David Yeh's Online Review Report Card

I was done with unsympathetic doctors who would not look me in the eye to say they couldn’t help me. Dr. Yeh is the only doctor I have seen in years that actually seems to care. That means everything to a patient.

I never actually met Dr. Yeh, instead his PA Justin and nurse Jennifer met with me. They were smooth, professional, comfortable and did a great job of selling me an injection that I did not need performed in their office by a "specialist who flies in on Saturdays". When I shared with my reservations, both Justin and Jennifer became patronizing to me. I strongly suggest you look elsewhere for your neurological treatment needs. I smell something very fishy here.

I never actually met Dr. Yeh, instead his PA Justin and nurse Jennifer met with me. They were smooth, professional, comfortable and did a great job of selling me an injection that I did not need performed in their office by a "specialist who flies in on Saturdays". When I shared with my reservations, both Justin and Jennifer became patronizing to me. I got a second (and third) opinion at UCLA and MAYO where I was told the injections will not help and I needed surgery. After reviewing what they said - and how they said it, here's no possible way I would let Yeh's team work on me. You are better off to go to Stanford or UCLA for neuro work.

UPDATE 12/21:I received another patronizing message from Jennifer in the office of Dr. Yeh reminding me to pay the open balance that my insurance did not cover (I've already paid my co-pay). I now have 2 separate doctors (UCLA and MAYO) that have now told me that the injection Yeh's office was pushing would not have done much and that I require surgery. With that in mind, it's my opinion that Dr. Yeh's office is just another pain specialist pushing expensive treatments to squeeze money from patients insurance - and pockets. And shame on them for attempting to have me undergo a painful injection in my neck without anesthesia. Please listen to me, I've been to many pain centers in both Chicago and SoCal and can tell good pain treatment from bad. These guys are bad and I think their intentions are more on making money over patient pain control.

As a current patient of UCLA Pain Center, I was hoping to find a competent doctor to perform another spinal fusion on my lower neck a little closer to home instead of spending a few days in Santa Monica. I met with Justin in Dr. Yeh's Central Coast Neuro Surgery office to get a second opinion on my neck issue. He wanted to try an injection or two before doing surgery on my problem, so I agreed. The injection appointment was made right there at my visit with a "visiting specialist doctor", whom I never met, but there was a snag. One of the meds I take daily interferes drastically with the usual course of pain drugs used in this procedure, and I have had injections just like this in the past that were gruesomely painful - so proper sedation is the only way I will hop back on the injection table. I asked Justin to allow me to speak with the anesthesiologist who will be with me during the procedure so we can get this sorted out before I confirmed. He said he would do that. A few days passed and I had not heard back about the issue, so I asked Justin again to speak with the doc about this issue please. A few days later, Justin replied with "the doctor will discuss this with you on the day of the procedure". "No", I responded ten days before the scheduled day, "I require speaking with the doc or the anesthesiologist that will be working on me so I know what will be happening or you can cancel my appointment". Then... crickets. No response at all. hahaha I suspect Justin got his feelings hurt because he did not like the direct tone of my message so he decided to just not answer. How's THAT for professional?So I let it sit until 2 days before the scheduled injection time and politely called to cancel - I thought that was the courteous thing to do - and I told the receptionist why I was cancelling. They said if I was unhappy with their services they would give me a referral to UCLA - which if they were paying any attention they would know I was already a UCLA patient. Two weeks later I head back to UCLA, the doc reads the MRI and says "no, the injections are not going to do a thing, you need surgery". So now I'm booked to have fusion surgery in January at UCLA with competent doctors with a support team that knows how to respond to patient requests instead of running up the bill on useless injections while I am working everyday with nasty neck pain. I'm told that Dr. Yeh is very good with his work but after reading other posts here I am putting the pieces together and think my assumptions about my situation are correct - these folks have an attitude problem and love to make money more than relieve people of their pain.UCLA has done a great job with my issues and I'll stick with the pros thank you.

As a survivor of a near fatal collision, I deal with pain control solutions every day. So when I needed some help with a new nerve pinch that is slowly taking away the use of my left arm, I went to go see the folks at Central Coasts Neuro. They were great to work with and seemed quite capable of handling my needs at first. They suggested that a few injections should be tried before we go right in for spinal fusion surgery to fix the pesky pinch. When we booked the procedure time, I asked to speak with the doc or the anesthesiologist ahead of time to discuss pain control as the typical "fentanyl" injection used for most will not work on me because of drug interaction issues. They would not allow me to speak with them in advance (why not?). After 3 written requests to speak with the doc or the anesthesiologist in advance, they stopped responding to me. So of course I cancelled and went to UCLA in LA. They referred me directly to surgery because they thought it was the right approach.

Should've updated this awhile ago. I'm completely pain free and have been since shortly after my post op recovery period. One would never guess I had such horrendous pain, for so many years. This was my second spinal surgery (first time with Dr Yeh). While I believe his communication skills, post surgery, could improve.....he sure is good with a scalpel! I'm forever grateful to be out of pain and feeling like an entirely different human.

I am so pleased with the results of my spinal surgery. Dr. Yeh and his team are amazing. I was up and walking, pain free right after surgery. In addition to a fusion they installed a Coflex device which will enable me to move better. I would recommend Dr. Yeh to anyone suffering from spinal stenosis, or any other back problems. Thank you Dr. Yeh

I just had my "session" with Dr. Yeh. Arrogant, presumptuous, condescending, and ignorant. Here I am with a Ph.D in health care and he is lecturing me on the avocation of pain medication and patients' rights. Never have I had a physician talk over me like this. Completely unprofessional. Like another reviewer here, he basically stated I had to "live" with the pain, since "we all have to live with ...

I just had my "session" with Dr. Yeh. Arrogant, presumptuous, condescending, and ignorant. Here I am with a Ph.D in health care and he is lecturing me on the avocation of pain medication and patients' rights. Never have I had a physician talk over me like this. Completely unprofessional. Like another reviewer here, he basically stated I had to "live" with the pain, since "we all have to live with some pain in our lives," his words. Unreal. After I told him that there are times that I have critically discomforting pain, he was unmoved. And I wasn't even asking for pain medication, I was just stating my condition. Then he went off on a long, incorrect screed about the "over abuse" of narcotics, and how they were never effective and that they were just to pad profits for the pharmaceutical industry. Although this is partially true, it is the PHYSICIANS that wrote the prescriptions and got the kickbacks. Let's please remember that. I will be getting a second opinion on my back problems and I warn you not to go to this quack. Only in SLO county would this level of incompetence survive in our medical arena. He would never make in a large geographical area where patients would have more options.