Allergy Medical Clinic

Great place with amazing staff. Dr. Corren is a great doctor that listens and addresses any and all concerns you might have. He is very upbeat and always smiling. But the real stars of the place are the clinical research coordinators. Kimberly, Adria and Andrea are simply AMAZING. The always address you by your name with a smile. They are funny upbeat and make you smile even while they are drawing your blood (which I hate). On top of that the study I am in is outstanding and I am seeing a real difference. Great place not what you would expect.

Do NOT waste your time with this place.
Doctor Corrin kept commenting on my good medical benefits– like he was seeing dollar signs.
He prescribed 2 medications, neither of which were generic. Both expensive even with my insurance. Makes me think he gets a kickback.
Then he gave me allergy tests without asking if I had taken allergy medications. I had, so the test was useless. Wouldn’t a competent doctor know to ask first? Probably charged my insurance for the bogus test.
I contacted his office because my problem was not better and I was wanting more affordable medication. Guess what? He doesn’t call back.
Keep shopping. There must be a good allergist in Los Angeles.

$ 1,400 (w/​insurance $ 900) for a 30 minute scratch allergy test/​sticker on my back that was given and results read by an assistant. Apparently I’m allergic to dust mites. As myself and the good doctor both knew the dust mites were not the culprit here, he did have a solution: fly to NYU and become a test subject for their derm team. brilliant. Multiple visits over 5 months. No results. Still suffering. good hearts at this place, but major FAIL.

I’ve been going to Dr. Howard Schanker since I was 10 and he has helped me immensely over the years with both my allergies and asthma. I have no doubts that he is an amazing doctor who is very knowledgeable about his profession. Having said that, I just want to make it clear that this review is not about Dr. Schanker and his success as a doctor, but rather about the office he practices in.
A month ago I needed a new inhaler, but was told I had to go see my allergist before the pharmacy could give me one. I made an appointment at Allergy Medical Clinic for the next day at 3:00 and was told to come in at 2:45 to fill out some paper work. The next day I arrived promptly at 2:45 to fill out paper work and waited to be seen. At 3:20, when I was still the only person in the waiting room, they called my name and took me to a patient room where I was told the doctor would be in shortly. At 3:45 when neither a nurse nor doctor had showed up, I went to the front desk to ask if it would be much longer. They told me it would be any minute now and to please wait a few more minutes. At this point I had to run down to the street to put more money in the meter. It wasn’t until 4:20 that Dr. Schanker finally showed up so he could write a new prescription for an inhaler.
It really seems as though the people who operate in this office have no value for other people’s time. Hopefully from now on, the people at the front desk will call/​tell their patients ahead of time if they know the office schedule is running behind for the day.

Dr. Howard Schanker is the best allergist I’ve ever had.
He’s got partners, of course, and I can only give them kudos by association. But Schanker is the guy. He helped me and eventually my wife immensely with our allergies and asthma. He’s a deeply knowledgeable expert and has a philosophy of preventive medicine. Also, when I’ve been out of town and it would have been easy for him to be unavailable or to redirect me to an on-​call associate, he always returned my call and gave me great advice.
Schanker is a high-​level diagnostic expert and anyone who continues to suffer from allergies or asthma would benefit greatly from even five minutes with him. Listen, take notes, do what he says, feel better.