Looking for new pediatrician in South Jersey

[SilverMoon010]

I'm looking for one who is open to no vaccines. My current ped is pretty good in that he hasn't pushed us into any and he respects our decision as parents; however, he does have us a sign a no vaccine waiver, which I am not fond of. I'm trying to find a much more holistic type of doctor, although he/she does not have to be. I just need a doc who respects our decision and does not condemn us to sign a stupid form for our decision.

[almadianna]

moved to the jersey forum.

[kelly1827]

Does it have to be a ped? That will be a challenge in New Jersey, home to lots of pharmaceutical companies =). I don't know of any honestly that won't at least ask for the form, but we selectively vax, so I'm not as "in" that loop. You might have better luck with a Family Medicine doc. Good luck though!

[momDlo]

My Pediatrician in Marlton, NJ is open to helping parents that wish not to vaccinate.  He practices an integrative approach to medicine and just recently helped me to naturally deal with the pain from my C-Section by recommending homeopathic remedies so I could go off of the Percacet.   It worked and I am grateful.  Dr. Bryan Levey has his own practice - KidsWell Pediatrics and goes out of his way to get to know all of his patients.  He visited me every day in the hospital and I was greeted with a hug by the receptionist at our first appointment for our new baby boy.   I never expected this from a Pediatrician and would recommend this kind of care to all!

[SilverMoon010]

Originally Posted by momDlo 

My Pediatrician in Marlton, NJ is open to helping parents that wish not to vaccinate.  He practices an integrative approach to medicine and just recently helped me to naturally deal with the pain from my C-Section by recommending homeopathic remedies so I could go off of the Percacet.   It worked and I am grateful.  Dr. Bryan Levey has his own practice - KidsWell Pediatrics and goes out of his way to get to know all of his patients.  He visited me every day in the hospital and I was greeted with a hug by the receptionist at our first appointment for our new baby boy.   I never expected this from a Pediatrician and would recommend this kind of care to all!

My naturopath actually mentioned Dr. Levey to me a while back and said how great he was (they actually refer each other on their websites). She said he recently got into homeopathy so I thought that was great and so I gave him a call a while ago and asked him about how he feels about parents who do not vaccinate and he said he strongly advises vaccinating but does respect parents' decisions. I asked him if he made parents sign the form I mentioned above (refusal to vaccinate form) and he said he did.  I was totally thrown off by this since I thought he was into homeopathy! I was a bit turned off by that and figured I might as well stay with our current ped, but the more I think about it, the more I think I may give Dr. Levey a shot because at least he has a more natural approach to medicine than our ped does and if my son were to get sick (he just started pre-K yesterday) I would feel more comfortable with using the natural approaches vs. conventional med.  Thank you for providing your experience.  That helps a lot to hear from actual people who have experienced his practice.  I think I will give it a go, especially since I have a baby on the way as well

[momDlo]

He explained his reasons for being pro-vaccination as he had experience with babies dying in his arms from completely avoidable illnesses.   Let him explain why he feels so strongly and then be informed to make your own decision.   He is a great doctor and so very caring....you can hear it in his voice.

[SpottedFoxx]

Originally Posted by SilverMoon010 

My naturopath actually mentioned Dr. Levey to me a while back and said how great he was (they actually refer each other on their websites). She said he recently got into homeopathy so I thought that was great and so I gave him a call a while ago and asked him about how he feels about parents who do not vaccinate and he said he strongly advises vaccinating but does respect parents' decisions. I asked him if he made parents sign the form I mentioned above (refusal to vaccinate form) and he said he did.  I was totally thrown off by this since I thought he was into homeopathy! I was a bit turned off by that and figured I might as well stay with our current ped, but the more I think about it, the more I think I may give Dr. Levey a shot because at least he has a more natural approach to medicine than our ped does and if my son were to get sick (he just started pre-K yesterday) I would feel more comfortable with using the natural approaches vs. conventional med.  Thank you for providing your experience.  That helps a lot to hear from actual people who have experienced his practice.  I think I will give it a go, especially since I have a baby on the way as well

Silver - I'm going to think that most doctors, regardless of being pro or anti vaccine are going to have you sign the waiver to cover themselves from lawsuits in the event your child (Gd forbid) contracts a preventable disease and is injured by it or dies. Additionally, I wouldn't be surprised if not having the waiver would effect their malpractice insurance (it may be a requirement). 

