While my initial visits with Dr.Caro and his office were great, just like others mentioned, visits got progressively hostile and his office staff is rude, unprofessional and lacks overall empathy for their patients. The only person I had a great experience with here who actually tried helping me was nurse Joy. The labs that Dr.caro had ordered were insanely expensive but I was finally getting some answers so I was continuing with him. I struggled paying for some of these labs once and couldn't get my bloodwork done so Dr.Caro didn't want to see me unless I did the labs. I called asking if they could send the lab work to another lab for me so that I didn't have to pay the lab work in a huge lump sum and because my illness began accelerating and I was quickly becoming bedridden. I explained this to Joy and she did her best to help me out but in the middle of talking to her, the receptionist yanks the phone away from her and without letting me explain my situation just told me to get the bloodwork done and hung up on me. ZERO EMPATHY OR UNDERSTANDING. I tried asking them to help me fill out my FMLA forms too but they also wanted to charge me $300+ just told fill out a few lines on a sheet of paper. I couldn't afford either of these things because I was already on disability and wasn't getting enough. Eventually I became bedridden within the next 2-3 weeks and I ended up in the hospital and lost my job because the receptionist, Maria, didn't want to allow Joy to help me with sending the lab work elsewhere and because they refused to send the FMLA paperwork by the designated timeframe I gave them. I required emergency surgery because I had a large malignant tumor on my ovary as well as multiple autoimmune disorders. Dr.Caro initially asked me to call him and tell him of any changes I was experiencing because of how sick I was but when I'd call to ask to speak to him to ask a question about new symptoms the receptionists would gate keep him and tell me that "All I had was a UTI" despite the insane amount of pain and telling them I knew it wasn't a uti. After losing everything I had to sign up for state benefits and required my medical records from Dr caro. I called them while I was in the hospital to request them and they said that they would send them over. A day later and nothing came through so I called again and they said they'd send them over again, nothing. At this point I realized they weren't actually going to send them and that they were just giving me the run around. I called again and asked for them to be emailed or mailed and they refused to send them or give them to me unless I went in person and paid a $25 fee. Even when I explained that I just had MAJOR surgery and was in the ER they wouldn't consider mailing them or allowing a relative to pick them up. They gave me a really hard time and were being so condescending to me just because I couldn't physically go in person. I later found out that what they were doing of charging me for my records when I'm trying to apply for benefits was illegal through the Medical Boards website. I sent them an email instead asking for them to be sent by mail. It was only after I explained the medical boards rule and asking for a reasonable accommodation that they actually sent me my records. Their negligence led me to lose my job and that created a chain of issue after issue when I was applying for medi-cal and Edd. This ended up delaying my treatment by a few months AND delaying my Edd claim processing. It took over a year to rectify the issues that arose from EDD. Unfortunately I had to contact them again so that they could fill out one final form for EDD to be finalized. When I called, the office manager was nothing but unprofessional, condescending and mocking the fact that I was a disabled cancer patient. I tried being cordial but the way they were talking to me was so rude that I had to lie and say some bullshit where my disability required they email me. It was only then that they actually acted professional. I had to wait a year to write this damn review because I was scared I wouldn't get my benefits. Just don't come here, the only pleasant person here is Joy who is such an Angel. read more

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I just want to say Dr. Caro is a life saver!!! I had seen multiple Rheumatologist and told all my test were negative. I just kept getting sicker and sicker than finally a scary hospital stay and that's where I met Dr. Caro. He was able to find out what autoimmune(s) I had and the best way to treat them, something no other doctor could find. I see the reviews about being frustrated with the labs and testing but honestly that's what saved my life and what is takes with these autoimmune diseases. He leaves no stone unturned he is so wonderful and cares so much. Without his labs and thinking outside the box I might not be here. The office staff is wonderful as well always kind and helpful. Dr. Caro is the best, and I owe him so much I would never get another Rheumatologist until the sad day he retires. read more

