Bergere, Larry, MD

Bergere



Larry Bergere had been my primary General Physician for about 20 years with the exception of 2 1/2 years I was with Kaiser, 2012-2014. I converted to Humana PPO Pro Choice in 2014 and again chose Southeastern Primary Care as my primary physicians. I had an appointment with John Harsch last October. I was having some major physical issues so I decided to take a turn about face with my personal healthcare issues. I had an MRI, returned to my neck surgeon for evaluation. Problem was diagnosed.

It was time for my prescription refills so I made an appointment returning to Bergere after not having seen him in 2 ½ years. He had always been very pleasant and helpful in the past. He walked into the exam room and we exchanged greetings and I told him I wanted to review my medications. I asked him if he would add a note to my chart that should I need another major procedure like an MRI or spinal injection that I wanted Valium because Diazepam was ineffective and did not work for me. He told me it was the same thing. I told him that my pharmacist told me that the two drugs were made from different chemicals and that my neck surgeon’s nurse had called me to follow up after my spinal injection in February. I told her about the very painful experience I had at the injection because the Diazepam had no effect on me and I had to endure the procedure cold turkey. She told me that several of their patients had the same problem and they needed Valium. When I started telling Bergere this he exploded on me. He became almost violent and started yelling and screaming at me that “You are wasting my time to come in here and vent. I’ve got better things to do. We send out letters to people like you to not come back to this office and you are on the edge.” He was screaming at the top of his voice and I am sure that the other patients outside could her him. I trained customer service reps for 30 years and part of the training was how to manage irate people. So I just listened to him explode and said nothing. He yelled at me that he needed a drink of water, exited the exam room and violently slammed the door acting like a spoiled, red-headed teenage girl who was throwing a temper tantrum. I was totally shocked at his behavior. I did nothing to provoke this kind of situation. I left the office after getting my refills, came home and by 4:00 that afternoon I had a new physician.

Behavior like this is totally unacceptable. I am 65 years old and never in any home, social or professional environment have I ever been talked to like that. His behavior was totally uncalled for and I don’t think I want to trust my medical care to someone out of control. Perhaps Bergere should take some anger management classes. By the way, I did get my “Do not return” certified letter. But why would I want to go back there after the treatment I encountered?

Dr. Bergere is a wonderful doctor and very patient. I have being going to him for about 12 years and never once felt that I was just a dollar sign. He really has excellent bed side manners and is a very good doctor.