Google review
Mar 24, 2022• Ernesto Henderson
So, I want to preface this with, I do not like speaking ill of people.
However, I've never felt so mistreated in my life. I have terrible insurance with my current hospital which will change in fall of 2022. So, my selection of primary care physicians is very low. I however, as a physician myself, know the importance of receiving regular physicals at least yearly from an outside, non-biased objective provider. Also, one of my medications requires blood monitoring every 3 months. I had a very good provider however she was very far away in Flatbush. As a crown heights resident, Yelena was 1 block away which was great for convenience.
Yelena never knew I was physician because she did not ask. Aside from the fact I walked in fully dressed in scrubs, with a hospital badge with big red-letter stating MD. She never cared to ask anything about me or know who I was.
From the moment I met with her, there was condescension. I've been on meds for many years. I know what meds I need to be on. I've prescribed them myself for many patients. When I tried to explain what my meds to her, she didn't believe me. I tried to explain to her, that I knew what I took. She again refused. I even volunteered to show her my pharmacy records. She refused. I was treated as though I was drug seeking even though none of my meds were controlled substances. Luckily, I lived close by so I was to interrupt my appointment, run home, collect all my medications and come back to the office.
When I went into the examination room and I explained that I would like to establish care. She suspiciously looked at me, and asked why I was changing primary care providers. I told her plainly that it was for the sake of geographic convenience. As she was reviewing the medications I tried to tell her the indications for the prescription. Again, suspicion that I was lying about my diagnosis...
At this point I was getting quite upset, and she refused to prescribe many of my medications as she wanted progress notes from a specialist, despite the fact I have been being managed by primary care on these medications for years. She then, google searched in front of me the side effects of these medications (medications IN MY SPECIALTY) to educate me about the risk and side effects and why she would not prescribe them. No matter how much I tried to reason with her, she told me I could see somebody else if I didn't agree with her.
Nevertheless, I was already in the office and she reluctantly gave me one-time prescription refill. One medication which must have lab monitoring every 3 months. prescribed almost exclusively by primary care, she was able to prescribe. When the lab results returned I was concerned of kidney function as I'm aware of the side effects of my medication - again a medication I use to prescribe BEFORE I did specialist training in my current field. She again, googled in front of me, and told me kidney issues were not a side effect. Mind you, this is one of the major concerns of this medication which is why new formulations have been made that no longer have these issues.
Nevertheless, I tried to be patient. People have bad days. When I returned for lab follow up, I was treated with the same condescension and disdain. I also requested a flu shot. Yelena did it herself and it was so painful despite me telling her my fear of needles. I honestly felt like she did it on purpose.
Again, I do not like speaking ill of my colleague but I was frankly disgusted by her treatment and thought it was extremely unbecoming of a medical professional. If she reads this- which I sincerely hope she does - I hope that she can learn from this to improve her bedside manner. Nobody, regardless of their profession or who they are, should ever be treated in the manner I was treated. Our patients ALL deserve to be treated with respect.
The only reason she received 1 star instead of no stars was that her front desk staff was so pleasant, respectful, kind and understanding. I had no issues with anyone in that office with the exception the physician.