Friedman Stephen J MD Dermatology

Dr. Friedman and his office-​staff were very friendly and professional with me. I was– and am very impressed with Dr. Friedman’s enthusiasm for medicine in general, and dermatology in particular. His staff is also on-​point.
It was evident to me that he loves what he does; and is passionate about patient care and well-​being.
I will see him again if/​when required; and recommend him to others without reservation.

Dr. Friedman is a great guy and a talented physician. I’ve seen more than a few dermatologists over the past few years, in both LA and the SF Bay Area, and he’s the best I’ve ever found, by far. He’s always in a positive mood, he’s very good at following up on what he does or recommend, and he provides excellent dermatological care. I’d trust him with any medical or cosmetic concern, and even if I leave town for graduate school I’ll continue to see him regularly.

I am almost 32 and have been a patient of this doctor since I was 16. He was the ONLY doctor that was able to clear up my horrific acne. The front desk staff is super accommodating and helpful and the doctor is the absolute best. What these other reviews say, I don’t even believe. Bottom line, do you want perfect skin? Dr. Friedman will give you just that. Hands down, I recommend him!

I honestly don’t understand why there are so many negative reviews. Dr. Friedman has been my dermatologist since I was a teenager. He was the only one who effectively treated the acne I had. That was no easy feat because even though I had acne, as a ginger, I still have REALLY sensitive skin. People say he is a product pusher, but the truth of the matter is that he isn’t loyal to any brand in particular and is always switching them. That’s because he sells only what he deems the best (and he is pretty much always right). But he doesn’t always try to sell you just his products. I was having an allergic reaction to a lip mask I was using and he just gave me a sample of Vaniply to use. He said I could get it off of Amazon and it’s really cheap. It’s not even a prescription. He is the reason I started wearing sunscreen everyday early on and I’m pretty sure it’s one of the main reasons why I have such beautiful skin now. He is very knowledgeable and always stays up to date on the new studies and new research that’s being done. Not only that, he is happy to impart his knowledge to you (which I really appreciate because I can’t tell you how many doctors wouldn’t give me an answer when I asked a question). I’ve learned a ton from him about skincare and cosmetics that I otherwise wouldn’t have known. I also have no idea what people are talking about when they say his office staff is terrible. They have been nothing but courteous to me and they try to squeeze me in when I really need to be seen. So yeah. Not sure why there are so many negative reviews. But I cannot recommend this doctor more.

My husband and I have been going to Dr. Friedman for years. He’s awesome. Caught a melanoma on my husband and saved his life. He’s very positive and reassuring as well as painless. His products are the best, top of the line for anti aging. Wish I could give him 100 stars.

Dr. Friedman has been my dermatologist for years. However recently, I have become very disappointed with his work and his customer service. It seems as if all he is trying to do is make money off of you with his work rather than actually provide services that you need. His customer service is ridiculous as well. I had an appointment with Dr. Friedman at 3:30 in the afternoon for my daughter after school. On Ventura there’s a lot of traffic and I was going to be 5 minutes late so I called ahead and the woman at the front said it would be fine. We got there at 3:32 and were told that the doctor went home. And that he doesn’t wait for anybody. How ridiculous can a doctor and his staff be? Definitely will not be wasting my time going back

I saw Dr. Friedman for many years. He sells a lot of skin products, but I was happy with them. I decided to try laser hair removal, and was afraid to use one of those cheap places. He told me it would take about three sessions to remove the hair on my forearms, at $ 2000.00 each session. I did the three sessions, and had very little hair that was permanently removed. I understand that it is not an exact science, but for $ 6000.00 and only a few patches of hair being gone, I told him I was unhappy. His response was, «just because you aren’t happy, doesn’t mean you didn’t get any results». I have been a good «customer”-buying thousands of dollars of skin products each year and spending $ 6000.00 on laser hair removal that hardly worked. I expected to be treated better than that. He could have offered to do a couple of sessions without charge or at a reduced rate and I would have been happy. Instead, I will be finding a new dermatologist.

