I was at Segal for over a month for psychosis that was caused by Nortriptyline which I had been started on just prior for abdominal and chest pain. I was never trialed off of this medication during my admission even though psychosis is a known side effect.

Dr Persaud never had the time to talk, appointments were less than a few minutes, and I did not see him every business day. Because of this, he missed that I had really obvious and horrible akithisia from the medication I was started on and no one ever explained during my admission why I was feeling like that.

Dr Persaud also missed that I had xiphoidalgia from a displaced xiphoid process that was quite obvious, I had a huge lump under my left rib, and I was told I had Somatoform. My pain was dismissed and it wasn’t until I was discharged that it was diagnosed with a simple ultrasound.

I had also had a endoscopy that no one told me my results showed esophagitis dissecans superficialis. I had horrible nausea and with the xiphoidalgia this made it harder to eat due to pain. I had to request results through the records department after discharge to find this out.

I had a seizure and did not have a neuro assessment done after. They did order an EEG but gave me a huge dose of Ativan just prior, which is contraindicated with EEG’s, so the results weren’t accurate. Even after bring this up I was told it didn’t matter. I see another review where someone was locked in a room when having a seizure and this doesn’t surprise me.

I was also severely emaciated from not being able to eat due to the pain, I weighed about 90 pounds and am almost 6 feet tall. I asked to see a dietician daily. I was never referred to a dietician and it wasn’t until my last few days that my request for boost (nutritional drink) was authorized, and only given one drink per day. It took me months of physiotherapy and dietician consults after discharge to get to a healthy weight to be able to do my ADL’s.

Even when I was not in psychosis I was never allowed to go out on day passes or see friends when they came to visit. I was not allowed to order food from off site, even when other patients were allowed to so this was not due to Covid.

I ended up needing to request for a review panel after being there for over a month in order to be discharged. Dr Persaud would not discuss my care plan with me and would say he believed I should be on extended leave, having no justification for this as I was agreeable to treatment. I believe the review panel saved my life as I was suffering severely from malnutrition at this point.

I have since been diagnosed with PTSD from my experience at UBC Detwiller and Segal. I am a nurse and cannot believe this is how patients get treated in mental health care. This experience opened my eyes and I will work towards being a better advocate for mental health care because of this.

I had hoped there would be changes to his practice after making a complaint to the College and VCH over 2 years ago, yet from reviews clearly his practice has not changed. Please request to see a different psychiatrist!

Submitted March 9, 2023

I had absolutely terrible experience with Dr. Persaud. As other reviewers have said, he does not listen well! I was in hospital about two months as his patient, but he always lacks basic empathy and patience. He has NO Time to listen and communicate with me. I felt that I was treated by him as an animal instead of a human being. What he did was only to provide me with the medications that he thought I should take and not even bother to check my body/mental response to the medications. I was not able to see him regularly as other psychiatrists did to their patients. I only saw him once per week though other psychiatrists met with their patients every day. Even in that case, his talk with me lasted less than 5 minutes and just assumed everything went well. A psychiatrist without compassion! He made me feel worse! So disappointed. Stay away from him!

Submitted July 6, 2022

His knowledge was amazing he was very helpful and actively listened to me he put my life back on tracks . I couldn’t have found a better psychiatrist .

Submitted March 5, 2022

Great doctor. 10 years later and diagnosis still holds. Doing well on meds and wouldn't have if it hadn't been for his measures. TY.

Submitted March 31, 2020

Dr. Persaud is the man that helped and potentially fixed my physiology. Thank you Dr. Persaud.

Submitted May 13, 2019

In 2013 I was detained against my will for blowing the whistle on my pedophile (pumjabi) wife. Dr. Persaud lied about my alleged symptoms in order to detain me, claiming I related to him I could hear my wife speaking when she was not present. This was used to keep me detained during an appeal. For 1 month my kids were with their mother who likely r*ped them hundreds of times. The head of the department, Dr. Singh, even after getting my wife to admit she said she would m*lest the kids, refused to admit this (it is on audio tape), and had me detained for another month. Because of my Christian beliefs (converted from islam), the staff at the VGH whom I met, all Sikh or Hindu or Jewish, formed me and detained me and allowed unrestricted access to my children by their r*pist for 2 months. I ask that this physician, Dr. Singh and the other doctors involved be held accountable for the brain damage I have suffered due to forced paliperidone injections (permanent insomnia, tremors, permanent loss of affect) as well as for hundreds of counts of statutory r*pe committed against my children with their assistance.

Submitted Feb. 13, 2017

Psychiatry kills. This doctor is satan. He medicates with injections forced on people.

Submitted Jan. 2, 2016

This doctor doesn't listen well and forces medication upon people at VGH.

Submitted June 21, 2011