case his treatment of me was rude,… disrespectful, and completely inappropriate. I left the visit in tears and immediately transferred my care to another endocrinologist.

I saw this doctor based on his positive reviews. Unfortunately my experience with him was a pretty negative one. His assistant was very nice though. So this doctor was running late, but he popped in to let me know that. So that's no big deal. I even thought to myself that he seems like a nice fellow to pop in and let me know. But when he came in, we talked a bit about why I was here. That's when things changed. After hearing my concerns, he kept saying "You're normal, you're normal..." He probably said that at least 8 or 9 times. So I had some questions I wanted to ask him, and he really didn't encourage me to ask them. Towards the end of our appointment, he said "You've asked me a lot of questions. I have other people I need to go see." Well, I didn't mind waiting when he was running late, but in return he has problems with me asking questions? That's not very good form, I must say. And besides, what is a patient supposed to do during a doctor's visit? Just sit there and say nothing?… The whole point about seeing a doctor is to ask him questions about your concerns. This isn't a free visit you know? I'm paying for this visit, aren't I? With every question he did answer, the answers were usually short and curt, and usually ended with "you're normal." I have a bunch of clinical symptoms there were bothering me, and he just brushed them off. Not once delving into any detailed response at all. He offered zero valuable advice. There was also very little compassion, no suggestions as to any other ways to resolve the issue. Just "you're normal". This is the type of response that maybe you'd expect from a layperson who doesn't want to hear your problems, not a medical doctor who's also a professor. And if you were running late and the patient had no problems with it, the LEAST you could do is to answer his questions with some semblance of patience.

Dr. Anawalt was both well-educated and empathetic regarding my cross-gedner needs while at the VA Endocrinology Clinic in Seattle. The regimen I follw as a 79-year-old woman is a lighter version of what he prescribed 18 years ago. I recall my dealings with him fondly.