Dr. Lawrence MacDonald, MD

I took my 88 yo mother to Dr. MacDonald for treatment of her advance lung cancer. Her was empathetic, took the time to explain things, did an complete exam on her, covered all her topics of concern and made sure she felt heard during the office visit. His knowledge and expertise was valuable as we made important treatment decisions for her. Dr. Macdonald was especially logical and made common sense with his explanations. My mom and I are both so thankful to Dr. Macdonald and his staff.

As a cpap patient, I was treated rudely by Dr. MacDonald but that pales in comparison to how he treated our son. He misdiagnosed him with narcolepsy and prescribed a horrible drug which is the same as GHB, the date rape drug. When Dr. MacDonald mysteriously 'closed' his practice, the new pulmonologist was shocked to see this diagnosis. Our son's sleep tests clearly showed basic apnea. He lost a qtr of his school year and spent 9 months taking a medicine that was totally inappropriate and unhealthy, not even the optimal drug had he really had narcolepsy. I understand this doctor is still practicing at a new location in Farmington - DO NOT GO.

My primary care physician recommended Dr. MacDonald for sleep apnea. I wish I had listened to the reviews. I had a telehealth (video) appointment with Dr. MacDonald. The entire call took 6 minutes. When he started the call he immediately said "Don't mind me, I'm working on something else". I could not believe that! He had his head down almost the entire time. I had completed 5-6 lengthy forms prior to my visit and it was immediately apparent that he had never even looked at them. He eventually asked me a few basic questions and then said "yes, schedule a sleep test with my team". And that was it. I spoke to his office the next day and told them what happened. They weren't that surprised (which is NOT good). I told them not to charge me for the visit since he didn't have a proper visit with me. They said they would see what they could do. They ended up billing my insurance company $205 for the visit. My insurance company paid $98. My cost is $25. I again called and asked them to write off the $25 since Dr. MacDonald hadn't do anything on our call. The doctor refused so I am stuck paying the $25 and had to go to another sleep doctor and pay for another visit to see if I needed a sleep test. This is the worst I've ever been treated by a doctor in my 50 years. I would NEVER recommend Dr. MacDonald for anything. Be warned!

He is very patient and takes his time explaining his diagnosis especially. Very friendly and caring. Efficient staff.

If I could leave zero stars I would. The communication here is horrible. Don’t expect to get your results back EVER, you can never get through to reception on the phone and telemed appointments are a joke. They didn’t send me a link for my video call, and I couldn’t get through to them for 20minutes before my appointment and that was my fault, so I needed to reschedule. This place is a complete joke. Definitely do not recommend.

Horrible customer service! Incompetent rude office staff. DO NOT USE This doctor.

I first met Dr. MacDonald when I was hospitalized for pneumonia in 2019 and decided to continue treating with him for my other lung issues because of his compassion and skill. He is extremely approachable. I'm somewhat of a complicated case and he is extremely thorough, addressing potential issues/diagnoses that others have missed. Every member of his staff, front and back, are absolutely wonderful and caring, which is rare.

I visited him in 2015 and had similar negative comments to those that were posted. I told my wife he was not a caring or nice guy and I would not go back. I just called his office for the sleep test results to forward to a new doctor. His office did not have the 2015 sleep study results. Then I received a call today for an appointment I never requested for him and had to call to cancel it. I do not trust him or his staff.

I visit Dr. MacDonalds office 3 occasions and met him once. After being given a home sleep test and found to have severe sleep apnea, i was told to come to the office. He did not even meet me and had a young inexperienced tech tell me the bad news. After after being on a CPAP for 2 weeks I tried to reach him. Finally after 3 1/2 days he returned my call and I told him I still get up many times each night. He said he was surprised because the SPAP usually resolves this issue. He said "well i dont know, maybe take valium or morphine". After visiting another sleep Physician i came to find out i have RLS. In the new field of sleep medicine, it is really difficult to find a trustworthy doctor. I would never trust him with my health again. Makes his money from having his assistant give out the home and overnight sleep tests, and having inexperienced staff handle his patients. He does not care his patients health.

I do not recommend Dr. MacDonald. My mother saw him once when she was first diagnosed with cancer and he completely lacked empathy.

Suggested I get "obesity surgery" as an alternative to CPAP, though I do not meet the BMI or other health requirements of weight loss surgery. Suggested I "just lose weight" rather than try to resolve the cpap issue I had. I aspirate in my sleep. I guess I should hope I don't die while trying to lose enough weight though? When in tears due to frustration with my fatigue and lack of solution, he offered stimulants to help make me less tired. He also asked if I "cry like that often"

He was extremely unfriendly and seemed in a complete rush. All of his questions were asked as if he was angry or annoyed at every response you gave. I brought someone with me to my appointment to calm my nerves, when this person tried to talk he put his hand up and told them to stop talking- completely disrespectful. Also repeatedly asked me "why are you so anxious?"... as if that has a simple answer. I would not recommend this doctor especially if you are nervous about your sleep study.

Has a cold monotone demeanor and if your problem isn't a sleep disorder he orders the basic tests and when they came back negative gave no more solutions and didn't want to explore anything further. He's rushed and doesn't explain things. He made me feel like he thought I was making my symptoms up and I always left his office in tears. Thank God I got a new Pulmonologist and have been properly diagnosed and am continuing treatment. Would never recommend him.

Horrible experience with this doctor. He was disrespectfully leaning back on two legs of his chair, against the wall, while swinging his legs back and forth like a child. His bedside manner was cold. I was crying while he acted like this. He interrupted numerous times. He talked down to me. It was humiliating. The nurse/technician was awesome. Staff friendly. But I will never return to that doctor, nor recommend him.

Patient for many years, I have always had complete faiith in the care and judgement of this fine physician.