Stephen M Brown MD

This clinic is worst clinic I ever experienced in California. I had got bad experience with Dr as well as staff. there medical process for immigration is very careless, delay and charge alot. i got 3 times reject from immigration for there simple mistake. i suggest you all not to go to this clinic.

This man is a nut case. I am surprised he is still running a medical business. Yikes. creepy.

Mr Brown is the worst doctor I’ve ever seen back in summer 2013. My partner and I went to his office so that he would sign off our vaccine papers for immigration purposes.
We came to his office for the 3^rd time. We have a 3pm appointment, and after a 1.5 hour wait (!), he finally tells us that he cannot take us today because he is choosing to take the gentleman who arrived *after* us, to accommodate him. No problem, he says, he doesn’t really need us to be present to finalize our file anyway! So why are we even here waiting, I ask? What a joke.
This guy doesn’t seem to realize that people actually take time off their job to come visit him; that the purpose of an «appointment» is for each party to manage their time so we don’t have to waste it waiting.
He told us that we can come back in 30 min if we want (i.e., at his closing time, 5pm), or make an appointment for tomorrow morning. Yeah right, another appointment… we choose to be back in 30. At 5pm, we come back and he doesn’t even have the decency to come out of his office and see us; he lets his assistant assemble our file and yells orders at hers from his office. The whole scene is a joke, and it would be funny if it wasn’t so disrespectful of the patients.
CONS:
Besides that, what else is wrong with Dr Brown, you may ask? Here is a list that should help you get a picture of the character:
* First, imagine an older white guy, long white hair attached in a ponytail, a loud voice and a nose that reveals his inclination to drinks. Then, imagine him seating in a filthy office, with an accumulated mess of random stuff on the desks and on the floor (yes, seriously).
* He talks, you listen. He doesn’t listen, he’s the expert and he knows better than you. Good thing you like to listen, because he likes to talk — a lot — and tell you random stories about his life that present him in a good light.
* He will explain and tell you all sorts of things about your condition and what you need, but in the end, you’re not sure what’s the next step. It is REALLY hard to get him to order his thoughts so as to have a clear plan of action. Don’t expect him to know what you need and keep track of it. Instead, he will tell you, he may even gribble it on a post-​it for you, but you better be sure to understand and remember because next time, he will ask you — and not to test you, just because he doesn’t remember. One day, an American man and his foreign wife were in the waiting room with us. Dr Brown comes out and asks to see the woman’s arm to verify her reaction to a skin test. (yes, he does that in the waiting room in front of everybody). Then he turns to the husband and, thinking he’s also going through the immigration vaccines, asks him to show his arm too. The gentleman looks at him, slightly annoyed that Dr. Brown didn’t even remember who is and who isn’t his patient…
* His office doesn’t do emails. Need to send a document? Fax it, or come to the office.
* Cash only
PROS:
* If you put aside the lack of respect, the poor service and the overall unhealthy psychological environment at Dr Brown’s office, visiting Dr Brown will offer you a bunch of colorful anecdotes to tell your friends later!

Did not have the chance to go to this practitioner but just the experience of scheduling the appointment was very unpleasant. I scheduled an appointment to just change the bandage of a small cut on a finger tip and they called the same day to cancel it. The only option they gave was an urgent care provider, that of course, it’s more expensive and of course, I could have always gone to in the first place (that is why I was scheduling an appointment with a physician). I really think they should have found another physician. I called to more than 10 practitioners and of course, none of them could take me for the same day. I called back to Doctor Brown’s office and his assistant, Marcy, said she would not help me and she even hanged up on me. This is not the way to treat a customer/​patient. If this is the care they give, definitively, DO NOT GO TO THIS DOCTOR’s OFFICE!

AVOID AVOID AVOID this wackjob!!!
This so called «doctor» is EXTREMELY unprofessional, disrespectful, rude, and nuts! He won’t listen to you, it’s his way or his way only or else he will scream at you and belittle you. He will talk down to you because in his mind doctors are «Gods».
TRUST ME, you do NOT want him as your doctor. Take advice from everyone else’s reviews and run! He should get negative stars. I wouldn’t be surprised if he lost his medical license soon because he should!
RUN RUN RUN!

