Stuart Pearlman, MD

My son is a new patient to this office, but so far our visits with Dr. Pearlman have been great. He is patient and takes the time to sit down and listen to your questions and concerns as a parent. He even copied a medical article as a reference for me during our last visit. The nurses and office staff are friendly and the office is clean with toys in the examining rooms-​perfect for keeping kids occupied while they wait.
Only minor downside I can think of is the parking, which isn’t directly in front of the office. The office can be a little confusing to find the first time.

My 3 kids under 3 all go to Dr. Pearlman and have so since the day they were born. The different sides for ill and well kids help separate germs, the staff is willing to fit you in when you really need to see someone, Dr. Pearlman always calls back if you leave a message, and is quick to refer you to specialist when something is outside his scope of knowledge. Just as another reviewer had posted, Dr. Pearlman thought one of my twins had a condition that turned out not to be a condition at all. Yes, I was worried until the specialist was involved, however, I appreciated that he was quick to identify what is and is not within his level of knowledge and refer to a specialist accordingly. I find his sense of humor endearing but understand it may not jive with everyone. He may not be as great with my kids as Dr. Tan who seems to have a secondary degree in early childhood education, but I value his skills as a diagnostician which is, ultimately, what I am looking for in a pediatrician. He will disagree with you at times but is fast to explain his rationale and again, that is what I am looking for as opposed to someone who just agrees with me because I am the parent. He may be irritated if you call after hours for something that is not, what he considers, an emergency, but so long as he provides the answer to what I’m looking for, his poopy phone demeanor is irrelevant to me.

If you’re looking for an outdated professional and office with not so friendly nurses this is your place! My personal experience includes a poor bedside manner, extremely low intervention — to the point of not listening and other doctors recommending opposite treatment plan. I found him and some of his supporting staff unhelpful and unprofessional.
I have spoken with at least 6 other moms in his practice or at LG Pediatrics and they try to avoid him, believe he is outdated, does not support breastfeeding, and are just not compatible.
Wish I had better things to say but other doctors in practice are more capable and advice nurses have been helpful at times… He was sometimes funny.

I was pretty happy with Dr Pearlman till we changed insurance from a HMO to PPO, and started receiving high bills. My son needed a ear wax removal that was coded as a surgery. I was surprised that this so called «surgery» was not performed by the doctor himself but rather by an assistant? It happened two times. We just did the same ear wax removal with a different office this time. The procedure was performed by our new doctor himself and we had only to pay the copay nothing more, same insurance but different doctor. It is only the way they code. They also charged us for an immunization copay that was not supposed to be and refused to refund us.

My family and I went here for 8 years and they were unwilling and unable to even check my blood pressure for a sports physical. Dr pearlman is great but the staff here is not worth dealing with.

Dr. Pearlman is the bomb. I would consider myself slightly «granola» style mom. I love that he consistently encourages «common sense» parenting and isn’t quick to prescribe antibiotics. He is caring, blunt, and incredibly smart with-​big point right here– a sense of humor! I really feel he is looking after the welfare of my child and not tiptoeing for the parents (my) sake. I have two boys, ages 2.5 and 6mths.

Dr Pearlman is a very knowledgeable, fun, gentle and kind doctor, my son now is almost 3 and we were with Dr. Pearlman since my son was born:)
Feel lucky to find him:)

Dr. Pearlman is an amazing dr.
Our son was a micro preemie born with a heart defect, we wanted to make sure we picked an excellent pediatrician for him! I would have to say we succeeded. He was recommended to me by a family member.
He is extremely attentive, knowledgable and down to earth!
He never makes you feel «stupid» and seems to really value your opinion as a parent.
He also isn’t afraid to let you know if he disagrees, but there’s always a logical reasoning behind it. Dr. Pearlman always goes above and beyond expected.
An excellent dr that knows how to bring comfort and trust to the scary world of medicine!
His office staff is great! They are all very warm, friendly people.

I have two kids and they both have seen Dr. Pearlman since the day they were born. It’s been since 2004 to be exact and I have to say he is everything all of these favorable reviews say he is and then some! He understands kids because his own kids are only a year or so younger or older than my own. He is the best hands down! I would highly recommend!

Dr. Pearlman is a great pediatrician. I work in health care and I know many pediatricians, but I chose Dr. Pearlman for my son based on recommendations from friends. We are so happy we chose him and he has done a great job with my son (15 months old). These are the reasons why we love this doctor:
1– He is down to earth and laid back (such a great quality for a doctor).
2– He is knowledgeable and we know that we can trust his opinion.
3– He is not forceful; he respects his patients’ families.
4– He understands each family’s unique needs and issues.
5– He is available via phone if you have an emergency even when we called him on a Saturday.
6– And he is really funny!
We also love Kim! She is a nurse and she is always so wonderful!

