Vimal K Narula, MD

I have nothing but praise for this doctor. He is professional, helpful, trustworthy, competent and has a great demeanor. I had two opinions, chose him and am forever grateful that I did. OSU Wexner Medical Center was awesome and he was great.

I went to see Dr. Narula for a second opinion after another doctor told me I had two hernias. I am so glad I did. Dr. Narula performed an examination and ordered a CT Scan. He then gave me the AWESOME news there are no hernias, rather probably a pulled muscle. I can't thank him enough. His staff was wonderful and polite and made me feel very comfortable. Dr. Narula was also wonderful and did an excellent job explaining what I needed to know. He was very polite and personable and made me feel like my appointment mattered, rather then trying to hurry and jump over to the next patient. Thanks again for saving me from an unnecessary surgery!

I would warn others to beware of this Doctor. I developed a small hernia about the size of dime, just above my belly button, from excessive weight lifting. I had this condition for nearly 2 years before consulting a doctor. The doctor confirmed my suspicion and referred me to OSU General Surgery. Unfortunately, I was assigned to Dr. Vimal Narula. Most of my time spent in the exam room on the first visit was 15 minutes with an aid/trainee. Less than 10 minutes after Dr. Narula entered the room, he asked a few questions, did a brief physical examination, scheduled the procedure for 2 weeks later, and walked out the door. Having assured me that it would be a simple procedure, I left the appointment feeling that he was impersonal, but seemed competant and there should be no issues. The treatment from the OSU hospital staff on the morning of the surgery was great. Everything was good, until later that evening when I went to change the bandage and saw that the… incision was made BELOW my belly button and I could still feel the protrusion ABOVE it. I knew something was wrong right away. A few days later at the follow-up exam, he said everything went great, and that it was just a tiny fix, only requiring 3 stitches. I voiced my concern and Dr. Narula said we needed to wait a few weeks to do another follow-up once it had time to heal. That next visit was eerily like the first exam. Again, within 10 minutes of entering the room, he casually determined that I indeed had a second hernia (right where I had previously pointed) said it would be no problem to fix it, and wanted to schedule another surgery in 2 weeks. I replied that I had just spent thousands of dollars out-of-pocket, and missed 4 weeks of work for a surgery that could have resulted in serious health risks or even death. He initially offered that he could probably get the hospital to take care of my co-pay for a second surgery and that he would get in touch with me. A couple of weeks went by with no contact from him, so I called his office and his assistant said that the Dr. felt as though he had done nothing wrong, and that I should basically go somewhere else and get a second opinion. An outside follow-up with a second surgeon confirmed the initial diagnosis. Multiple attempts to contact the hospital and patient services went no where and the matter is unresolved. Dr. Narula's casual and negligent manor left me with a scar, a nagging hernia that didn't get fixed, and an unfortunate mistrust in medical professionals. The main focus should not be on his surgical mistake, but on his lack of moral quality in his actions after my surgery and his failure to rectify the situation once an error had occurred.