I have been Dr. Brown’s patient for over 10 years.
Dr. Brown has helped me out so many times.
What I like most about him is he explains thoroughly what is going on with me, is not afraid to ask other doctor’s for their opinions, isn’t pill happy, is straight forward and very intelligent.
Thanks, Dr. B!

Like other 1 star ratings, I had a terrible experience with Dr. Brown and my motivation in writing is to prevent others from similar misfortune. I normally check reviews for service providers but thought it was unnecessary for a 1 – 2 visit US Immigration physical (Dr. Brown is on the list of approved US Civil Surgeons). I wound up leaving the appointment part way through. While I may have compassion for the man, I do not want him to have my business. Two examples, one subjective, one not, that were of concern to me were other patients’ medical documents at the edge of his desk, in full view; and his treatment of his receptionist which was both bizarre and I felt verbally abusive. In my opinion, he should not be listed on a government website as an approved Civil Surgeon.

Mr Brown is the worst doctor I’ve had the misfortune to meet. Today was hopefully the last time that my partner and I went to his office so that he would sign off our vaccine papers for immigration purposes.
We came to his office for the 3^rd time. We have a 3pm appointment, and after a 1.5 hour wait (!), he finally tells us that he cannot take us today because he is choosing the take the gentleman who arrived *after* us, to accommodate him. No problem, he says, he doesn’t really need us to be present to finalize our file anyway! So why are we even here waiting, I ask? What a joke.
This guy doesn’t seem to realize that people actually take time off their job to come visit him; that the purpose of an «appointment» is for each party to manage their time so we don’t have to waste it waiting.
He told us that we can come back in 30 min if we want (i.e., at his closing time, 5pm), or make an appointment for tomorrow morning. Yeah right, another appointment… we choose to be back in 30. At 5pm, we come back and he doesn’t even have the decency to come out of his office and see us; he lets his assistant assemble our file and yells orders at hers from his office. The whole scene is a joke, and it would be funny if it wasn’t so disrespectful of the patients.
CONS:
Besides that, what else is wrong with Dr Brown, you may ask? Here is a list that should help you get a picture of the character:
* First, imagine an older white guy, long white hair attached in a ponytail, a loud voice and a nose that reveals his inclination to drinks. Then, imagine him seating in a filthy office, with an accumulated mess of random stuff on the desks and on the floor (yes, seriously).
* He talks, you listen. He doesn’t listen, he’s the expert and he knows better than you. Good thing you like to listen, because he likes to talk — a lot — and tell you random stories about his life that present him in a good light.
* He will explain and tell you all sorts of things about your condition and what you need, but in the end, you’re not sure what’s the next step. It is REALLY hard to get him to order his thoughts so as to have a clear plan of action. Don’t expect him to know what you need and keep track of it. Instead, he will tell you, he may even gribble it on a post-​it for you, but you better be sure to understand and remember because next time, he will ask you — and not to test you, just because he doesn’t remember. One day, an American man and his foreign wife were in the waiting room with us. Dr Brown comes out and asks to see the woman’s arm to verify her reaction to a skin test. (yes, he does that in the waiting room in front of everybody). Then he turns to the husband and, thinking he’s also going through the immigration vaccines, asks him to show his arm too. The gentleman looks at him, slightly annoyed that Dr. Brown didn’t even remember who is and who isn’t his patient…
* His office doesn’t do emails. Need to send a document? Fax it, or come to the office.
* Cash only
PROS:
* If you put aside the lack of respect, the poor service and the overall unhealthy psychological environment at Dr Brown’s office, visiting Dr Brown will offer you a bunch of colorful anecdotes to tell your friends later!
CONCLUSION:
Hard to believe this guy still has patients coming to see him. From what we’ve seen in the waiting room, 80% of his business comes from foreigners who need vaccine paperwork find him on the government’s website. That might explain it.
As I’m writing this review, Dr Brown has 2 full stars on Unilocal.This is wayyy over what he deserves. I hope he goes out of business soon.