I won’t be going back!
After about a decade of baking in the sun I noticed some of my freckles were starting to look like the scary pictures of melanoma off the internet, so I made an appointment with the doctor.
He barely even looked me over and suggested that 2 of my freckles be removed. The problem that I have with this doctor is he only removed one of the freckles (which took a grand total of 30 seconds) and then told me I have to come back to the office in 2 weeks to get the second one removed. With the $ 50 dollar co-​pay and $ 7 dollars to park in the lot I really wanted everything to be done in one visit.
Not to mention I was very upset about the whole thing and didn’t want to prolong waiting for the lab results any longer than I had to. There was NO reason why the second freckle couldn’t have been removed in the same visit. He just wanted to stretch out the appointments so he could make extra money from insurance and the co-​pays.
When I got home that day I felt upset that he took advantage of me and wouldn’t resolve the issue in one trip.
I never went back to have my 2^nd freckle removed and I never will…

Dr. Friedman is a good dermatologist. I’ve gone to other dermatologists in LA and they didn’t seem to care about the patient.

ican’t express how horrible this office is! first off it is definitely more of a «product pusher» than a doctors office! dr. friedman performed a simlpe in office procedure (removing a small mole) the mole was sent to the lab and deemed to be benign. he left a hudge scare that never healed! the office staff is rude as can be! never have i been treated in such a way!!!
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As I was searching for other businesses on Unilocal it occur ed to me to look look up this doctor who mistreated me a few years back. Sure enough when I found him (yes I made sure this was the doctor before writing this review), I saw a number of negative reviews.
. Hmm where do I start? First of all I want to say that its such a shame that this rude, unprofessional and charge first diagnose later Doctor is licensed. He deserves all of his bad reviews because he is so fixated on charging people rather than being a compassionate caring doctor.
Being in my early 20’s without ever having any issues with my skin I started to break out pretty badly and started to get concerned. I wanted to take care of this matter right away. I thought about trying proactive, but before I did that I asked someone if they new of a dermatologist you can help and that’s how I came across this doctor.
When I first met with him my mentality was, okay I’m in a nice area, with a professional and I’m going to trust a doctor who’s «expertise» is on skin. Just as one of the other reviews, he also asked me what sunscreen I used (while pulling out products from his drawer) spoke so fast using medical terms and in such a way that he made you feel uncomfortable to ask him anything. I wasn’t sure why i started to break out and asked him if i should try proactive and right away he said «oh no that’ s not what you need, I’m gonna set up a few sessions (of which were $ 250 each time) to make your skin look like eight years ago». So as naïve and desperate that I was I thought what the hell I’ll try this– after all its my face and i was so depressed about this random breakout that I was
willing to pay my hard earned money as a newly wed and invest in my face.
So as 1 session became 2 and then 3 and then 4and then… my skin was just getting worse and all of my family noticed it too. By this time I had spent so much money and time feeling horrible about myself that I called the office to see if I can go in and talk to Friedman about my concerns.
When I got there I waited until I was called in his office. As I was tearing up asking him what was going on with my skin. He gave me a dirty look, slammed the door and said «I FUCKING TOLD YOU THAT YOUR FACE IS GOING TO BE RED FOR A WHILE AFTER THE PREVIOUS SESSION.» WHO DOES THAT?
OMG I was in so much shock that normally i would have fired back. I calmly said there’s no need to speak to me that way, and I understand that. but its been a while now that I’ve been getting your so called «awesome» treatment and even after the redness subsides my skin hasn’t changed and has actually gotten worse. After I said that he had the NERVE to tell me to try Proactive.
REALLY?!!
I asked him that initially and could have saved so much money, time, and bs.
I walked out of his office in disbelief in how he treated me. I went straight home got on the phone with the Board of Dermatology and all those necessary things to notify the right people on the lack of his professionalism. I wrote a letter, considered contacting a lawyer… etc A month or so passed by, never heard back I guess maybe the paper was missing or who knows! But I let it go because It was taking to much of my energy and time. I figured he’ll earn his reputation one day… I left my skin alone for awhile after all those harsh peels and whatever the hell he did and overtime it started to slowly diminish and eventually found a new dermatologist.
And now thanks to Unilocal I get to let EVERYONE know that there I received no empathy or care with this doctor
Just because your in Encino or any upscale area be smart, do your research and don’t be naïve as I was.

Do not go to this office! I mean it! This is the worst staff and the least professional doctor I have ever encountered. He barely glanced at my skin for a mole check up which was my main reason for a visit. Instead, he started offering/​trying to sell different types of sunscreen as well as niacin creams which were costly. Since I am a push over, I purchased all the products and paid in full on top of what they billed my insurance. The final draw was when he started suggesting Botox injections. I was frustrated with the lack of professionalism and the rudeness of his unfriendly secretary once I turned it down. It was clear that I would never return to this office again. A year passed and I received a bill from them saying that I owe $ 150. I thought it was a joke. Apparently not. They said I owed them $ 10 of the copay after they billed insurance on top of the fees I paid in full. Since I never received any statements from them and couldn’t possibly pay that $ 10 fee, they decided to charge 12 months of statement fees, $ 15 a month. Now tell me this is not crazy. I never received a single statement from them nor did I get any bills. This place is a scam and they sent this bill to collection which I ended up paying since there was no way to fight them. Do not make the same mistake I did. These people have caused serious emotional harm to me personally.
P. S. I just received a threat from Dr. F to remove my review or he would sue me. Wow, how about I sue since I was the victim. I am reporting his behavior to the board. There is such a thing as freedom of speech and do not harm!

