Sobel Stephen V, MD

I wish I would have written this 4 years ago when I experienced his narcissistic demeanor. He is an ass, to say the least. He is extremely unprofessional, calling my therapist at the time while I was in his office and putting her on speaker — she had no idea I was in his office at that moment. He lied about payment, saw me for maybe 5 min to write a refill for a generic prescription and charged me $ 150. Really?! Went twice thinking I was the crazy one for thinking ill of him the first time. I waited for 20 minutes in a deserted office beyond our appt time for our first appt. To keep it to-​the-​point, he is the Biggest asshole I have encountered in the medical world and there are a few other ones I have come across over the years. Beware, do not waste your time, money or mental anguish on this JERK. He needs to be reported and I hope multiple ppl have filed grievances about him — I wish I had. Negative stars for sure. Why do we have to choose at least one? His behavior does not warrant that.

Sobel was the employers doctor in a work related stress leave.
Although my own therapist was fully licensed, respected, and competent, Sobels report always reflects the EMPLOYER side.
Plain and simple
PAID PIG
for BIG CORPORATIONS.
How does he still have a license ?
As we would say in Jersey, «This guy is a piece of +*#*

I am a current patient & will summarize him and his office «liaison». Subsequent to this post, I will be his EX patient and he will be (to me) some selfish, rude, and narcissistic ass I had to see for psych meds once upon a time:
CIGNA Rx Home Delivery has faxed him 3 times since 15MAY2015 and finally after 10 BUSINESS DAYS OF NO RESPONSE — WHILE I AM OUT OF MEDS FOR TOMORROW — my order was cancelled. I just got back into town after being in IL for a week to find this out. Sound like someone you want «caring» for u?
1) My calls have NEVER been answered
2) My messages have NEVER been returned — not even those I mark URGENT after his voice mail system conveniently cuts me off after 5 words
3) Cindy (?) would not accept, from me, that he does not get to charge me a $ 40 copay (vs $ 20) for a «specialist»…FOR THREE MONTHS. About 5 attempts to reach her on that – never responded til my month-​later in-​person appt: UNACCEPTABLE. We are not discussing linens.
4) My 1^st appt was XMas Eve; no receptionist that day to pay.
5) My 2^nd appt was NY Eve; no receptionist that day to pay, with my 3^rd appt sched (by him) for 2 wks out.
6) A week later I get a «statement» of $$ due (at Specialist billing rate!) that was more of assumption that I purpose hadn’t paid for those 2 sessions (1) and (2) that’s it’s my responsibility blah blah blah BS and (3) if not paid within x days, they were sending me to collections.
RUDE AS f! HORRIBLE HORRIBLE — HE DOESNT CARE AND HIS OFFICE MANAGER CARES EVEN LESS. If u were referred by an MFT – tell MFT to try again.

DO NOT GO TO HIM!
First off i was seen 25 minutes after my scheduled time. There was no receptionist to help with any questions about paperwork as a first time patient. Seriously listen to all the negative reviews!
All he did was try to push drugs on me. I’ve been seeing different behavioral health professionals on and off for ten years as I’ve moved. After only about fifteen minutes he said yup i know your whole situation and i’ll write a prescription. That was absurd to me, being i hadn’t really said much of anything besides yes or no answers.
When i asked if there was any other treatment available he became very irate. I said i preferred to go to a physiologist again first to make sure and get a second opionion. He blatantly said «go ahead and go to the talk your lips off specialists» «either way you’ll be back here begging for a prescription» as he walked out of the room. That alone showed me the disrespect he had for the mental health field.

There should be an option to have negative stars for this psychiatrist and his negative attitude! What doctor who is supposed to help you with behavior has attitude the 1^st five minutes and throws your insurance card at you, because his assistant screwed up not telling me ahead of time that I have a $ 172 deductible to pay now! Not worth it

I have been seeing Dr. Sobel for several years now. I have found him to be caring and most patient. His secretary Ms. Cindy — they do not come any better

Wish I would have thought to read reviews before taking my son to this rude, weird person. Went on referral from MFT, however, should have read these reviews. What a strange little man. Beware.

I am so glad to read these reviews here and elsewhere online. I thought maybe it was just me. I found Dr. Sobel to be extremely arrogant and unwilling to listen. I was referred to him by another doctor and saw him regularly for about 6 months. Each time I consulted with him, he basically answered all of his questions of me without even giving me a chance to say anything in my 10 minute allotted time. When I did get a chance to speak, he often disagreed with what I said I was feeling. Once, I went on vacation and forgot my medication. When I told him this at our next visit, he said that a lot of patients intentionally «forget» their meds. I told him that I didn’t do it on purpose, and his response was, «Yes, you did. You might not realize it, but you did. Don’t worry– lots of people do it.» What? He also literally patted himself on the back once when he was right about something. Seriously reached around and patted himself on the back and even declared that he was doing so. I missed one appointment, completely by accident, and swiftly received a hefty bill. Dropped my $ 150 check in the mail and dusted my hands. Best money ever spent for an easy breakup.

Wow. With I would have read these reviews before going to see Dr. Sobel.
He is as described: money hungry, putting profits ahead of his patients’ well being, and arrogant/​rude to the point of being a joke. He always rushed me out the door after 10 – 15 minutes tops even though I was paying for an hour of his time. He wouldn’t accept a credit card, would only accept cash.
I have decided that I am going to (1) report this doctor to the medical board for unethical practices (2) sue him in small claims court charging me for an appointment that was never booked and (3) report him to my insurance company and any other insurance company that is willing to listen with the intention of getting them to stop using him as a provider.

I had a similar experience with this stale money hungry doctor. I am looking for a new one asap.

I am going to keep this review short and sweet and just touch on the highlights…
pros:
short waiting period, appointments are on time
appointments last around 5 to 15 minutes at the most
cons:
Dr. Sobel’s bedside manner is lacking to say the least. He is extremely rude, brusque, and short tempered. Has a major attitude problem and will not tolerate you asking questions about his diagnosis or even contemplate that he could be wrong in reaching his conclusion.
Be careful when paying him, he has issues keeping track of your payments and wants cash for them. He also conveniently forgets that you already paid your bills and has tried to collect on co-​payments that were already paid.
Bottom line here, is that if you want to pay for a rude doctor to tell you what is wrong with you, you have found your place. Go elsewhere, there are too many doctors in San Diego that are good for you to give your business to this one.