My 17 year old child started seeing Dr. Caro 6 months ago for ongoing and hard-to-diagnose issues they have had since childhood. Our primary care doctor suggested Dr. Caro as someone who "thinks outside the box", willing to research and investigate. I have found that to be true. Our first appointment was 2 hours and Dr. Caro ordered so many tests that my child almost passed out from the 24 vials taken at one time. Then there were 7 stool samples. Then we were referred to a neurologist for large nerve testing and muscle testing. Dr. Caro did small nerve testing also. While all this testing was hard, it was obvious that Dr. Caro was searching for new information that could help identify what was wrong. I liked the thoroughness of his approach and was grateful that we got so much time. However, problems started happening; getting appointments rescheduled without our knowledge (and I only find out after I call them to talk about something), follow up lab orders that request the exact same tests that were negative a month ago (with no physical difference in that month, so why are we testing again?), being told over and over that the staff had to ask Dr. Caro before scheduling a telehealth visit and then never getting back to me, so I would call multiple times and still not have an answer; ordering labs without telling me and then getting frustrated at me for not getting the labs done. Dr. Caro's diagnoses were multiple for my child, one of which is polyarthritis, which honestly he seemed to diagnose by simply touching my child and asking if it hurt. Probably within those 24 vials of tests is more proof of this, but he didn't really tell us how it was diagnosed. He gave us 3 treatment options, one of which is his experimental research at City of Hope which was mentioned by Frances in another review (THANK YOU FRANCES FOR YOUR REVIEW, IT HELPED ME A LOT), which feels sketchy to me because the "blood cleaning" research implies there is something to be removed from my child's blood when the diagnosis is low immunoglobulin. The normal treatment for low IG is IV replacement therapy, which is also one the choices for treatment he gave us. So the City of Hope thing literally sounds like he just wants more volunteer guinea pigs and that bothers me a lot. Dr. Caro also said to go to a gastroenterologist because none of the suggested treatments will help with gastro issues but then followed up by sending a lab order for all of the same stool samples that were completed 6 weeks ago, all of which were negative. The number of labs continuously ordered is frustrating - they cost us money and time (and pain for my child). When I have argued about them with the staff, they ask Dr. Caro and then he says they are not necessary. So why order them if they are not necessary? Is it possible for doctors to get kickbacks from blood draw companies? If it was, then I would think that's what's going on. We are currently in decision-making mode, which will include getting a second opinion. I am extremely thankful to Dr. Caro for digging in and finding a lot more information about my child's health - no other doctor has come close to his level of research and thought. However, the other things (office issues, lab tests, City of Hope) make it very frustrating. Therefore, 3 stars. read more

I just read Janet M's review and I want to confirm that I had the same experience, maybe worse. Dr Caro was very inspiring and charming at the beginning, giving me a lot of hope, but as the months rolled by he became positively hostile. I spent a year going to appointments where he did these sensitivity tests on my fingers and legs. They didn't provide any accurate information about my condition, which was different every day. He was pushing for a positive RA diagnosis, though it was showing as minor on the blood work. Along the line I realised that these appointments were so long because he was filling out the billing forms during the appointment, not really providing treatment to me! I also did numerous blood tests with massive amounts of blood drawn. I don't know what he did with all that data but ok, I went along. Six months in he sent me to City of Hope for plasmapheresis, which was quite an ordeal. I went for five sessions over a five week period.I was really hopeful but as it became clear that it wasn't going to help me, I was reminded that this was a clinical trial and might help others down the line though it might not help me. At the end, when I asked for the results he said he'd thrown them in with a bunch of other unidentifiable statistics since it hadn't helped me. It had sounded like a valid clinical trial, so I was willing to do it, but that didn't mean I wanted my results thrown away! I have fibromyalgia, obviously, so all of this was exhausting and painful. He kept saying he had many options for healing but after the plasmapherisis he only offered a chemotherapy drug. I tried it, no help. After that I stopped going. All along it felt like I was in Dr Caro's magic medical emporium, it only got weirder as time went on. read more

Dr Caro takes 2 hours on your preliminary visit and is very thorough and caring! He makes sure he gets a full medical history and lab tests too! read more

First let me start by saying it took 30 days to get an appointment for a over phone consultation and I was being understanding due to the covid virus The day finally comes and then I wait 2 + hours for him to call me I had to call the office 2x because I hadn't heard from them and thought they forgot about me and I really had no idea what was going on and taking so long ! She said he had a difficult client before me but really over 2 hours of waiting and no one could call me out of courtesy to let me know .... come on that's just rude !! I don't know how he or the office staff could treat the new clients like this I told them to reschedule me and they told me I had to wait another 30 days to get another appointment..... Really I wouldn't even waist your time with this office They obviously don't want new clients and don't know how to treat them read more

You will wait a very long time for an appointment and then find out that the first appointment is strictly a phone appointment. He will order an absurd amount of blood tests - 17 vials! - so be prepared. I went for treatment of severe fibromyalgia because he is supposed to be such a specialist. He told me I also had rheumatoid arthritis and started me on treatments for it. Even though I told him these treatments were not helping me at all and begged him to treat my fibro, he would just lecture me about his "plan" and how he knew what he was doing. I tried to tell him about the awful pain I had in my hips and he literally waived his hand at me and said it was my back (I do have a bad disc). I just found out (from another doctor) that an MRI showed I have bursitis in my hips. I am now receiving treatment for my fibro from another doctor and am feeling much better - that was a complete waste of 4 months of my life. One time he was checking my reflexes and when he did my hand he said, "Well if your knee was bad, your hand is dead" and laughed. This is the Doctor listed for Southern California Fibromyalgia Research & Treatment Center. read more