The Good: Short wait times, sanitary office, separate sick/​well waiting rooms. Dr. Pearlman is friendly and laid back. He has a dry sense of humor and kids seem comfortable around him.
The Bad: The office is old and kind of run down, very few toys for kids, nurses don’t really engage the kids, their techniques are somewhat outdated (rectal temperatures instead of forehead or ear; they used vaccination shots that are not consolidated so your baby gets stuck more times, etc).
The REALLY Bad: Dr. Pearlman misdiagnosed our 2 month old daughter with craniosynostosis. We were told that she would probably be deformed, have brain damage, and possibly need brain surgery. 6 stress-​filled weeks later, a neurosurgeon at Stanford told us our daughter was «absolutely perfect» and sent us home with a clean bill of health.
The Full Story —
The newborn exam in the office was ok, but not very thorough. I had to point out several things I had noticed, including a quarter-​sized strawberry hemangioma on her leg. He said that hemangiomas are so common that «most doctors don’t notice them». Really?
At her 2 month appointment I asked about a bump on one side of my daughters’ head. He said she probably had craniosynostosis (premature fusing of the plates in her head). He explained that the condition can be very deforming and could cause brain damage. When I asked if she would need surgery or what our next steps were, he didn’t know. He admitted that he’d never seen a child with this condition before, and suggested that we see a neurosurgeon at Stanford.
Based on his description of my daughters’ condition, the Stanford RNP suggested a CT scan before we came in. I did a little research and called back to discuss my concerns with Dr. Pearlman (high cost, sedation of our baby, high exposure to radiation and increased cancer risk). He dismissed my concerns, but agreed to ask the Stanford folks if we could postpone the scan until after her consultation. Thankfully, they agreed.
Fast forward 6 stressful weeks and we finally get in to see the Stanford people. The RNP walks into the office, asks us why we are there and just shakes her head. «Your daughter does not have craniosynostosis. We can tell the second we walk into a room; it’s very obvious. Good call not ordering the CT.» The neurosurgeon also examined our daughter and sent her home with a clean bill of health.
I appreciate that Dr. Pearlman errored on the side of caution, but we went through a very stressful and unnecessary experience because he misdiagnosed an «obvious» condition. (And had I not done my research, the whole experience could have been far more traumatic for our daughter and much more costly for us.)
We have since switched providers and now see Dr. Li at Los Gatos Pediatrics (
). Their office is clean and the nurse is super friendly to our kids. Dr. Li has been great; her examinations don’t make me wonder if she missed something and she seems very knowledgeable.

Great doctor, has a great no non sense approach to medical practice and he has a great personality. We have been coming to him for the last 8 years for our 2 boys.

We love Dr Pearlman, not because he’s funny or a nice guy although he is those things. We love him because he’s a good doctor. I like that he discusses my options and doesn’t force one over another. He gives his opinions and usually is more anti-​medication and his approach is conservative. He has young kids of his own so it’s good to get his feedback as another parent. I’m lucky that both my girls can see him.

I LOVE LOVE Dr. Pearlman as my duaghter’s pediatrician. He is funny, and he is honest! The reason we switched to Dr. Pearlman’s office was because he had all these great Unilocal reviews, and that we didn’t like our old pediatrician’s nurses, although we loved her.
Dr. Pearlman’s staff are so friendly and helpful, I’ve never had a problem with him. Dannette D.‘s review is very off!

We just moved to the area and picked Dr Bezecny off the insurance list. She was out so we saw Dr Pearlman for my toddler’s rash. I liked him personally but there are a few things that sent up flags for me.
First, I mentioned that our previous pediatrician had given us a cream for diaper rashes caused by yeast (as opposed to those that were just from the diaper itself) and said that I could tell the difference by how it looked: little red dots meant yeast and needs the prescribed cream; a continuous reddish blotch needs zinc oxide (desitin or other diaper cream). This was news to Dr Pearlman. But I’ve tested it over the 20 months since getting the prescribed cream and it’s absolutely true. Seems like something a pediatrician should know.
The other thing that’s sending me elsewhere is the nurse I talked to yesterday about my daughter’s fever the night before. I’ve always been told (including by our previous pediatrician’s office) that you add a degree to an underarm temperature, and I thought this was standard; the nurse was dismissive of this. She made assumptions and didn’t listen when I denied them. I had to ask 3 – 4 times «at what temperature do I start to panic?» before I got a semi-​answer and gave up.

Dr. Pearlman has been with my twins since the delivery room in 2002. Great guy. Wouldn’t think of ever changing. Easy to get an appointment. After hours calling is great too. Since our kids are pretty much never ill when we did call his service he called us right back! He said he got worried because we never call. It was great to know he cared that much. I like that they have a well & sick child entrance. Not sure if it really matters, but it did to me especially when they were newborns/​infants.

Dr. Pearlman is awesome we used to go to kaiser we changed our insurance and some friends told us about Dr. Pearlman that’s was the best decision we made. No brainer our daughter is in good hands.

Dr. Perlman is insightful and great with the kids. His personality helps put the kids at ease, they actually look forward to seeing him!

Dr. Pearlman is GREAT!!!
The best thing about the Doc, he lets you make all the decisions. He’s super knowledgeable and presents your the pros/​cons of treatment. Ultimately, he allows the parents to make the decision they are most comfortable with.
Dr. Pearlman should also be a stand-​up comedian, cause he’s freaking hilarious. He makes office visits very enjoyable.
There’s entrances for kids who are ill and healthy kids. This gives me a piece of mind, knowing I’m not entering a petri dish of germs.
His front desk staff are wonderful and super personable. I had a different doctor when my son was born, but we switched because the front-​desk staff were so rude and dismissive.
I highly recommend Dr. Pearlman to all parents.
BTW, my wife and I were in a pre-​natal class and ²⁄₃ of the class had Dr. Pearlman as their Dr.
You won’t be disappointed!!!

We love Dr. Pearlman — he has been our pediatrician since 2006. He will take time to really answer your questions and doesn’t make you feel as if he just wants to get through the appointment. He is a laid back doctor, so if you prefer the starched white coat feel, then he is not right for you. He shares the practice with 3 other doctors, so there is always someone who works Saturdays, if you need an appointment then. When my kids have been sick, I have always gotten a same day appointment — and usually within the next 3 hours.
The offices are much nicer following a renovation in the past year or so. They used to be quite worn. Dr. Pearlman had some expertise in a certain medical area that we need, so I was not as concerned at the outset about «atmosphere», but it is nicer to go there now. The kids love the fish tank, but we can only ever find one fish in there.