[Scouty]

Wondering if anyone has any information regarding Dr. Tafur? Ad in the paper today. All I know he is a GP.

[Mimivillager]

I went to him when I first moved here and I liked him.
My insurance changed and he does not take ny PCP so I went elsewhere . I would still be going to him if my ins had not changed.

[Sagitarius 6]

He is my husbands doctor and mine We like him.

[Debfrommaine]

I like him as well - been a couple of years now, he's a good doc.

[villager]

We go to Dr. Tafur. I feel confident with him. He can be a little gruff, but I don't take it personally. I figure I pay a doctor to be a good doctor, not a nice guy.

[suebanj]

Ive been going to Dr. Tafur for years now. He actually probably saved my life...I was a smoker and almost four years ago he said, lets get a chest xray...now, I had no coughing, shortness of breath, etc. Turned out I had stage I lung cancer...I am now cancer free but feel we caught it early due to Dr. Tafur ordering that chest x-ray...

[Carl in Tampa]

Dr. Tafur has been my primary care doctor for a little over a year. I was referred to him by my cardiologist after an emergency admission to The Villages hospital for a heart problem. He has a reputation for being competent and very thorough.

He is a tall slender Peruvian who gives the impression of having a somewhat haughty attitude; kind of like a Spanish bullfighter. But once you get used to his style you realize that his somewhat abrupt style is his way of getting to the core of your health issues.

His father owned a hospital in Peru and he grew up running the halls of the hospital, gaining compassion for ill people. He told me that he is well off and is not in medical practice for the money, but because of a genuine desire to help people to have good health.

I have had some complex medical issues and he has taken a lot of office time with me to assure that I understood my condition and the alternatives that I had for treatment.

I am comfortable recommending him as a primary care physician.

[skyguy79]

I'm glad people posting here had a good experience with Dr. Talfur and like him. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same.

Dr. Talfur was the first Dr recommended to me when I moved here so I made an appointment with him. He changed one of my prescriptions that my next provider Sylvia Wallace changed because it wasn't what I should be taking and my current doctor at the Colony Health Center confirmed was the correct thing for Sylvia to do.

I've also been on a pain killer for about 8 years now and Talfur said he could not continue prescribing it for me because it was a controlled substance and he would have to refer me to pain management doctor. This was not true. Both my providers since have prescribed it for me, no problem.

Another matter was that I needed to change my handicapped placard from NY to FL and needed his authorization to do that. I have continually been authorized to have one for well over 10 years at that point. He said MV regulations did not permit him to authorize the issue of the permanent permit on his first authorization. He would have to issue a 6 month temporary authorization then issue the permanent one after the 6 months were up. My previous work experience told me that this didn't sound right so I checked it out on the FL DMV website and there was no such requirement. So I don't know if Talfur was lying to me or just didn't have the knowledge I would expect an experienced doctor to have.

There are a few other matters, but I won't go into them because it's more personal than I'm willing to go into. BTW, my wife was in the exam room during my time and made a separate decision that she would not want him for a doctor either. So that first time was my last time, and thanks to Bonny here on TOTV, I switched to Sylvia, a gem of a provider... well at least until she left the practice and went with The Doctors of Belleview.

One final note; remember that this is just our experience with Talfur and I cannot speak for the experiences of others. If you're his patient and you're happy with him, more power to you!

[Carl in Tampa]

I can't speak to all of the issues that skyguy79 brings up regarding
Dr. Tafur, but one element is worthy of discussion.

Under current Florida law a doctor cannot prescribe potent painkiller medications for long term use unless he declares himself as a controlled substance prescribing practitioner on his practitioner profile and meets a number of requirements and rules. Skyguy79's history of eight years of painkiller use would make him a long term user. In all likelihood Dr. Tafur has not designated himself a controlling substance prescribing practitioner under Florida law which is why he referred skyguy79 to a pain management clinic.

I had back injuries which required long term painkiller use and Dr. Tafur referred me to the pain clinic which was right next door to his office. I was treated there until back surgery ended the need for the meds.

