Dr. Denise Zusman, MD

I recently tried to reschedule with Dr. Zusman and was heartbroken to find out that she no longer works at Kaiser ;((( She managed some of my complicated health issues expertly, and was able to change my diagnosis and even safely took me off some medications. I have never met a smarter doctor. She listened to all my concerns and was able to handle all my stress. She Listened!!! I'm not sure I will ever be able to find a better psych doctor.

Dr. Zusman messaged me unexpectedly when my Dr. was unavailable to approve a prescription. She did this twice. She accused me of ordering my prescription early which is not possible using Kaiser's web based pharmacy system. She seemed unaware of this and then unwilling to accept explanation. This prescription requires an additional step of a Doctor's approval. In her one sentence messages to me, she simply wrote that my Dr. was not "available." After several messages back and forth, she finally told me that he was on vacation. Zusman is not my physcian. I have never met her. Her messages were shocking, terse and dismissive. After the first time, I asked that she not message me again or be allowed to have any part in my therapy. However she recently messaged me again for a second time, with an almost identical message. Later, she again complained that I had, been ordering my prescription early.

This is the first time I've encountered a doctor who refused to diagnose a patient. It was a very strange experience. After recently having learned about ADHD, I wanted to see dr. zusman to rule out the possibility that ADHD might be causing my depression. I have all the symptoms, and it would certainly explain a lot about my most debilitating problems. But she refused to administer the standard 2 minute assessment questionnaire, or to even entertain the possibility. In fact, she insisted that there is no way to test for ADHD and that "most patients who want to be assessed come in with documents from their childhood." Ummm excuse me? Not everyone is so lucky to have educated, sensitive parents that get their kids assessed. My parents were oblivious to any and all mental health issues. Also, has she really never heard of people getting diagnosed as adults? I honestly got the feeling she didn't know how to do it. I've never felt so invalidated and dismissed as a patient before.

She told me that my diagnosis by my previous psychiatrist that retired, who had many more credentials than her to treat my illness was not valid. She denied me medication that I had been using for years with great results. She dismissed my previous diagnosises, because she didnt want to prescribe me a stimulant to treat my disabilitating ADHD. She was dimissive of my needs and my thoughts and misdiagnosed me. Thank god I was able to get in touch with my retired dr after she came out of retirment