Dr. Larry J Foster

I went to him for two years for treatment of sleep apnea. The Dr. would not listen to what I was saying. I tried to explain what I was experiencing with the CPAP (symptoms of complex apnea); Dr. wrote in his notes that I had "interesting" ideas. He told me that he did not believe that such a thing as central apneas exist (in spite of the fact that the testing said that I was having them); and even if they did, treatment for obstructive apneas would take care of them as well (it's just the opposite with complex apnea - treatment for the obstructive apneas made the central apneas worse). I repeatedly told him that I could not sleep at the pressures he recommended without the ramp up - he turned right around and told the nurse to increase the pressure and stop the ramp up function. I requested a different machine that responded differently to apneas, he said that there was no difference and refused to approve the new machine (my next doctor did and it was the first machine that I was… able to sleep well on). The CPAP he had me on showed that I was still experiencing 66 apneas per hour - it took him 18 months to even read the machine reports and at my next appointment he said, "Everything seems fine, we'll see you again in a year." I think not. His arrogance doesn't seem to allow him to pay attention to anything that the patient - or even his own testing and equipment says. It was as if he saw absolutely no possibility that he could be wrong; therefore the patient and equipment must be wrong. Also my father had chest x-rays taken after experiencing hoarseness for 6 months - to check for cancer. After waiting anxiously for over a month to find out if he had cancer or not, he was still getting the excuse from the office that "the doctor hadn't looked at the x-rays yet." It was only after I called the office and threatened to come in and raise scream and yell in front of all of his other patients that A NURSE finally told me that he did have cancer. He was quiet happy to take the money for the initial appt., x-rays, etc.; but, he evidently couldn't be bothered with actually looking at the x-rays to see if my father needed treatment until he was threatened; and he still couldn't be bothered with telling us himself that my father had cancer and needed treatment immediately. I only wish that I could give him with a negative rating!