Dr Joseph B. Palascak, MD

I went to the Palo Alto Medical Foundation for a bladder infection and a urinalysis. I am a student at UCSC and was feeling generally run down, achy and crampy. Dr Corby ran a urinalysis and a blood work up and immediately referred me to a gastroenterologist Dr Josep Palascak, without reviewing my blood work. The Dr Palascak immediately recommended an upper and lower GI because my iron level was .5 low which is normal for a healthy young woman. But he made me feel like I was bleeding internally. The technician called me to tell me my iron was .5 (which basically means I bled out internally) yet I could still walk and function. Dr Corby immediately sent me back to the Dr Palascak who responded "Why are you back here?" And still charged me a full price visit! I demanded the iron test be run again before any new tests were ordered. They also ran a fecal test which was lost for several weeks but still charged me for it. Dr Corby ordered a bladder ultrasound. This went on for… weeks, which meant I was charged full ~$300 office visits for no reason and paid for repeated tests that a technician messed up. All this for the results ending in a bladder infection which had to be treated twice because the initial antibiotic was incorrect. When I complained to the Palo Alto business office I was told (in not so many words) suck it up and pay it because we can run as many tests to rule out ANY THING ELSE POSSIBLE and we have the right to charge you for it. Also, we are an expensive facility so we charge more because we are incapable of reducing our expenses . . . so we make you and your really good insurance company pay for our incompetence. So if you are a hypochondriac and want a Dr to order expensive unnecessary tests and abuse their perceived power of medical science, this is the Dr and the facility for you! I paid over $3,000 just to get the initial bladder infection results that I told them I had. Here is the ridiculous list of Dr's that Sutter Health Palo Alto Medical Foundation used to diagnose my bladder infection: Kathy St Corby MD, Josep Palascak MD, Jon L Keller MD, Anne Ric Davis NP, Jessica Smith DO, William S Berg MD, and the Patient Relation Specialist who won't talk to patients - David Remington. Based on the recent reviews it looks like my experience is not unusual.