I normally go to a local Urgent Care Clinic for treatment of unexpected illnesses or injuries. They have a sign on the wall that ONLY Dr. So and So is a designated substance prescribing practitioner; the other doctors at the clinic cannot prescribe painkillers.

On one occasion I went to a different clinic. They had a sign on the wall that said that NONE of their doctors could prescribe painkillers.

There is a similar sign at the entrance to the office of my pulmonologist.

Again, my surmise is that Dr. Tafur has chosen not to designate himself as a designated substance prescribing practitioner. He did not lie to skyguy79. Skyguy79's subsequent doctors probably did designate themselves, so they could prescribe the drugs.

See the link below for a discussion of the Florida Law.

Florida Osteopathic Medical Association

[skyguy79]

Originally Posted by Carl in Tampa

I can't speak to all of the issues that skyguy79 brings up regarding
Dr. Tafur, but one element is worthy of discussion.

Under current Florida law a doctor cannot prescribe potent painkiller medications for long term use unless he declares himself as a controlled substance prescribing practitioner on his practitioner profile and meets a number of requirements and rules. Skyguy79's history of eight years of painkiller use would make him a long term user. In all likelihood Dr. Tafur has not designated himself a controlling substance prescribing practitioner under Florida law which is why he referred skyguy79 to a pain management clinic.

I had back injuries which required long term painkiller use and Dr. Tafur referred me to the pain clinic which was right next door to his office. I was treated there until back surgery ended the need for the meds.

I normally go to a local Urgent Care Clinic for treatment of unexpected illnesses or injuries. They have a sign on the wall that ONLY Dr. So and So is a designated substance prescribing practitioner; the other doctors at the clinic cannot prescribe painkillers.

On one occasion I went to a different clinic. They had a sign on the wall that said that NONE of their doctors could prescribe painkillers.

There is a similar sign at the entrance to the office of my pulmonologist.

Again, my surmise is that Dr. Tafur has chosen not to designate himself as a designated substance prescribing practitioner. He did not lie to skyguy79. Skyguy79's subsequent doctors probably did designate themselves, so they could prescribe the drugs.

See the link below for a discussion of the Florida Law.

Florida Osteopathic Medical Association

Thanks for the feedback. Perhaps if Dr. Tafur had properly explained what you have instead of simply telling me that neither he nor any other doctor in FL will write the script unless they were pain specialists - without explaining things further, then I might have seen things differently. That in itself wouldn't have changed my mind though about staying with him!

[california dreamer]

My husband has had a similar problem with the primary doctors here. He has a chronic back problem and is in severe pain at times. He has been shuffled around to different pain management docs who insist on giving steroid shots which don't work for him. Finally, he is on a pain med that works but these specialist co-pays for pain management are tiring. which primary docs out there would be able to assist him with his pain meds, as designated controlled substance docs? He has Preferred Care Partners insurance, Medicare Advantage Plan.
thanks

[gomsiepop]

My husband and I moved here in 2012 and went on an initial recommendation from a friend for a primary doctor. It seems that everyone that I've spoken to feels their doctor is the "best" doctor. After two separate visits my husband and I decided that this wasn't the physician for us. For one his accent was such that it was difficult to understand him. Also, I think he should hire a nurse to sit beside him inputting data on the computer rather than the doctor doing it himself. The next time my husband and I decided on a doctor we chose Dr. Tafur. In my opinion he is a caring "Marcus Welby" type physician. I don't know if he is still accepting new patients but, I for one can say he is the doctor I will be using for as long as I live in The Villages.

[MLBellis]

Fl has lot of different rules/laws... My Mom went to her cancer Doc, he too could not give more than 6 mo for her handicap sticker.... I have use Dr. Tafur for many yrs... never had a problem....

[EdV]

An important consideration when selecting a primary Care Physician is what hospitals s/he is listed on as a staff physician.

Dr. Tafur is on the staff of both the Leesburg Regional and The Villages Regional hospitals.