Dr. Rachel Elizabeth Tuuri, MD

I want to preface this by saying our family has had positive experiences with Inova in the past, which makes this experience particularly disappointing. We brought our toddler son to the Inova Fairfax Pediatric ER on May 15, 2026 after three weeks of escalating symptoms: a persistent runny nose, worsening cough, five days of vomiting, and a fever reaching 102°F. He had already been seen by his pediatrician and urgent care with no resolution. The attending physician, Dr. Rachel E. Tuuri, refused my repeated requests for a blood panel. Her reasoning, documented in the discharge paperwork, was that it was unnecessary and would cause him unnecessary pain from being poked. When I mentioned that my uncle, a licensed physician, had also recommended a blood panel, Dr. Tuuri left him a voicemail dismissing his recommendation. The assisting nurse rolled her eyes and asked, “What kind of medicine does your uncle even practice?” Dr. Tuuri also told me, “I’ve been practicing for 20 years so I… know what I’m talking about.” During that same visit, she answered a call to correct a procedure she had incorrectly ordered for another patient, and she and the nurse chuckled about it. We left and went to a different children’s hospital the next day. They immediately ran a full blood panel, chest x-ray, pertussis swab, and respiratory virus panel. Within hours Ocean was diagnosed with two viruses that antibiotics cannot treat, and could only be determined by at blood panel. His oxygen saturation had dropped to 93% by the time we arrived. Dr. Tuuri’s own discharge notes state she saw no signs of more serious pathology. The Children’s National Hospital findings directly contradict that. My son was sent home by Rachel on the wrong treatment while his actual diagnosis went undetected. I am filing a formal complaint because children deserve thorough care, and parents deserve to be heard. Shame on Rachel Elizabeth Tuuri!