I came here for once and Im not coming back again.
very unpleasant experience
sorry.

What a horrible experience. I walked into the office and it was disgusting. I waited waiting in the waiting room for over an hour. I started to get really anxious because I had my baby with me and my car in a paid parking spot on the street. I was afraid my car was going to get a ticket to say the least. They finally let me into see the doctor and the first thing he says to me is, ‘We don’t allow babies at the office but I used to be a pediatrician.” Huh? He started to tell me about how babies take up so much time with crying and stuff blah blah blah and meanwhile I was waiting in the waiting room for over an hour! OVER AN HOUR! We had our ‘get to know each other talk’ and I didn’t really feel comfortable answering the questions he asked but I figure he’s the doctor so this must be leading somewhere. The paper work in the office was a mess and everything was so disorganized. The physical was not done with grace to say the least. I was thinking to myself, ‘What am I doing here?’ I couldn’t wait to leave and never return. I really should have read the reviews on Unilocal before I went to see him and done my research. I can’t believe my insurance company recommended him.

Hey Dr. B,
1) I’m not ok with you waltzing in 35 minutes late and only having 1 other patient in the office.
2) Having paper thin walls means that patients in the other room can hear EVERYTHING going on in the room next to you (i.e. when you were berating the patient in the room next door for being overweight and scaring her with the 20 different cancers she might get due to her obesity!)
2) Having a phone in your exam rooms does NOT give you the right to answer calls in the middle of my exam. Also — I don’t think that it is legal (nor appropriate) to have these calls be about a patient’s VERY personal medical issues… i.e. positive test results on a liver scan! I heard 2 conversations (one in my exam room and one through the paper thin walls of the room next door.
3) The receptionist is rude. (not friendly, as Sarah d. described). This lady also serves as the nurse who takes your vitals.
4) The office is very outdated, cluttered and feels very unclean. The doctor knocked my purse upside down, after I had carefully placed it on a chair so that it would not have to get dirty on the floor. His instruments were very automatic (the blood pressure machine was not the pump kind).
5) My insurance limits which Primary Care doctors that I can see, I had VERY few options for doctors. I thought I would give this guy the benefit of the doubt but that was a big mistake!
The conclusion of my physical included him telling me that I am Type A. Nice diagnosis, doc! Of course I am. But what does this say about my health?!?
The doctor is actually nice and well intentioned, but I had a horrific experience.

dr. brown THE WORST doctor i have ever seen!!! When i told him i had a severe eating disorder he said abruptly that I need to lose 15 pounds and simply stop eating too much… the throwing up was not the problem!

Dr. Brown has been my doctor for about 20 years. Virtually every time I’ve seen him I’ve sworn to change doctors because of the negative experience. Each time I have not because of the difficulty of finding a new doctor, and also because he usually sees you the same day and orders every test under the sun for you. But the last time I spoke with him on the phone was the last straw. He was rude, hostile for no reason, condescending… the man should retire.
Simon P.

