Dr. Luis Alberto Giuffra, MD

I have severe medical pain induced depression. I am quite sure that without Dr. Giuffra in my life that I would still be here. After hallucinating after being taken off Effexor for pain depression without notice (by awesome insurance) and forced to take a generic before a trip to China. Not a good idea. Whilst in hallucinations in a non-Western hotel, my husband was able to get me a skype with Dr. G. That saved my life. He's charming, thoughtful, kind, and always has the patient's best interest in mind. "Do no harm" is his mantra. I'd give him a 100. Laura J.

I have seen him for years. I saw him after seeing someone else who was mean. When you see a psychiatrist, you hand the most vulnerable parts of yourself over to someone else, it truly is a privilege for them. It has always been my impression that Dr.Giuffra has respect for the role, he’s sweet and smart and I trust his judgment. I’ve referred friends to him who have the same impression. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I haven’t found him to be heavy-handed with medication. He’s a peach!! A very intelligent peach!

I ran across an excellent article about things that influence doctor's behavior. One of the categories mentioned was unconscious bias, and one of the items listed in that category was"Wants to be right more than he wants the patient to get better". It has been years since I saw Dr. Giuffra, but looking back I would have to say this fits Dr. Giuffra to a tee. I got well, but only after I got away from this doctor's heavy handed, heavy drug based approach. I was always leery of his attitude towards the drugs he prescribed. When I asked about what cautions I should with his prescriptions he would never mentioned anything, yet the info that came with the drugs listed many. One antidepressant drug he prescribed mentioned that it was not appropriate for people with a genetic variant that I had - it in fact would have put me at high risk for long QT syndrome which could have put me in cardiac arrest. When I asked him about that and if he even knew that, he avoided answering. He… said I should not even be reading prescription warnings. Well if I believed he was reading such warnings, I would not, but it was clear to me he did not know diddley about the hazards of the drugs he prescribed. At first he insisted I take the drug. I of course had no intentions of doing so. He later had an assistant call with a different prescription; evidently he though better of his earlier stand. Later he wanted to increase the daily quantity for that new prescription to greater than the maximum recommended dose. I of course refused and at that time went searching for another doctor. He had me on heavy doses of Xanax (based on other reviews, evidently his favorite drug) early on. I complained that I was falling asleep at work and while driving (I had 2 very near miss traffic incidents as a result) because of the drug, and I wanted to get off of it. I asked if I needed to do anything special to wean myself from the drug since it is known to be highly physically addicting. He refused to give me any information. He said I should continue taking it and take naps instead. I couldn't believe such a bizarre response. He expected me to just cancel meetings, close my office door and take a nap? I'm a busy professional with an employer and coworkers who depend on me. I can't just shut down and walk away for nap! Since the prescription actually said "take up to 3/day as needed", I decided it was really up to me how much to take. He had told me to take 3 (and at times 4 a day - another violation of the drug manufacturers guidelines). He provided no warnings against reducing my dosage. I reduced to 2 pills a day. I became extremely ill, disoriented, and confused. My body began shaking and spasming, what I would call convulsions. My wife called the exchange and talked to another doctor in Giuffra's practice who said I was going through Xanax withdrawal. It was undoubtedly the most frightening experience of my life. Giuffra acted like it proved I needed to be on that really awful drug rather than withdrawal symptoms. Having researched it greatly afterward it is a drug that I cannot understand why it is still on the market. It is well documented how difficult it is to withdraw from. Shortly after this experience is when Giuffra wanted me to take an antidepressant at dosage greater than the maximum dose in the prescribing info. I refused and dumped him. I began immediately to wean myself off of Xanax which took about 6 months. Once I got clean from his drug regimen my life began returning to normal. I never sought the help of a psychiatrist again. Looking back, the way I see it, this guy made matters worse for me rather than better. I felt that at the time his approach was wrong, and he just did not want to admit he went down the wrong path sat the start. "Wants to be right more than he wants patient to be better" rings as true as can be when it come to this so called doctor.

Let me say this, You can't find better doctors in the STL area

Very nice, compassionate person.

There are many fine attributes I can associate with Dr. Giuffra. I have been a patient of Dr. Giuffra's for many years during that time I have found him to be most compassionate, capable, concerned and an intense listener. You always feel better about yourself and your situation when leaving your appointment with Dr. Giuffra. I would be remiss if I neglected to mention the superb attention you we'll receive from Vicki, the Doctors most capable and accommodating assistant.

I am sorry to see so many negative reviews but most of them sound as though they are the misguided ones. From what I read the negative reviews seemed to already "know" what was wrong with them, if this is the case I can see their problem because Dr. Giuffra listened to me and added his experienced opinion. I too was prescribed some drugs that did not help or made me feel worse because with so many out there and nobody being exactly the same it is a bit of a puzzle to find the right match. However every time I felt it was the wrong med whether it had been a week or a month Dr. G listened to me and we worked on it until finding the right meds. He listens to everything I have to say and answers all of my questions. He call me personally even when I have a simple question and not from the exchange. As far as payment goes he has gone above and beyond to work with me and that is not something I can say for most of my doctors and I have a lot of experience. I am sorry for those that had a bad… experience but like I said it may not have been all on the Dr. I would and have recommended him and other professionals in the group to others. Also I believe a one sentence review is fine if it gets your point across.

Outstanding. He is the one to see if you are serious about your mental health.

My experience was horrible and scary. This doctor has such a high opinion of himself that he seems to think it is unnecessary to listen to the patient, or heed facts. He just barrels ahead based on Lord knows what. In my case he was giving me drugs that I did not need nor want. I was suffering from mild situational depression and anxiety. I was looking for some help to sort through the truely horrible events I had survived due to prior medical malpractice (not psychiatric related). The drugs I received from this doctor MADE me mentally ill. I was mildly depressed and anxious before. After taking the large doses of Xanax he prescribed I became really messed up, almost psychotic. My reaction when he prescribed the drug was that he must be misunderstanding my situation, and voiced my reservations which he promptly and rather forcefully disregarded. There was no opportunity for discussion. I stupidly took the stuff thinking no one would be so forceful unless he really knew what… he was doing. Fortunately my spouse recognized things were not right - that I was getting much worse - not better. I went though heck withdrawing from that horrible and dangerous drug and suffered a mild stroke as a result. Hubris is dangerous and this doctor has plenty of it. His staff were fine, so I gave 3 stars for their performance. Unfortunately 1 star was the lowest rating this site would accept. My intent was to give him zero stars overall.

Basically, I could never recommend Dr. Giuffra to anyone. He does not have the ability to listen nor does he want to listen. He doesn't appear to have a genuine liking and/or concern for his patients. The office staff runs hot & cold. He is outrageously expensive for what you get. Stay away from this guy.