Karen R Sandler, DO

I had the true pleasure of being Dr. Sandler’s patient for the past 6 years. In that time, she has been truly knowledgeable (both solo and with her amazing team,) a major asset to my lifestyle and health, and has also been one of THE best health doctors that I can ever recall having. Sadly, she is retiring after this year but I will definitely miss her and hope that the terrific work she brought out will continue.

Dr Sandler and her staff are great! She is always prompt and on time. Her staff is always so attentive and understanding. I really appreciate that when I call for a prescription refill that her staff always gets what I need to the pharmacy within the same day.

It I can give negative star, I would.
The service was not too bad. That’s not the problem. The problem is the billing department.
So I had a physical from them. And my insurance will cover the whole part, (without copay) but the office as for my copay anyway. At the time, I decided to pay anyway. and When i got the summery from my insurance I will just call the doc office to get the refund. That was beginning of march.
And in Mid March, I already got the summery from my insurance of how much Dr Sandler office have change my insurance company. And no surprise there, my insurance pay for anything, and there wasn’t any copay that i need to pay. So I call the doc office back. and ask for refund.
Today is mid June. Between now and then, i have call the billing department, leave voice mail, sent email, call the doc office, email the doc office. and everything…
each response was «we will check with the billing department and call you back» and THERE WAS NEVER A CALL BACK. I have to call them every so often to check what is going on. and every time, when they look at my record it sound like a new problem with them every time. Very annoying. and I call the billing department, left a voice mail, never heard back from them.
I mean the copay is not much. But is the money that I should pay, and they basically double dipping. from me and the insurance company.
If i do not hear back from them in this week, I will report there business to BBB (Better Business Bureau).
I will NEVER recommend this place to anyone I know.
UPDATED:
Now is September 15, 2014, and I still have no see the reimbursement. I have my insurance involve and call them, BTW, I did get the response from the doctor office.
They sent me an certificated mail. Say that, they will no longer provide for me.
Hello! is not like I will even come back to this doctor ever!
THE WORST!
MORE UPDATED:
Today, I received a bill from a collector that is sent from her office, that I own them $ 95! for what ??? I have no idea, I never see that bill before, or then have any explanation of what is that charge for. So 1., they never refund my money, and 2, they send me a bill that I never see before, 6 month later after I call the insurance to talk to her. 3 and send me to collector office! What the F*^k is wrong with this office. Seriously, Why is she can even open run a business like this! Can anyone out there help me to get this shit straight out? This is seriously F*^K UP!
10/​15/​2014 updated:
Still no copay refund~~~ this is 8 months~~

Dr. Sandler has been my doctor for over 4 years. She’s wonderful and has a no nonsense bedside manner I appreciate being from the east coast myself.
Always professional, kind and thoughtful. I recommend her to all my friends.

I was new to the Los Angeles area and looking for a doctor. I found Dr. Sandler through an internet search and started going to her. I sure wish I had read these reviews first! In 20 years of dealing with a chronic medical condition, and seeing various doctors in those 20 years, Dr. Sandler is the worst doctor I have ever experienced. 2 biggest red flags: I told her I was stressed out due to having some family members visit over the holidays and she told me that I was 43 years old and I needed to «get over it». Also, I received a bill asking me to pay my portion of a lab drawn in her office. The lab that she ordered to be drawn on me had absolutely nothing to do with my medical condition. This is fraud! I am still fighting against paying this. My advice is that if you want decent medical care stay very far away from Dr. Karen Sandler!

My girlfriend and I went to Dr. Sandler and our insurance covers everything but a co-​pay. We constantly started getting bills for things that SHOULD have been covered by the insurance.
She also ENCOURAGED my girlfriend that she SHOULD go see her PYSCHIATRIST friend «Dr. Joellen Lapidas» in Westwood about her stress only to rack up more «CO PAYS» and have this «STRINK» threatened to SUE HER for the co-​pays. I thought Shrinks were suppose to RELEAVE STRESS from your life not CAUSE it. To add salt to insult, the Pyschiarist did NOTHING for her.
Dr. Sandler eventually sent her to collections which was so heartless considering that Dr. Sandler knew that she had JUST got diagnosed with two illnesses and she was now seeing HER, her Pyschiatrist friend, a Endocronologist, Eye doctor (Graves desease) and Chyropractor and paying them ALL co-​pays several times EVERY WEEK. 5 doctors over night ALL asking to see her each week.
I could go on and on but some of the things you guys already covered.