As I’m reaching midlife I realized it was time to take better care of my skin. My skin is fair and freckled. I’ve been pretty lucky to not have more sun damage but I knew I had a few marks that needed to be burned off.
Dr. Friedman was pleasant, took his time, and educated me about what affects skin appearance and health. I was happy to learn about the zinc sunscreen he recommends as being one of the few things that blocks harmful rays (UVB). I’ve worn sunscreen everyday since my late 20s but had no idea I wasn’t being as protected as I could be.
I was thrilled he had the products there for me to buy immediately. I am very protective of my time and don’t like making unnecessary stops if I don’t have to. To be fair, he told me Coppertone makes a sunscreen that is equivalent to what he sells. I thought he was very even-​handed and helpful.
I have total trust in him and highly recommend him. His staff was delightful and playful. I felt very cared for and appreciated as a patient.

As my dermatologist, Dr. Friedman has been prescribing me a non-​addictive, mild, common prescription, with no side effects, for approximately one and a half years. A previous doctor has prescribed the same one. The previous doctor had never asked for a follow up visit on this prescription, refilling it for the year when I went in for my annual visit. Dr. Friedman insisted on approving all refills, and check ups every 3 months, at great expense in money and time, to me. I had a refill for this week, and Dr. Friedman denied it, until I would come in and meet with him. He was unavailable for 1 week, and refused to meet with me before then, or authorize a one week extension. His staff was rude to me, and offered no method of helping me, other than insisting I come in one week from now. I have also had the same experience that the previous patient had, that I felt that Dr. Friedman runs a convenience store out of his office, and I had felt uncomfortable about pressure to buy over-​priced lotions and creams from him. I have now changed to a new doctor, who agrees to see me when I need it.

I went to Dr. Friedman on a referral of an aqquaintance. I have a regular dermatologist, but he wasn’t available to see me, and I wanted to get some moles checked asap, as I’ve had skin cancer before.
When I walked in to his office, I was greeted by the receptionist who seemed friendly enough. I noticed that the environment seemed rather sterile-​feeling and was obvioulsy furnished a long time back, but it didn’t bother me too much. I filled out the paperwork and gave them my insurance and driver’s license.
The doctor came to get me about 15 minutes later. He seemed friendly, but also hurried and didn’t really let me finish my thoughts.
Almost immediately after sitting down in the exam room, he asked what sunscreen I use. I mentioned that I use my Children’s sunscreen, and he said he’d to look it up to see how «effective» it was. He came back and said that it was «not good» and had ingredients in it that were used in 1985… whatever that meant. So, he proceeds to pull out a bottle of sunscreen from his exam room’s drawer and applies it to my arms. He also pulled out some kind of binder filled with graphs and charts that he’d obviously printed from the internet… pointed at them quickly and then kept selling this sunscreen to me. He said that this was the kind I wanted to use because it covered a broad spectrum and had zinc oxide. This was obviously stuff he was trying to SELL to me. So I nodded and said I understood so he’d move on.
He asked me to disrobe and put on his paper gown, which I did, and leave to door open when I was ready, which I also did. He returned quickly, without a female nurse or anyone else, and gave me an exam. I thought this was very weird. Every other male doctor I have ever been to, always has a woman accompany them when doing any exam.
Anyway, he finished rather quickly, and pointed out a few things but said that I had nothing of real concern. THEN, he said that I had so many brown spots and discolorations, especially across my chest and arms, that I would benefit from using a niacin cream to fade these spots. So I nodded ok, and he pulls out ANOTHER product from his drawer that HE SELLS.
I couldn’t wait to get out of there fast enough. After my exam, I got dressed, and he said he’d meet me out front.
I get dressed and exit the exam room, where low and behold, his nurse (or maybe manager) was waiting there for me with an invoice for $ 150 for both sunscreen and the niacin product. I hesitated and said that I needed to speak to my Husband, to which she says «Oh, well the sunscreen is only $ 27.50, don’t you want that?». I said no, I needed to speak with my Husband. To which she replies (with attitude, no less) «OH, well, your co-​payment is $ 40.00 — SURELY you are prepared for THAT, right?».
I paid my co-​payment and LEFT as fast as I could.
These people are creepy and weird. Don’t go there!