Leila C. Dumagsa-Mcgowan, MD

I had a very negative experience with her as my on call doctor. When she returned my call, I explained very slowly that I have Bell’s Palsy and apologized if it was difficult for her to hear me. She immediately responded, “well it is.” I told her my pain interfered with sleep, she responded, “That’s funny...because that condition doesn’t cause pain.” She then told me that I had only had palsy for one day as my appointment with my PCP was “just yesterday. (12/29/17)” I told her I’d had it for over a week, and she responded, “that is a lie; I have your chart right here.” (I had seen my doctor two days prior to this call on 12/28 as a follow up from a 12/21 appointment when the palsy had started, because it had gotten worse.) She talked over me, raising her voice, saying “oh my God” loudly as I tried to talk, because it takes so long for me to get words out clearly with half of my face paralyzed. She asked me to spell the name of the medicine I needed and I did. She told me… “there is no such medicine...you are hysterical... you can go the emergency department” because she was “not going to help.” I have Bell’s Palsy and have lost my voice, which makes me difficult to understand, and she never once empathized or provided any tips on how to stay comfortable and be able to stay asleep. Rather, she treated me in the poorest manner in which I have ever been treated by a healthcare provider. Had she simply been kind, instead of condescending, it would have been a different experience. I understand that she is on call and not my primary doctor, nor even a part of my primary practice, and doesn’t know me. I understand that with the litigious nature of medicine combined with the epedemic of prescription drug misuse and addiction, that she made the best call in her professional judgement. However, nothing justifies speaking to a person in pain the way she spoke to me. Nothing justifies treating one of your patients that way. Instead of providing even a small amount of empathy and comfort, she made it abundantly clear that she had judged me to be dishonest about my condition, when it started, and the pain it is causing me.