Karen has been my GP for many years and I am honestly shocked by the negative reviews I’ve read and feel I should speak up. One review claims she told someone to just deal with their back pain forever with meds — um, Karen is an Osteopath as well as an MD, so someone with a holistic specialty would NEVER suggest such a thing. Another review reports her rudely cutting them off, which just baffles me. Karen is incredibly attentive, more so than any other doctor I’ve seen. She schedules her patients in longer time slots than is suggested by the insurance companies because she is committed to having a dialogue with every patient and never making them feel like a number. She’s also never been anything other than warm and helpful. She always asks me to schedule a follow-​up appointment once she’s treated me for something so that she can check back in and be aware of any progress or lack. So yeah– Karen is amazing and I have referred her to many equally satisfied friends.

I went to Dr. Sandler for an annual physical exam. I went to Dr. Sandler because she was referred to me by my insurance company. I had only this one experience with her that I thought would be a simple annual physical exam covered by my insurance. I told the Dr. not to do anything that my insurance does not cover more than one time during the visit. However, I continue to receive bills from her. I am seriously confused as to why she would have provided a service to me and charge me for something when I told her several times NOT to do any test or provide any services that my insurance would not cover. I am serious confused as to how someone could finish medical school but not understand this simple request.
Furthermore, she asked to see me again and told me to make another appointment the following month but failed to tell me why or for what. My physical came back fine with a vitamin D deficiency. Since then I have consulted other doctors about my experience with her including MDs in my family as well and believe that Dr. Sandler asking me to return in a month for another appointment was an attempt to add me to her payroll. I am seriously disappointed by this experience.

R u kidding me? I was looking for a GP because I just moved here from SD. BTW, I saw her several months ago. I took my time to research and I came across her. I read it on her website that she is patient and she «listen!» So, here I was!
When I started explaining to her my concerns, she said «that should not have happened, NO, just no.» WTF? I basically told her that every time I make a certain motion, I get a neck pain. What do you even mean «no?» *scratch head*
Then, as I was telling her my other problem (¹⁄₃ way through, she cut me off), she just said to me «too early to worry.» I said «but I need to take care of it now, because it affect my daily life.» She then said «tell me next time»
Ok, there is no next time.

Where do I begin? My Mother was on an HMO living alone and started to have falls. I implored my siblings to help. «Something is wrong with Mom» I kept saying. The others said «She’s just old.» «Old, I said, is my neighbor down the street who is 90 and rides his bike to the beach every day!» After another bad fall and hospital stay, I moved Mom out of Palm Springs and to my house and began to care for her. At this point she could barley walk with a walker and I had to help feed her. She was ready to die. This was in 2004 or 2005?. I took her to my Doctor, Dr. Sandler. The Dr. immediately took action. Long story short… Mom got the help and diagnosis she needed to get her the right medication. We found out she has Parkinson’s and within about a month Mom was not only walking without a walker but she didn’t even need a cane! Mom got to go back to her home and live independently for another year. This is a huge reversal that does not usually happen in an elderly person’s life. A year of freedom.
Parkinson’s is a progressive disease so eventually Mom had to have more care. Throughout the years, Dr. Sandler made sure that if my Mother fell or had an alert in her health that she received THE BEST care. She would always get admitted in the hospital and see the necessary physicians to get her well. If Dr. Sandler sees something of concern in a test, she will always refers to a specialist. (You never have to beg like in an HMO).
Dr. Sandler is also my doctor. Dr. Sandler is the person you want on your team whether you are battling a disease or you are healthy and want to stay that way. My opinion is take as many tests as needed because early detection is the key to solving most health issues. She will charm you with her dry humor but make sure you are not late– she schedules her time to really talk to you because she really, really cares.
Dr. Sandler saved my Mother’s life and as far as I am concerned… she’s an angel.

This woman is the opposite of a doctor. I am horrified she is in the medical profession. I came to her with back pain and she told me there was no way to cure it but that she could show me how to live with the pain for the rest of my life on medication. I went to a real doctor a few days later and a chiropractor who cured my back pain within three weeks. This woman bragged about the fact that she had already ‘seen’ twenty patients that day before noon. She does not care and she does not listen. She is a stock broker in a doctors coat only interested in surfing the criminal insurance system for all it is worth. I hope you never fall victim to this horrible person!

Dr. Sandler has been my doctor for many years now. She is thorough, friendly and despite all that I keep ignoring in my lifestyle, she has been patient with me. She has gotten me through a number of minor illnesses, referred me to excellent specialists — cardio and gastro — and seems to have good answers for all my questions. Oh and about that wait time… there essentially is none. She keeps on schedule in my experience. BTW, there is free parking just across Wilshire.

Dr. Sandler is professional, thorough and kind. She is an angel and I appreciate her straightforward and compassionate approach to treating patients.

Dr. Sandler goes the extra mile for, I think, 2 very unusual reasons:
1) she sincerely cares, and
2) she takes pride in her own work.
She brings experience, sincerity, dedication and compassion to her work. A breath of fresh air.