I’ve been seeing Dr. Brown for just about a year now and I am extremely dissatisfied with the «service» he has provided. Simply put, the man is incredibly selfish and does not concern himself or his practice with customer/​patient satisfaction.
I’ve had to deal with him and his office at least once a month so that I can pick up written prescriptions for my medication. This medication is controlled and requires a written prescription every time I need a refill, state law requires this so I can’t just have the pharmacy call the doctor to get a refill. When I call the office to request a new prescription, I have to explain to the staff every time that I need a piece of paper and instead of listening to me they always tell me to call the pharmacy to refill it. After urging them to just give the message to Doctor Brown, he will usually call me back after a few hours and «educate» me about how I need a written prescription. Say wha??? I already know this! Your staff needs this education, not me! After doing this dance for a few months, Doctor Brown has felt the need to start charging me for writing the prescriptions due to the «intense labor» involved with pulling my chart, unlocking his Rx pad, and writing me the prescription. Not only is this absurd but I believe that this is not entirely legal. He also requires that I give him a few days notice before I pick up the Rx. I guess it takes him days to write down a few words on a slip of paper.
Oh, and one more little story. When I first started going to Dr. Brown, he told me to get some blood work done. Unfortunately I was unable to get this done in a timely fashion as I work retail, don’t have a car, and the labs have very restricted hours. When I requested another refill for my meds, Doctor Brown got on the phone with me and explained that he will not give me my medication until I get the blood work done. What a control freak! I’ve been taking these meds for a number of years now and the blood work had nothing to do with my need for the meds and he refused to give me my medication because I didn’t get the blood work done when he wanted me to. I took a sick day from work to get the blood work done only to find out that I can’t get it done because I had not been fasting. This was all news to me as Dr. Brown did not make any mention of this when he gave me the paperwork to take to the lab. So I had to take another sick day to get it done, but that still wasn’t good enough. He told me the results needed to be processed before he could write another Rx for me as he didn’t believe me when I told him that I had submitted my blood samples. Because of this control freak behavior I was off my meds for over a week which caused me a great deal of anguish that I’m sure you’d rather not read about.
Bottom line of this review is DO NOT GO HERE! This is a place where patient-​centric care cannot be found!
P. S. If you see him anywhere near a cup of coffee, RUN AWAY, unless you wondered what it looks like when a person sucks and slurps off a mug with vampirish vigor.

This is the worst doctor I have ever met. He is unbelievably rude — started yelling at me right away. I came in for the medical check-​up to complete some paperwork, and he started yelling at me right away for incorrectly filling out the papers. Which in reality were filled out correctly, but he did not know it. Then he told me that I would have to come in for two more visits instead of one because I did not bring some documents. When I said, «You did not mention any documents when I made the appointment», he said «Well you did not ask».
And many more nasty and unpleasant things.
I chose not to discover whether he actually is a good doctor and walked out.
Combined with the rat hole that he keeps for an office, his terrible, inappropriate behavior makes the experience absolutely awful. I left his office almost crying.
My advice — take your business elsewhere where it is appreciated.

As a new patient I had no idea what I was in for. After walking in to the very dated and somewhat filthy office, I was surprised again to find the receptionist behind a solid, sliding window. She revealed herself and the office’s complete disarray. Very unorganized, no one was prepared for my ‘new patient’ appointment. Ten minutes of back and forth from the window with questions & forms, the DOCTOR YELLING AT THE RECEPTIONIST AND MY INSURANCE OVER THE PHONE (I was able to hear it all from the waiting room). I asked for my insurance card back, took my forms with me, and RAN out of that office as fast as possible. NEVER make an appointment here!!! Can not believe he still has a practice.

