Sawusch Mark R, MD

Just not happy with this office… Somewhat rude, especially over the phone, not accommodating…
Won’t ever go there again.

After wearing glasses for 15 years I’ve decided to try contacts. I paid for my ophthalmology exam, then meet with the technician for new eye glasses. I returned the following week and paid $ 120 to be fitted for the contacts. They did not have samples of my prescription but had me try on another sample. I decided not to pay double the price for the lenses and took my prescription to another vendor. The prescription for my lenses do not exist. I contacted their office and the receptionist was giving me medical advise over the phone. I was then faxed another prescription with alterations. I was refused a one week trial sample on both prescriptions.

Over the past several years I have had numerous visits with Dr. Sawusch, all very caring and professionally competent. Although I have regular visits with my general optomotrist, I have called and gone in to Dr. Sawusch’s office when I have any concerns about my eyes. He is always reassuring, very present, and very low key in describing my issue and solving it. I find his staff helpful in scheduling and often I need an appointment on the same day for a concern, e.g., if I have something in my eye, or my eyes feel irritated. Problems are in perspective and very well handled.
I highly recommend Dr. Sawusch as a professional resource to be called upon. He is my go to Ophthalmologist when I need this service.
Dr. Eleanor Haspel-​Portner

This office is the most infuriating experience of my life… I Had been going to this doctor facility when he was located in another office and had coworkers prescribing contact lens. Now only the really rude, incompetent doctor, who doesn’t listen to your needs and insults your intelligence helps you. The man who says he is an optician is so unfocused it is the most unprofessional experience of my life. I have been wearing contacts for 50 years. This has been a living nightmare dealing with these 2 unprofessional medical jokes. DO NOT TAKE A CHANCE WITH THIS OFFICE.

I would like to counter the above review. As a client for about the same amount of time, I have always found this doctor to be completely ethical. His work is scrupulous, and his appointments are defined by being uncommonly punctual. For a time, I did purchase glasses from another source, simply because a small company such as this cannot match the larger businesses, but in the end I returned to him because I found the level of service to be worth the extra money. Dr. Sawusch focuses on the problems of his clients/​patients and could, by some, be considered austere, which may account for the previous writer’s low opinion. I, for one, came to value this very highly. He has now moved to Via de La Paz.

I am so grateful to Dr. Sawusch for taking care of my eye in a medical emergency. He made room to see me in his schedule the day that I called which prevented me from having to travel far to find a doctor. Even though I was very anxious, his calm demeanor made me feel much better. He took his time in examining my eye and diagnosing the problem. His proposed treatment was very conservative and he saw me again on the next day to check back. He also wrote a prescription. His care was thorough and he had me return for a second followup visit a few days later. I found Olga (at the front desk) to be very friendly and welcoming. I have decided to return to Dr. Sawusch for all my eye care needs. I honestly cannot agree with those reviews that have found fault with the office billing or Dr. Sawusch. Yes, Dr. Sawusch is somewhat reserved, but I would not mistake that for unfriendliness. This is a small office with a homey feel.

I went to dr sawusch for about 10 years and had dilation and exam each time, but he did not identify that I had macular degeneration. He said I had cataracts and when I went for a second opinion, they identified late severe macular degeneration which Has caused a severe loss of vision.

I just have to post my review after seeing the one star reviews about this doctor today.
I came to see this doctor about 2 times during the period of 2000 to 2001. I went there for 1) convenience. He is a local doctor in Pacific Palisades, 2) a prescription for glasses. I was expecting to see a friendly and caring doctor since he is the only opthemologist in the Palisades. It was shocking when I met him, he was cold, unfrirendly, and impatient. I purchased a pair of glassess there, only to find out later that his office overcharged me, they did not even bill my vision insurance first, they just charged the whole thing to me. There are only two reasons for the overcharge: 1) incompetent billing staff, 2) deliberately scamming the customer. I did not bother to go back to his office and argue about the incorrect billing. I found a great opthemologist in Santa Monica later. It was just a shame to have such a bad doctor in this small and beautiful community.

My concern is with his billing department. I saw him twice in 2010, got billed about $ 200.00 for the first visit, and paid. And frankly, forgot about the second visit as it was a 5 minute recheck. I got billed for the second visit 16 months later! It was never submitted to my insurance company; and by then it was too late to have it applied to my 2010 deductible or use from my HSA account.
Worse still was he response of the office staff, Ana, who got angry with me! She said she billed the insurance company, but they just told her on the phone to bill me for the entire amount, and never generated an explanation of benefits either to me or posted on my on-​line account. The insurance company told me (Anthem Blue Cross) said they had no record of any call and would never simply respond verbally; they always responded to claims in writing. As we all know to be true.
None the less this angry woman was rude, dishonest and nasty.
You can do better, there are lots of opthamologists out there.

Our family has been going to Dr. Sawusch for years.
He is extremely thorough and informative. The staff has always been helpful and courteous. I highly recommend him.

I wrote this review for Dr. Sawusch under Optometry Eye Care Center in North Hollywood.
I keep trying to like this place, but every time I take my disabled sister there, we come out feeling strange. This last round of visits was the worst.
I called on a Monday and made an appt for the following Wednesday. On Tuesday they call and leave a message reminding us we have an appointment the next day. It would have been hard to forget since I just made the appointment the day before! Then they do that thing that drives me crazy. Instead of just leaving the reminder message, the require you call back and let them know you got the message. I refuse to do that. So what happens next? Wednesday morning, the day of our appointment, we get a phone call reminding us to come in! So I picked up the phone and gave the gal a little bit of hell for it. While I appreciate a reminder, I don’t want to have to call them back just to tell them I got their message.
So then the Dr. tells us my sister has cataracts and wants her to see the specialist, a Dr. Sawusch, to have her eyes dilated. So we just got back from there. OMG!
We get inside with the Doctor who has to hold the paperwork about 2 inches from his face in order to see it. Not a good sign. He does not put drops in her eyes to dilate them, he just looks through some machine at them and verifies that she has cataracts and suggests surgery. I told him that the other doctor didn’t feel the cataracts were bad enough for surgery. He said if she wanted ²⁰⁄₂₀ vision, she had to have surgery. And he’s talking to her the whole time (she’s mentally retarded with the mentality of a 4 year old) and even though I’m answering him, he keeps addressing her. That’s so annoying. Then he says, «Can she speak?» I said yes. So he starts asking her these convoluted questions that she can’t answer. So then he asks if she drives! I tell him no. He said, «Well if she can’t read or drive, there’s no point in having the surgery.»
So I ask him if the cataracts could be causing the problem with her going down stairs. And he starts blathering on about how it could be arthritis or muscular-​skeletal problems and he couldn’t guarantee that cataract surgery would correct it. I said, «But it COULD help.» And he just kept arguing that it could be arthritis, etc. I said, «If the cataracts are just going to grow and get worse, wouldn’t it make sense to have them out?» He says that now he’s not convinced that it’s a good idea. I said, «But if it’ll help her with the stairs…» and he starts in again with the «it could be arthritis…» I told him that I felt like he was just arguing with me now and he threw his arms up in the air and shouted, «Fine!» He then turned his back on us and walked away.
So then I go out to the lobby and tell the receptionist about it and she’s like, «Well, so what do you want to do?» I told her I didn’t know… that that was the weirdest experience ever!” She told me to just come in during the week and talk to the doctor.
I just checked Dr. Sawusch here on Unilocal and he has another office with a bad review. This man is weird and I wouldn’t trust him to do anything to anyone’s eyes!