Raul Marquez, MD

I was referred to Dr. Marquez by my insurance company for shortness of breath I had been having. Before my appointment, his MA, Anita was supposed to send a cat scan request to the imaging center across the street. I show up to have my scan and she never sent it. The staff called the office and she sends a request for a chest X ray instead. Then when I arrive for my appointment she starts complaining about why I got a chest x ray instead of a ct scan. I told her what happened and she did not admit to making the mistake or offer any apology. When I did see the doctor, he told me based on my symptoms he would like me to complete a pulmonary function test. When I came back for my follow up appointment and test results he said that I have mild asthma. Dr. Marquez did not actually go over my test and explain how he came to this conclusion. Due to the high volume of appointments, he spent maybe five minutes with me at most. He prescribed a medication, Spiriva, that is for usually for… patients with moderate to severe COPD. It is approved for asthma but in half the dosage he prescribed. I knew something was off but I went ahead and took the medication as prescribed. By the second day I developed chest tightness and a dry cough. I communicated this to Dr. Marquez and he told me to go to the ER. After I was checked out at the hospital I was sent home. I called the drug manufacturer's nurse line and they agreed with me that I was given twice the dose that is recommended for asthma patients and that may be why I had such prominent side effects. I called the Dr.'s MA and told her this and she just replied that asthma and COPD are the same so it really doesn't matter what dosage I was prescribed. Really? What's mind boggling is that after I requested a copy of my breathing test, I saw that it was almost perfectly normal with a slight abnormality, but one that most pulmonologists would not consider clinically significant. I am now with a new pulmonologist that is much more thorough and has agreed with me that I do not have COPD or significant asthma that would require any maintenance inhaler. I feel that Dr. Marquez cannot be trusted and over prescribes meds that may make the patient worse without any evidence of disease in the first place. I am seriously considering filing a complaint with the California Medical Board.