Referral back to original doctor

Somewhat confused. My son has been dealing w ES for a few years. Had tonsillectomy n continued w persistent throat pain n vascular sx. Was dx w ES after MRA n referred to Dr. Santarelli (Phoenix) who did not inspire a lot of confidence or willingness to do surgery. My son got into see Dr. M. Lawton (Phoenix) who ordered an angiogram which confirmed his sx. Now Dr. Lawton is referring him back to Dr. Santarelli, Lawton’s office stating he’s an ENT n it’s more appropriate. Seriously? My understanding is Dr. Lawton is one of the listed recommended physicians to do this surgery. Anyone have any insight???

The doctors list has been compiled over several years, so it could be that Dr Lawton did a successful surgery or 2 a few years ago & maybe doesn’t do the surgeries any more, we have had a few doctors this has happened with. I did a quick search of his name in the past discussions, & came up with some info on this one:
WARNING - GRAPHIC VISUAL INFORMATION: IJV Compression - Another Point of View - General - Living with Eagle
(It’s post no. 13 that @Isaiah_40_31 gives info & a link to another discussion about him)
So maybe he’s not doing the surgery any more- if you don’t feel confident with Dr Santarelli, then it’s worth getting another opinion, Dr Milligan in Pheonix is very experienced, although I’m UK so don’t know if that’s possible with your health care insurance…

Dr. Lawton is incredibly inconsistent with whom he is willing to help w/ ES. We’ve had 2 members that I know of who had ES surgery done by him, but all the others who’ve gone to him who had vascular ES, he turned away & even denied the diagnosis in some. I would take his name off our list except he’s a good surgeon, just really picky.

As Jules noted, Dr. Milligan in Phoenix has a great reputation & has done 300+ ES surgeries so is very experienced. He would be a good resource for you. He does work in a medical group so don’t let the front office people try to make an appt for your son w/ another doctor in the practice. Demand an appt w/ Dr. Milligan.