I am SO glad I looked up Dr. Brown on Unilocal.He has been my doctor since early 2006 (reading these reviews makes me embarassed to say that!) and I had issues from the very first appointment.
I had recently switched insurance carriers and had to leave Kaiser. I randomly picked Dr. Brown out of a booklet (problem number 1,2,3 and 4) when my old doctor was closed to new patients. I had hurt my back at the gym which is what brought me to the doctor in the first place. It took 3 weeks to get in, but when I got there I saw he had been listed as one of the Bay Area’s best doctors in some magazine, so I felt better. That was short-​lived.
As I said earlier, I had hurt my back at the gym. Prior to that injury, I never had any back problems, lower or otherwise. He immediately blamed my problems on my weight and started on a tangent about how I needed to join Weight Watchers, as it was the only thing that worked for him. I’m not a small woman (nor am I as big as some of his staff) and being a woman, TRUST ME, I know I need to shed some pounds. However, this is NOT what caused my injury. He ended up putting me on bed rest and sending me to physical therapy and that was that.
On to my high blood pressure. My whole family has it. There is no escaping it, extra pounds or not. Of course, my weight is again to blame. He apparently is engaged to a black woman whom he said I reminded him of (she looks nothing like me) and this must have made him feel comfy saying whatever the f – k he pleased to me. He told me blacks often have high blood pressure because we eat things such as CORN AND BEANS as vegetables instead of leafy greens etc. If my mouth wasn’t wide open in disbelief in real life, it surely was gaping wide in my mind.
I could go on and on about all the things wrong with this guy. He yelled at me over the phone because I hadn’t refilled my prescription for my blood pressure medicine. I know that comes from a good place, but it doesn’t make me want to come into his office. I have to pay cash every time which is a pain in my ass. He made me come in for a «cholesterol talk» which I had to pay a full co-​pay for, not to mention take time off of work. When he said they would bill me for it over 3 months, I said cool. That never happened and then I received a random bill some months back for that co-​pay. They also told me I owed them another 40 bucks for the physical therapy I had done over a year before that. That bill has yet to come. There was always a student present, which I didn’t mind because I wasn’t in there for anything extra-​private. This guy just does not listen. I had lost 4 pounds since I had seen him some months before and he kept inquiring how I had lost such a large amount of weight in such a short time. Who are you talking about (looks over shoulder)? Me? Finally I just said I started taking more classes at the gym so he would shut up.
There are so many more things he has said or done that escape me at the moment, but do you really need any more? He did spend a lot of time with me when I came in. But, his office also moved without any notification. WTF?! He tried to make me come in for a blood pressure test (meaning $ 35 dollar copayment for 2 minute test) and when I got there, the office no longer existed. I called and was told — ohh yeah, we moved. Grreat, thanks for the head’s up. I have been avoiding going in because of all these reasons but I really need some BP medicine. He was constantly giving me short prescriptions forcing me to keep coming in to his office, but I don’t have the time or money for monthly visits with him, so I’ve been slacking. Then there is the idea of having to sit and listen to him and that just sends me running the other way. Time to start from scratch with someone new!

I had a very frustrating experience with Dr. Brown. I showed up on time to my appointment only to wait in the waiting room for about 30 minutes. That is probably typical for most doctor’s appointments, but once I was taken to the back to the other smaller waiting room I sat there even longer. I waited for 45 minutes, during which I listened to Doctor Brown argue loudly on the phone with someone about a worker’s comp. claim. Very unprofessional!!!

What a horrible experience, I’ll definitely never go back. Dr. Brown was rude and opinionated, and ironically, for being so opinionated, his diagnosis was incorrect. His assistant, though nice, isn’t very competent either. I had to help her with all of the basic stuff, from operating the scale to measure my weight through taking my blood pressure.

I can say with sincerity that Dr. Stephen Brown is a bad Doctor. I have been a patient of his for over three years and every time I go see him I leave the office feeling angry, frustrated, and trivialized. He does not listen at all. I have had growing back problems over the last five years and Dr. Brown has been extremely unhelpful. Actually he has been a downright jerk. I have been seeing a chiropractor for over a year who has given me much comfort and relief and when I told Dr. Brown about her he made sure to let me know that «Chiropractors are all quacks and they have no medical training.» He said I should stop going and I should go to physical therapy at his office instead (which by the way costs over three times what my chiro costs per visit). I found a spinal diagnostics group in SF through my Blue Shield website which I was interested in finding out more about and when I spoke with Dr. Brown about it he said «I should stop looking for answers on my own and I should just do what he says because he is the doctor, not me.» He went on to say that young people in his experience «don’t know shit.» Also, I have been reluctant to take daily pain medication. I would prefer good pain management and therapy combined with correct diagnosis. When I spoke with Dr. Brown he said that he «hates Californians» because so many of us prefer natural alternatives and that I must be «either crazy or stupid of both» for not wanting to take pills. These are just some of the more glaring examples mind you. All in all, Dr. Brown has a horrible attitude and generally treats me with contempt every time I have ever gone to see him. I will certainly be finding a new doctor soon and I hope none of you ever make the mistake of trusting your health to this Jerk.