Dr. Vasundhara K Tolia, MD

I just felt I needed to leave another review here after seeing a comment from another patient of Dr. Tolia's who was misdiagnosed with having psychological problems when the doctor could not diagnose a gastrointestinal issue. I saw Dr. Tolia from age 8 to 10 (I am now 32) for chronic stomach pain. After a few tests, rather than admit that she did not know the cause and refer me to another doctor, she recommended a psych eval to my parents and suggested that I was seeking attention. It turned out that I had/have a severe case of celiac disease - an actual autoimmune disease that affects the small intestine - not a psychological issue. Please, please, please, do NOT send your children to this doctor. Her hubris and arrogance mean that if she cannot find a diagnosis, she will tell parents that it's all in the child's mind. This is a remarkably dangerous pattern of behaviour for a physician and can derail and delay very necessary care a child may desperately be in need of. Imagine… if my parents had listened to her - I may never have gotten better! Luckily, my parents sought other opinions, and after we found out what was actually wrong, I recovered and grew up to be a healthy thriving individual. I recently completed my PhD and am happy to report I am in fantastic health. There are great gastroenterologists out there. This is not one of them.

I just felt I needed to leave another review here after seeing a comment from another patient of Dr. Tolia's who was misdiagnosed with having psychological problems when the doctor could not diagnose a gastrointestinal issue. I saw Dr. Tolia from age 8 to 10 (I am now 32) for chronic stomach pain. After a few tests, rather than admit that she did not know the cause and refer me to another doctor, she recommended a psych eval to my parents and suggested that I was seeking attention. It turned out that I had/have a severe case of celiac disease - an actual autoimmune disease that affects the small intestine - not a psychological issue. Please, please, please, do NOT send your children to this doctor. Her hubris and arrogance mean that if she cannot find a diagnosis, she will tell parents that it's all in the child's mind. This is a remarkably dangerous pattern of behaviour for a physician and can derail and delay very necessary care a child may desperately be in need of. Imagine… if my parents had listened to her - I may never have gotten better! Luckily, my parents sought other opinions, and after we found out what was actually wrong, I recovered and grew up to be a healthy thriving individual. I recently completed my PhD and am happy to report I am in fantastic health. There are great gastroenterologists out there. This is not one of them.

Tolia completely missed the boat. My husband has Crohns, and when my daughter complained of severe abdominal pain she did an EGD, diagnosed mild gastric reflux, did NOT order a colonoscopy (DUH!)and suggested a psych eval (!) when my daughter's pain did not resolve. Not too long after my daghter ended up in the ER with an admit for 10 days for a small bowel obstruction and permanent scarring and stenosis of her ileum. She will probably need surgery. Final diagnosis: Crohn's. What a surprise, right?