Scott L Leifson DO

"2.5 years ago, my 12yo son was showing some very scary symptoms, including significant weight loss, strange loud breathing, shivering in the middle of summer, lethargy, and dry patches on his wrists. His regular pediatrician couldn't fit him in for a few days, so I called this office and got an appointment with Dr. Leifson. Dr. Leifson said he didn't look "scary thin" to him, even after I told him I thought he'd weighed around 90 pounds at his last visit and was now weighing in at 72. He thought the strange breathing was allergies, the weight loss and lethargy might be a sign of a thyroid issue, and the dry skin on his wrists might be eczema. Our family has a history of allergies, eczema, and hypothyroidism, so I'm familiar with all of them, and I knew what my son was experiencing didn't fit. I also knew that a sudden onset of three separate conditions was unlikely. I told him (gently) that I didn't think that sounded right, but all he did was order bloodwork to see if there was anything wrong with his thyroid hormone levels and suggest over the counter treatments for allergies and eczema. I left the clinic almost in tears. My son was very sick, and I knew it. I told him that the diagnosis was wrong, that I didn't know what was making him sick but that I knew enough to know that wasn't it. I went home and Googled causes of weight loss in children. Most of the results were unhelpful, but when I saw the list of type 1 diabetes symptoms, my heart almost stopped. I'm ashamed to say I waited until the next morning to call his regular pediatrician's office and ask for a test. I didn't know how serious type 1 was at that time, as we have no family history. It turned out he was in diabetic ketoacidosis, a condition that would have caused him to lapse into a coma and possibly die sooner rather than later. He'd been breathing strangely (Kussmaul breathing I now know) for days, which means he'd been in dka for days. He'd been in dka the day before, when Dr. Leifson saw him. The pediatrician sent us immediately to Timpanogos Hospital, telling us not to stop at home, not to eat lunch on the way, etc. So far, nothing about Dr. Leifson would have prompted me to write a review. I know doctors sometimes get things wrong. They're only human. Two days later, I was still in the hospital with my son (he'd been in the PICU for 24 hours and then just the pediatric wing). I got a phone call from Dr. Leifson's office asking for a review of our visit two days earlier. That poor receptionist. I told her we were in the hospital and that Dr. Leifson had missed the (I think rather obvious) signs that my son was in dka, especially the distinctive breathing pattern and weight loss. I told her I didn't want to prosecute or anything; I just wanted to make sure he brushed up on his education so he didn't miss it again. She apologized and said she'd have him call me. Dr. Leifson called the next day. The entire phone call he kept repeating that if I'd only told him my son had been drinking and urinating a lot he would have caught it. As if it was my fault. First of all, he never asked. Second of all, my son was 12, old enough to use the restroom himself and get drinks himself so that I didn't know the frequency had increased, and young enough to not know that drinking 8 ounces every half hour isn't normal. I ended up hanging up on him. I still don't know if he's done any reading on the signs of type 1 diabetes in children so that if someone doesn't share the one piece of textbook information he's memorized he'll recognize it anyway. I don't want anything from this doctor or office other than a bit more care and research for the next kid. Maybe googling if you're not sure, like what I did."

"Best pediatrician we’ve even had. Always has taken great care of my kiddos. Nothing but positive things to say about Dr. Liefson."

"Very up front values here Dr. Leifson is very knowledgable!"

"I love the time Dr. Leifson spends with my girls We never feel rushed and he does a great job to explain things to my girls. I have recommended him to several friends and they have had good experiences as well."

"My boy had been showing signs of being diabetic for 18 months and both me and my wife voiced our concerns to Dr leifson about the issues and all he ever told us was he is a growing boy and it's natural to loose 60 pounds in a 6 months period. He never checked his blood sugars or did anything we asked. So we took our boy to the eye doctor and it was the eye doctor that caught the issue. Needless to say my boy was diagnosed with type 1 and it went so long without being diagnosed now he has permanent damage to his eye sight. If you care about your childrens health go see someone else."