Maher Abdallah , MD

Reviews (4)

MOST HELPFUL

Ashley
March 31, 2017
The doctor listened to what I had to say about my medical history and read my file. He made suggestions based on the factors. We made a decision based on this.
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He

Heather

October 04, 2021

As a registered nurse and former patient of Dr. Abdallah’s, who has successfully achieved pregnancy while in the care of this clinic, I will NEVER trust Dr. Abdallah with my health or family plan again. In my experience, Dr. Abdallah proved to be: NEGLIGENT, LACKED COMPASSION, DOES NOT RELIEVE SUFFERING, and ENDANGERS PATIENT SAFETY. COMPLAINT FILED WITH MEDICAL BOARD. I underwent IVF while under Dr. Abdallah’s care with the reassurance that if I developed Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS) during the egg retrieval process, he would appropriately alleviate symptoms. Because I have polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), I am at higher risk for developing OHSS, although it is a risk for any patient undergoing IVF. ***Dr. Abdallah takes a very unfair approach in hormone monitoring and prescribing through the egg retrieval process. He does not let patients surpass the estrogen level of 4,500. This sounds conservative and proactive to prevent hyperstimulation, however, it doesn’t help patients complete their family with one egg retrieval, and benefits Dr. Abdallah by increasing his profits. When I achieved his recommended estrogen level, I was instructed to stop injections two days early, depriving my eggs of the hormone they were receiving to mature. My outcome: 16 eggs retrieved, 13 injected with sperm, 11 fertilized, and ONE healthy embryo grew. ***After egg retrieval, I developed severe ovarian hyperstimulation. Dr. Abdallah denied what was happening. Each day, I was getting worse. Each day, I was developing another symptom. The biggest red flag that my health was at severe risk was that I WAS UNABLE TO URINATE FOR A WEEK. That was not only painful but dangerous with potential for kidney damage. I developed weight gain, persistent nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, ovarian and abdominal pain, difficulty breathing, a tight, distended abdomen, concentrated blood (putting me at risk for blood clots), flank pain (kidney pain from not urinating), and eventually severe intermittent pain in my ovaries (meaning I was at risk for ovarian torsion). Dr. Abdallah would not relieve my symptoms during the week. He would not hospitalize me even after I asked him if I should be. I suffered. I felt like I was trying to convince him of the severity. He promised to drain my abdomen after a week, saying, “If you even need it.” He kept telling me my symptoms were mild. I pushed myself through the week because I trusted him. Experiencing unmanageable symptoms, it came to the decision for my husband and me to either go to the ER or go to Dr. Abdallah’s surgical center as soon as they opened at 5 AM. Because fertility is a specialty, I decided to wait to see my specialist, Dr. Abdallah. It was one of the longest nights of our lives. As soon as 4:30 AM came, my husband helped me to the car. Upon arrival, I was in severe pain, uncontrollable dry heaving and very weak. Dr. Abdallah was still unconvinced that I had developed ovarian hyperstimulation. He was assessing me for a kidney infection and stating that I may need to go to the ER for treatment. I reminded him that I probably had developed a kidney infection because I had not urinated in a week. Still unconvinced, he moved on to assess my pain. I described my pain as feeling sudden, sharp and severe and then it would suddenly go away. I had never felt pain like that in my life. Dr. Abdallah stated that it could be my ovaries twisting in fluid. Finally! We were talking about my ovaries and the possibility of fluid in my abdomen! After being in the surgical center for over two hours, they finally did an ultrasound to assess for fluid. I was put under anesthesia and my abdomen was drained. ONE LITER OF FLUID. They couldn’t remove all of it because it would have thrown off my electrolytes. Over the next three days, I LOST NINE POUNDS OF FLUID through urination. I was severely hyperstimulated. Dr. Abdallah did not relieve suffering the way he should have. His care was both negligent and unsafe. After achieving pregnancy, I developed bleeding and cramping a week later. Dr. Abdallah did weekly/biweekly ultrasounds to monitor. He had no explanation for the bleeding. We always had questions but no real answers from him. At my 11 week ultrasound, he told me, “some women just bleed during pregnancy” and instructed me to cancel my 12 week appointment with him. He was turning my care over to my OB doctor without any warning. Can you imagine the panic I felt, trying to hold onto my pregnancy, trying to get answers from my doctor, and then to be suddenly dropped without so much as an appointment set up with my OB doctor? Luckily, the OB clinic had compassion and got me in two days later. When I saw the OB doctor, he wanted an ultrasound right away. He informed me that I had placenta previa with two hemorrhages where the placenta was not attached to the uterine wall. Within just a couple days of seeing Dr. Abdallah, I was given a medical explanation for my symptoms. Dr. Abdallah either intentionally withheld information from me or he didn’t recognize the symptoms. I have undergone IVF since then at Loma Linda. Estrogen level was about 12,000 (instead of 4,500), with seven healthy embryos, and only moderate hyperstimulation. I never lost the ability to urinate. My symptoms were addressed and managed. They helped me move in the direction of completing my family in a healthy, safe, compassionate way.

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na

January 16, 2019

he was amazing and answered all the questions i had and needed to be answered

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Re

Rebecca

2 IVF (Fresh)

January 12, 2017

Very friendly. Almost never felt rushed or short on time. Small language barrier at times but not significant. See overal experience for more info on Dr

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