[SpottedFoxx]

Originally Posted by momDlo 

My Pediatrician in Marlton, NJ is open to helping parents that wish not to vaccinate.  He practices an integrative approach to medicine and just recently helped me to naturally deal with the pain from my C-Section by recommending homeopathic remedies so I could go off of the Percacet.   It worked and I am grateful.  Dr. Bryan Levey has his own practice - KidsWell Pediatrics and goes out of his way to get to know all of his patients.  He visited me every day in the hospital and I was greeted with a hug by the receptionist at our first appointment for our new baby boy.   I never expected this from a Pediatrician and would recommend this kind of care to all!

Thank you so much for posting this recommendation!  After firing our current pediatrician (she didn't believe our son has a food dye allergy because "there's no scientific proof"), we have an appointment with Dr. Levey on Tuesday for an interview.   The woman who made the appointment for us thought it was hysterical that I got the recommendation from a message board :)

[honey3]

Our old pedi just moved out of state, so we're in the same boat looking for a new ped :( Just thought I would bump this thread to see if you get any other replies.

On a side note, I am shocked to see the positive things said about Dr. Levey. We saw Dr. Levey for a well visit when my son was a few months old, and he treated us HORRIBLY because we delay/selectively vax. He was extremely rude and gave us a huge speech about our vaxing choices and literally said "you don't know what you're doing". We actually left the office because of him.

[momDlo]

We still LOVE Dr. Levy.  He gives so much attention to us when we are there.   No regrets.  Never met a Dr. like him before.  He is very passionate and caring.

[SpottedFoxx]

That's interesting Honey.  He specifically said "I'm definitely not the right choice for everyone.  If you don't want my opinion, don't ask it.  I have very strong feelings on many subjects and I share those with my patients and their parents.  I'm also very open to alternatives and other ideas".  I did ask his opinion on the flu vaccine as my son has had asthma in the past (hasn't had an event in a few years) and he did share that he's held children while they died of preventable diseases.   I'm sorry he upset you though and hope you've found someone more to your liking since.

[honey3]

Oh, I agree, I'm sure he's a great fit for some people and not so great of a fit for others. You would think, though, that someone who is into holistic/alternative medicine wouldn't react the way he did to a patient who chooses an alternative vax schedule. I certainly don't expect every doctor to agree with me, but I do think I should be treated respectfully even if our ideas don't match. I definitely understand being passionate about certain subjects, but I also respect others who opinions differ from mine, especially if they are well informed and have done the research. There was nothing respectful about the way he treated me.

Anyhow, I didn't mean to stir up trouble, I just thought I would chime in since I seemed to have had a very different experience.

=)

[SpottedFoxx]

Thank you for doing so Honey :)  I like to hear it all - the good, the bad and the ugly.  It's no different than the treatment I received from the pediatrician we just fired.  She'd literally roll her eyes at me when I would bring up my son's sensitivity to food dye.  I dealt with it but when it became a problem because she refused to explain to our insurance company that we needed a certain medication because it was the only dye free option, that's when we decided we were done with her.

[Lyndzies]

Honey!  Darn, you haven't found anyone yet, either?  This is the pits! 

We just saw Dr. Hassan at Elmer peds in Mullica Hill, and he was AWFUL.  I miss Dr. Cole so much! 

I'll be watching this thread, looking for recommendations.  The pickings appear to be slim.  :-/

I've created an excel spread sheet of all the childhood vaxes, the recommended schedule, and MY schedule to carry with me to appointments, just to show that I've done research an am not a total moron.  I'm so tired of this fight!

[SpottedFoxx]

Couldn't you just see a naturopathic doctor?