Horrible horrible experience! LONG BUT PLEASE READ!…read more
I left this appointment feeling judged, dismissed, and completely unsupported by Dr. Murthy-Mascarenhas and then misrepresented in the chart.
I've been trying to get help with weight loss medication since January 2025, when Dr. Murthy-Mascarenhas first prescribed Zepbound. I never received the medication and followed up in March about it. I was told there was no denial and that the office assumed I had filled it due to the lack of follow-up--which left me stuck. Eventually, I scheduled an appointment to adjust the dose since it hadn't worked, but I was told I needed a separate visit just to discuss the medication. I waited two months for that appointment, which took place on May 8, 2025.
There was no tension at the start. We greeted each other, and I was calm. She asked if I had done my labs, and I told her I hadn't--I honestly forgot and didn't realize they were tied to the weight loss treatment. I took accountability for that. Then she told me that my gynecologist-oncologist had prescribed Zepbound on March 28 so she couldn't proceed. I explained I wasn't taking it and never received it, but she repeatedly told me that because it was in the chart, I must be taking it.
That's when I began to feel shut down. I told her directly that it felt like she was calling me a liar--because what else can a patient feel when they say "I'm not taking this," and the doctor insists they must be? She kept repeating what she saw in the system and didn't seem interested in asking questions or trying to understand the actual situation. I later found out that Zepbound was approved to my chart on the day of my surgery, as part of a protocol list--not a long-term prescription. That could've been cleared up with questions & one phone call, but she never asked.
When I asked what the labs were for, she explained they'd help determine whether Zepbound or Mounjaro was more appropriate. I appreciated that clarity and again admitted I'd dropped the ball on the labs. I then told her I would call my gynecologist during the visit to clarify why Zepbound appeared in my chart, and she said "phones aren't allowed, PERIOD." That is not even true--the policy prohibits recording, not calling. I then asked if she could call my other doctor herself--and she refused.
Instead, she told me I could follow up later and offered to refer me to an endocrinologist. She didn't say she couldn't help--but her behavior, her tone, and her complete unwillingness to participate in resolving the situation sent that message loud and clear. Rather than helping me move forward, she listed alternatives that allowed her to opt out of the situation completely. I was upset--not because I was demanding medication, but because I was being dismissed.
I said, "This is BS," not because I disrespected the process, but because I was being pushed aside without any effort to advocate for me or even clarify what was clearly a misunderstanding. I wasn't angry--I was fed up. I'd waited two months for this appointment and was doing everything I could to move my care forward. She got up and said she was calling the manager. I didn't need to be managed--I needed a provider who cared enough to listen and try.
What made things worse was what she then documented in my chart. She wrote that I "accused her of saying I was lying," that I "demanded a prescription," and that she "offered to refer me to an endocrinologist." She omitted the part where I offered multiple times to help clarify the record, asked for her support, and was repeatedly shut down. Her note paints me as an aggressive patient when I was simply someone trying to advocate for herself after being dismissed for months.
Dr. Murthy-Mascarenhas didn't have to say "you're lying." She said it through her tone, her insistence, and her refusal to listen. This was one of the most dehumanizing medical visits I've ever experienced--and I'm speaking up because no patient should be treated like this when they're showing up, asking questions, and trying to take responsibility for their care.
Picture attached to show her original notes in January's visit prescribing me the medication .