So, I was banded on May 26, 2010. I had my first appointment to check how the wounds were healing on June 8. I was scheduled on July 13 for my first fill and Dr. Martin was unavailable so my appointment had to be rescheduled to August 5. After almost 2 months of no contact with my Dr., I called to see if there was a special diet since i assumed I was getting my first fill today and I was informed by the staff that Dr. Martin was no longer with their practice. Luckly Dr. Lourie, will see me today but they did not promise that he will take my case since he did not perform the surgery on me.

I was so excited about today I thought, "finally I will start losing the weight", As is, I have not lost as much weight as others on this site and I can eat more that I think I should and I probably am. Now, I feel discoranged and frankly, disappointed

with Dr. Martin. There was no notice or anything.

My surgery was covered by my HMO insurance so I don't know how to go about this whole thing. Will by insurance pay for my visit today with Dr. Lourie?

Has this happened to any one else? Can anyone advice?

Thank you all!

Edited August 5, 201015 yr by Ms_C

I would call your insurance to see if you need a new referral for this new doctor. HMO's usually require a referral from your PCP. You don't want to get billed becuause you did'nt have a referal. I would think that practice will move you to another doctor. If not go to the web site for your band and find a doctor that will do fills for a band they did not install. I know the lapband site has that as a search parameter.

Good Luck.

Hello Ms C. I had surgery on July 16th by Dr. David Martin also. I saw him on July 27th and he told me that the practice was splitting up and he's actually at the same address but on the other side. He told me to call about 2 weeks b4 my next scheduled appt and verify and ask them for his new tel #. Dr Lourie is not covered by my insurance. Let me know what happens at your appt today. Im heading over to the office tomorrow & check out whats going on. Carol had also mentioned to me that the practice was splitting up and thats why your July 13th appt was cancelled. I was originally scheduled for surgery on the 14th and had it reshceduled for the 19th. Stay positive and Im sure things will work out for the both of us. Please Keep me posted and I will keep you posted.

I am supposed to have my gallbladder removed by him and I was just informed of the same thing. Does anyone have his actual NEW phone number because he is covered by my insurance.

Good morning Honk!

Thanks so much for the advice. I called my insurance and I was told that as long as the DR is willing to see me and they charge my inusrance under the same Dr's name, Bariatric Surgeons of Pasadena, I believe, there would be no problem. If that was a problem, then I would have to go back to my physician and get a referral to Dr. Lourie.

I was told by the staff that it would be charged as the practice's name rather than under Dr. Martin so I was good to go.:redface:

Hello Ms C. I had surgery on July 16th by Dr. David Martin also. I saw him on July 27th and he told me that the practice was splitting up and he's actually at the same address but on the other side. He told me to call about 2 weeks b4 my next scheduled appt and verify and ask them for his new tel #. Dr Lourie is not covered by my insurance. Let me know what happens at your appt today. Im heading over to the office tomorrow & check out whats going on. Carol had also mentioned to me that the practice was splitting up and thats why your July 13th appt was cancelled. I was originally scheduled for surgery on the 14th and had it reshceduled for the 19th. Stay positive and Im sure things will work out for the both of us. Please Keep me posted and I will keep you posted.

I am supposed to have my gallbladder removed by him and I was just informed of the same thing. Does anyone have his actual NEW phone number because he is covered by my insurance.

Good morning Isa & Lepez

Dr. Martin had mentioned to me that the office was going to be much smaller and on the other side of the floor but I don't recall him telling me they the practice was spliting up. That really caught me off guard.

The first thing I did was call my insurance. They said that as long as Dr. Lourie was willing to see me and they billed under the same name as before, there would not be a problem. If there was, I could always go back to my physician (Dr. M. Tyson) and she could give me a referral. Hopefully Dr. Martin is part of my medical group :redface:.

