Portland Dermatology Clinic, LLP

Reviews 5

AB

Abigail Pierpoint

I went to Dr Alexander re: a butterfly rash on my face that appeared a few years ago, when I was 23. He was very cocky in assuring me that this was not a Lupus malar rash because, oh wow, he had just come from a seminar on the topic. The problem is he has no experience with Lupus and is extremely arrogant to be carrying on as if he knows what he is talking about. Within a month, after many tests, I had a firm diagnosis for lupus and needed to start medication. Dr. Alex came to his conclusion inappropriately and prescribed me rosacea meds needlessly (glad I did not take!) Also he must not have been paying attention in his seminar because I had the "textbook" butterfly rash. He was very phony, tried making personal conversation about speaking Spanish. (I am not paying $100 for smarty-pants chit chat, Dr. Alex, especially when it feels forced and "salesman-y"), and his office is too aggressive with sales . They wanted to sell me on a full body screen for skin cancer which they were ready to do right there. When I declined they were pushy and tried to make me feel afraid of skin cancer with photos and factoids. The nurse was not pleasant about this awkward exchange but she and the other staff were not friendly in general. I did not feel Dr Alex was very thoughtful or even knowledgeable about health. When I asked what then was causing the rash, he replied "inflammation". I told him that inflammation is just a symptom of an underlying problem, and he agreed but basically no clue what was causing my rash and didnt seem to think there was anything I could even do about it. He told me it was just the "type" of skin I have and my parents probably had the same thing. "Rashy" isnt just another skin tone, like olive or fair. Its painful, irritated, inflamed, very pronounced, like a sunburn. Our skin communicates inner health. And no, my parents did not have butterfly rashes because neither one of them had lupus. I can not recommend this dork to anyone.

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RI

Riley Wimminger

I agree with the reviews below about the fact that I was only seen for a few minutes and prescribed an invasive medication that I (luckily) did not ever take (it was a scabies treatment- the dermatologist tested me for it and I was NEGATIVE, but prescribed it anyways). However, I believe that it is not necessarily the doctors themselves who are at fault or are "bad doctors", but the Western Medical Model that is leading us astray. This WMM does not have a goal of finding the root cause, but merely just covering up the symptoms. It has been about 2 years since I went to an appointment at the Portland Dermatology Clinic complaining of incredibly itchy skin, particularly at night. It was so bad that I would itch myself until I started bleeding and couldnt sleep without putting cold towels on my legs and taking a benadryl. Today, I am almost 100% symptom-free and have a clear understanding of what causes my symptoms. My itchy skin was a result of intestinal permeability or "leaky gut". I was reacting to the foods that I was eating which was appearing as itchy skin. Although I still have much progress to make on healing my gut, I am happy to say that HOLISTIC medicine helped me determine what was actually going on and find relief from my symptoms which were serving as a warning sign for more serious conditions. If you are interested in seeing a holistic dermatologist, I would highly recommend Dr. Hilary Costello at The Center for Traditional Medicine in Lake Oswego. She can do mole checks as well as help you determine the root cause of your symptoms. I hope that my review will help people avoid the unnecessary suffering that I endured for several months. I also hope that the doctors at Portland Dermatology Clinic will realize the importance of spending more time understanding what is going on in the overall health of their patients rather than jumping to conclusions and prescribing invasive medications unnecessarily.

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SA

Sally Seeger

When I first went to see Dr. Chang I was impressed at how quickly she removed my mole. She has a wonderful personality and seemed to be well informed. I decided to go to her regarding a rash on my legs that wouldnt go away. She thought it was from bed bugs, which I was recently infested by, and she prescribed a cream that is for rashes and takes also removes skin. This didnt help. I went to her again and she said the the cream was irritating the problem and that because I have varicose veins I needed to see a vein specialist. She only spent 5 minutes with me. I was not satisfied with her diagnoses. I went to another dermatologist. Right away he said that I have atopic dermatitis. He asked me if I would like a biopsy to confirm what he thought it was; I received the biopsy. He prescribed an ointment for night time and a cream for day time. The biopsy confirmed that I have atopic dermatitis. The ointment and the cream he prescribed both work perfectly, without removing any skin. This doctor told me that my varicose veins have nothing to do with the eczema on my legs and stomach. Dr. Chang is a very nice person, but she needs to spend a bit more time in making a diagnosis. If a patient is a repeat patient with a skin rash, like mine, she should have taken a biopsy.

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JE

Jessica Cordell

The only reason I didnt give Portland Dermatology one star is because Dr. Bremner is a good physician. Unfortunately she sent me to her colleague, Dr. Ken Lee, to have a basal cell removed on my forehead. Arrogance aside, he completely dismissed my concerns about the Mohs procedure and how the scar would look. He drew aggressively on my forehead then pinched the area hard and said "you have CANCER, do you see this?" As a survivor of an actual cancer, I found his demeanor threatening and aggressive. He made me feel like I would die if I didnt get it removed THAT DAY and I was vain for being concerned about him shaving a 1-2 inch square out of the front of my head. Clearly I didnt do the procedure, as NO doctor should make you feel bad for asking questions. Dr. Lee should go back to school to learn bedside manner. I ended up seeing Dr. Kao, who was professional, detailed and KIND. He explained everything and made me feel good about the procedure. There was no need to shave my head, as expected. The procedure was done quickly and efficiently and his staff was amazing. Do yourself a favor, skip the bullying with Dr. Lee and see a REAL professional!

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SU

Susan Mulvey

I gave one star, as Dr. Chang was the one that wanted to biopsy, what turned out to be skin cancer. So thank you to her. However, the surgeon, Dr. Lee was horrible!! He left me with a huge gaping hole on the right side of my head. The way he was going to stitch it up, I would have been deformed!! He was going to pull my eye and skin in way that would half way closed my eye!! Then he said I could leave the wound open and let it heal on its own. What!! That wound was bigger than a silver dollar. So I called a plastic surgeon, got in two days later, she said I couldnt leave her office like that! She stitched it up, beautifully I must say, and a month later the wound is smaller than a dime. AND done without pulling on or deforming my face. I will never again see or recommend Dr. Lee.

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