Refused to see my son, after my adult son was in the examining room, because he is a smoker! He saw my daughter who is a smoker also. The insurance company had no clue this was a problem for the doctor.

Submitted Aug. 3, 2008

Recommended tapering off Effexor from 150mg down to 0mg over two-week period after 10 years of taking the meds. Experienced severe ssri-discontinuation syndrome for about five days. When asked about going back on the meds, Dr. Cao suggested the symptoms might stem from allergies, and that a two-week taper was a "long" tapering. Dr. Cao does seem to care, but tends to lack empathy in situations such as this, in my opinion. Seems to lack experience in psychiatric medications, and bedside manner at times can seem efficient to the point of lack of caring (assembly line--get out the door to the next patient). Dr. Cao carries the maximum case-load allowed by UC-Davis Medical group. When experiencing problems Dr. Cao has also had (for example, plantar fasciatis, plate and screws after breaking a bone, allergies) he seems to have more empathy for the patient.

Submitted July 12, 2008

While Dr. Cao generally seems like a nice guy, his bedside manner is terrible. He hardly listens to a word you have to say, cuts you off when you talk and had been known to walk away from a patient (myself) while in mid-sentence. He draws his diagnosis very quickly with very little background information. I usually regret attending every appointment I make since I leave feeling as though my voice wasn't heard and no one actually cares about my health.

Submitted June 6, 2008