Anyway, so I decided to go in to the office anyway. I told the receptionist that I was one of Dr. Martin's patients and that I wanted to know how my insurance was going to be billed for that appointment and they told me that there would be no problem with that because they charged under Bariatric surgeons of Pasadena or something like that (by the way Angel, his assistant was no there either). So I took the risk and went on and saw Dr. Lourie. He was very nice and answered all of my questions and gave my my first fill (I'm so thankful for that). He mentioned to me that Dr. Martin had quit the practice on August 4. He gave no reason as to why he was leaving or where he was going and that they new nothing about if he was going to continue his practice elsewhere. I dont' know if that's true or they simply didn't want to disclose that information. After I was done he told me to reschedule for next month. I noticed on the appointment card Dr. Martin's name was no longer there. So I'm a little skeptical about the whole "I don't know what happened" attitude. In my opinion, they looked pretty upset about the whole situation.

Needless to say, I got my first fill! Yay! I would still honestly preffer to continue my treatment with Dr. Martin but 1. I still don't know how to get a hold of him 2. I don't know if he will be part of my medical group and 3. I'm afraid he will disappear again without notice.

Anyway, I hope this info helps. If either one of you hears something from Dr. Martin, please let me know.

If you guys like, we can buddy up and keep up with our progress and Dr. Martin issue.

Thanks

Claudia

I think I will stick to Dr. Lourie for now. He was pretty good. I fel not pain, no discomfort at all during the fill and well it was a pretty good expericence.

Hi Claudia. Im sooo happy that you got your 1st fill. Ive known both Dr's for many years and Dr Lourie is really good also just that he did not take my insurance. I called the office today and they told me he know takes my insurance but Im calling them to verify. They also told me they dont know how to contact Dr Martin at this time. If all goes well and verifys with my insurance I will stay with Dr Lourie. Thanks so much for updating us. Yes, lets buddy up. Let me know how it goes with your 1st fill. I get mine on Aug 31st. Have a great weekend.

Isabel :redface:

Not to be a gossip but all the doctors know why he's gone they just can't/should'nt discuss it. I think doctor's and lawyers both have special classification under Non Compete contracts. Meaning they can take their clients with them when they leave. The fact that you were'nt given notice of his leaving leads me to believe that that it was not a happy/clean break.

Well, I got a call from Angela who is Dr Martins assistant. They opened up his new office which is at the same location (same floor) but right next to the old office. They did indeed know this but were not giving out his info. They have not been able to verify my insurance wth Dr Lourie. They tell me he accepts it but when I called my insurance co they do not. I will be staying with Dr Martin cuz I know he does take my insurance & he's been my Dr for 6 yrs. He had done prior hernia repair. Here is Dr. Martins new tel # 626-765-6405 Best of luck to everyone.

Was reading this just being nosey as I have had another doc (not my bariatric one) leave a practice and finding her was like a needle in a haystack. The internet sure does make the world a small place.

Good Luck to you all!

I was scheduled for the lapband with Martin also, and last minute notice of him leaving was upsetting. Dr. Lorei took me in and I had it done this past Monday Aug. 16. Does anyone have any info on Lorei that they can pass on. Good or Bad? I'm at the begining stage and wondering if I did the right thing.

I was scheduled for the LAP-BAND® with Martin also, and last minute notice of him leaving was upsetting. Dr. Lorei took me in and I had it done this past Monday Aug. 16. Does anyone have any info on Lorei that they can pass on. Good or Bad? I'm at the begining stage and wondering if I did the right thing.

Hi Franky, Ive known of him & many of my Dr's speak highly of him. Dr Martin operated on me 6 yrs ago on a hernia repair. I was originally scheduled to see Dr Lourie for the lap-band but they rescheduled me 3 times b4 telling me he did not take my insurance. Dr Martin performed my lap band on July 19th. I had not had this experience 6 yrs back but I think because of Dr Martin seperating from the practice the whole office (all Dr's & staff included) have been somewhat in dissaray. Im staying with Dr Martin because he takes my insurance & my insurance was not able to verify Dr Lourie or Dr Powell. Since I started with him I might as well continue in hopes no more drama with either Dr. Best of luck to you & keep us posted on your journey.