Dr David S. Seminer, MD

Dr. Seminer is fantastic. He is knowledgeable and most of all, caring. He goes above and beyond to find treatments that work for his patients. I've been seeing him for 5 years, and don't know what I'll do when he eventually retires. If you're the type of person who needs a doctor with an overly friendly, demonstrative bedside manner, he might not be for you. However, if you want the most knowledgeable physician, you can't find anyone better in the area.

his assistant was extremely patient and professional however the doctor was extremely rude unprofessional acted as though I was wasting his time. He only did one side and he did not want to even do that. This is the fourth time I've had this done this time I have blood squirting out of everywhere it was like he was stabbing me. I will make sure to fill out the Sutter satisfaction survey when I get it in the mail.

In retrospect, Sutter Medical Group neurologist David Seminer, M.D. failed to accurately diagnose the correct, root causes of my severe constant pain and symptoms that were neurological or had neurological components. He failed to facilitate diagnoses by referring me to specialists who had more expertise, knowledge, and skills such as neurospine specialist or headache specialist. He did not do a differential diagnosis. He ignored the known facts in my medical records and reports. He made swift and profoundly wrong conclusions that my severe, constant pain and symptoms from spinal injuries were “psychological.” Worse, he did so behind my back instead of being honest, transparent, forthcoming and saying it to my face. If Dr. Seminer did not think my medical neurological issues were in his knowledge realm, he should have referred me to experts such as a neurospine specialist and pain specialist. He should have disclosed that my surgeon failed to remove the disease that was directly… causing my migraines and that the iatrogenic cervical spine injury compounded migraines. It was his duty to fully inform me and wrong to dismiss and ignore real, physical, medical spine injuries and spinal nerve pain as “psychological” and to ignore the root cause of worsening migraine headaches. It shows Dr. Seminer’s outdated thinking when a diagnosis is not immediate, obvious and medical facts in records are ignored. I was referred to Dr. Seminer by my SMG primary care doctor. I had sustained multiple, severe iatrogenic injuries on the day of a hospital and surgical Never Event and since that day, I had experienced medical issues including neurological issues such as worsening migraine headaches with dizziness and new, severe, constant pain in my cervical and lumbar spine with numbness and tingling in extremities, electrical pain shooting down my left leg, muscle weakness, etc. During visits, I clearly reported and described my specific pain and symptoms, and explained that I needed treatment and pain relief urgently so I could resume working for a living because I was a self-employed, self-supporting, technical professional. Dr. Seminar had all my medical records available so he could have chosen to take ten minutes to review the complete, pertinent facts, then spend another ten minutes thinking, analyzing, and doing a fact-based differential diagnoses. He did not. He was not transparent and forthcoming about what he was erroneously thinking and inaccurately assuming. Dr. Seminer barely spoke. For example, when he performed an EMG test on one leg, I asked him what the results showed. He seemed perturbed at being questioned and said “normal.” When I asked what a normal test result ruled out and what the next diagnostic step would be, he just said “it was normal.” Unbeknownst to me, he wrote information in my records that served to obstruct my ability to get correct, timely diagnoses and treatment. Much later, too late, I obtained my records and learned that Dr. Seminar had written that my “multiple symptoms appear to be out of proportion to any physical findings” and were “anxiety-related” even though I did not have anxiety. This was preposterous, unjustified misdiagnoses clearly in contradiction to the facts available in my medical records and reports. Sutter Medical Group has a Patient’s Bill of Rights which states that patients have the right to “receive information about your health status, diagnosis, prognosis, course of treatment, prospects for recovery and outcomes of care including unanticipated outcomes in terms you can understand. You have the right to effective communication and to participate in the development and implementation of your plan of care.” However, Dr. Seminer chose to withhold and not communicate. He stated in a document that he could “not immediately find any single explanation which led to the suspicion that the symptoms are psychological” and that I had “begged for a diagnosis and explanation.” His lack of candor and transparency, his failure to refer to appropriate specialists, his preposterous statements written and spoken behind my back, all caused me much harm. There is no excuse for hiding information from patients and creating obstacles to correct treatment. Unbeknownst to me, my primary care doctor believed Dr. Seminer’s misdiagnosis instead of me and Sutter abruptly barred me from physical therapy I was undergoing. Doctors ethically owe patients real time discussion and the complete medical facts and truth so the patient can make the best and fastest decisions before it is too late. It took many years to obtain the correct diagnoses, spine procedures, and multiple surgeries to relieve the iatrogenic spine pain, collapsed disc, and nerve impingement, and to have the disease excised that was the root cause of my migraine headaches. After my Never Event, doctors abandoned me to fend for myself and I had to travel to the Bay Area for correct diagnoses, medical care, and surgeries. Patients seriously injured by surgeons, doctors, and hospitals experience much cruelty from the medical community as they persevere in seeking treatment for iatrogenic injuries, complications, and compounding disease to try to regain their health, ability to work, and quality of life.

best doc around....smart and honest

The office had my referral for ten days without any contact from them. I called 4 times and asked to speak to Tammy who does the scheduling but was always told she was unavailable. I was given various reasons each time I called with the receptionist that I was unable to schedule an appointment; "the Dr has 48 hours to review your chart before scheduling", "someone will call you in 7 days to schedule an appt". So 10 days still no call from the office. Terrible office to deal with.

Follow up after visit was not necessary.

This is a person who truly understands migraines, the impact of them on a person, and works diligently to restore you to a functional state. Great Dr.

I suffer from chronic migraines that i develped in my mid-40s. I have been going to Dr. Seminar for at least 6 years. He's very cautious regarding medications (we tried at least 2 dozen). He's not a talkative doctor, but i know he is 110% in my corner. I don't have insurance, and he and his staff have gone put of their way several times to enroll me in low-cost and charitable programs so I can be treated. There is no one foner!

I had a poor experience trying to get a message through to his staff. I then tried to email him and never heard back. Even though he diagnosed my cluster headaches properly, the process in identifying the appropriate medication and dosage was nightmarish. My experiences with sutter doctors and their office staff in large offices has been consistently poor.

I gave making appointments a poor rating not because it is hard to make an appointment with Dr. Seminer but because his staff were slow in making my referral out for an MRI. I was told his office would make the appointment for me. One week later they were just submitting the request for authorization to my insurance company. This isn't a common cold they are treating. It is the brain and people who are having problems would probably appreciate a little more action.