Dr. Karin L. Hastik, MD

I wholeheartedly recommend Dr Hastik, whom I have known for ten years. During that time she has twice figured out the right medication for ending my serious depression. I was happily on one medication for several years, and when that stopped working she replaced it with another med that did work. Knowing others' experiences with medication I realize it is unusual for a doctor to hit it right the first time with a medication, and then to do it again a second time. With me she has supported the most minimal use of meds, and that has also occurred with others I know who are her patient. Our check-in sessions have always been on time, not rushed, and very motivating to me. She has responded within hours to any emergency call. I feel blessed to have a doctor that is so knowledgable and caring. more

I would NOT reccomend Dr. Hastik unless you want to be worse off after her treatment than you were when you started seeing her. She loves to pump you full of unnecessary pills and even has a complaint against her with the licensing board for her lack of follow up with prescriptions. Overall, she doesn't listen with the intent to solve any issues. She pacifies with pills and does nothing to help her patients with their problems. more

I was diagnosed with severe depression about 10 years ago. I have had been to a number of therapists and I can say with impunity that Dr. Karin Hastik is by far the most sensitive, caring and interesting therapist I have visited. She returns calls quickly, is easily accessible and is well known for her work. She came highly recommended through a colleague at UCSF -- and I concur. more

I highly recommend this doctor. She's ja nice perosn and while that may sound strange some of my experiences with previous therapists are that they seem eccentric, particularly those into holistic trends. That stuff if fine and if it works for you, great, but it wasn't helping me. I was referred to this doc from my primary care physician. She is very responsive and calls you back within several hours even if it is on a weekend. Cons: she doesn't accept insurance and parking is a hassle so if you don't like dealing with downtown SF parking, that could be a problem. Jackson more

I can't say enough good things about Karin Hastik. I came to her 5 years ago after having a horrible experience with a previous psychiatrist who had no idea how to treat my condition. She was recommended to me by no fewer than 5 different psychiatrists (all of whom were not accepting patients at the time). My own PCP has said, ""I hear really good things about her."" My initial consultation, scheduled for an hour, went over two. She spent quality time asking every kind of probing question a doctor should in order to get a complete history and be able to make a diagnosis. My condition has been very difficult to treat. Her knowledge of pharmacology is amazing, but she doesn't just push pills. She will advise other natural ""medications"", and leaves no stone unturned. She takes a very holistic approach to her practice. She explains things in a very straightforward manner. She's accessible: it's easy to get in to see her and she returns calls usually with a couple of hours. She goes out of her way to accommodate patients. She doesn't watch the clock during appointments - it can mean she's often running late, but the upside is that you know she is spending the time she needs to attend to your care. Bottom line: Karin Hastik knows her stuff and she cares. Top top notch. more

Dr. Hastik is an accomplished and highly respected psychopharmacologist in the medical community. Since her licensure, she has seen thousands of patients. I am confident that her history of quality care will go unabated by this incident. The accusations and results therein are essentially based on a lack of supportive paperwork. Period. I am not saying that is not a fault. But everything snowballs after that since without such documentation, the accused cannot properly defend him or herself and it becomes a he said/she said situation. Also, there is trial by no jury here. This is administrative law. I suggest you read the Public Interest site about their issues with various Medical Boards and their lack of standards in managing these types of cases. There are really two issues raised here ? one is the interpretation and clear understanding of the judgment and the other regarding her speaking for drug companies, of which she has done for a long time. This is America and she has a right to speak for whomever she wants. She does not work for the government. If you don?t like it, see another doctor. Your comments about the ?degree? of sentencing, as well as that a dishonesty decision ""almost went against her"" is essentially libelous. In this country, a n individual is not guilty until proven so. You so obviously fail to cite that SIX accusations were dropped ---including that of dishonesty. What remains are all again, are charges that remain that could not be supported due to a lack of documentation. I can assure you that if the Board believed that this physician was endangering the lives of patients, they would have acted with much greater urgency rather than dragging the case out over 5 years. They are a variety of gross negligence case from the Medical Board?s perspective, yet are treated very differently in terms of ?sentencing? ? albeit not necessarily fairly. You can view the many inconsistencies regarding these types of cases via the various Medical Board newsletters. Go read about these cases ? look them up. They will surprise if not shock the average individual. They are all over the place. Some physicians have killed patients and they 3 years probation. Others have sex with a patient and they lose their license. There was a recent psychiatrist in the State of CA who killed a patient due to gross negligence and got off on 3 years with a plea bargain. The real conflict of interest is how Medical Boards operate. The Board makes annual fees off the doctor on probate as do the individuals that take the required courses as well as the monitors. The term ?monitor? is also somewhat misleading. The monitor is not someone who sits in a room with the doctor and patient and watches them interact. That would be in violation of HIPAA rules and regulations. And the physician on probation gets to choose the monitor. I also want to mention that the Psychcrimereporter website and some of its reference are affiliated with the Church of Scientology. It is nothing but biased journalism. more

Dr. Hastik is an excellent Physic ian. I am myself a Physician and first saw Dr. Hastik back in 2004 via a Physician referral from UCSF, and returned recently. I had a complicated mix of conditions that required medical treatment. After a number of tries, my condition is now stabilized. What I found to be of value when visiting Dr. Hastik was her incredible knowledge of psychopharmacology. She wasn't afraid to educate me or guide me through various therapeutic options which, as an MD, I was receptive to hear. It is not uncommon to switch medications for these conditions--there is no ""one for all"" treatment. Pros: Experienced pyschiatrist more

Dr. Hastik is an excellent physician and I highly recommend her. She is thorough, knowledgeable, and is an excellent listener. She is also very good at medical management if that is something you need. Pros: Empathetic, knowledgeable, accessable Cons: Parking can be a challenge more

I found Dr. Hastik to be very professional and I have travelled 3 hours to see her. We now have phone update Pros: office convenient to BART Cons: pricey , no office staff. more

Dr Hastik ended up being surprisingly unprofessional. Perhaps I caught her during some special crisis, but ... still that's no excuse to basically have a break down in front of a client. Based on her comments, she sounded overwhelmed and worried about her cash flow. (This is only my guess, so take it with a grain of salt.) She *was* very emotional and even swore. It was ... really odd and unlike her behavior before. Pros: Location Cons: Unprofessional more