David Slutsky's Online Review Report Card

Ive been seeing him for 9 weeks, and it has been the worst doctor Ive ever seen!! Hes been dragging me on for 9 weeks in and now he wants to do surgery. Dont go to him. He needs to hang the white coat up and retire if hes going to treat patients like that. Biggest was of time. Hes ruined my opportunity for a career, and he doesnt care cause he makes 5 times the money we would ever. DONT GO TO HIM

I saw Dr. S for an enlarging and pulsatile swelling on my right index finger. The Nurse Practitioner at my GPs office had examined the swelling and said she thought it might be a venous ectasia, or AVM. She said I should ask Dr. S about this possibility. My brother, an anesthesiologist, also examined it and, with no knowledge of the NPs assessment, said the same. He noted that there were red spots on my skin near the swelling and said they were telangiectasias, which, combined with the strong pulse, made him more certain this was some sort of vascular malformation. I saw Dr. S and he said it was most likely a cyst, but that he would not know for sure until the excision was done. When I asked him about the possibility of the AVM he said, This is why I dont like talking to people who dont know what they are talking about. That is a stupid question. He went on to say he had not seen that in 25 years, and used the old hoof beats/horse/zebra aphorism. He did back off a bit, and say he could be surprised, but it would be the first time in 25 years. When I asked him about the spots on the skin he did not look at them and said, You are talking to the wrong doctor, Im not a dermatologist. Despite this, I pressed him a bit further and asked if he did not, then, believe they were related to the swelling. He still did not look at them, and said, No. Three days prior to the surgery, I dried my hands and one of the telangiectasias began bleeding rather profusely. The blood soaked through three BandAids before it stopped about 15 minutes later. My brother told me to be sure to let Dr. S know prior to the surgery, as this made my brother more certain that this was a vascular issue, not a cyst. When I saw Dr. S in the surgery center immediately prior to surgery, I told him about the bleeding incident. He said, Thats weird. Well, Im not doing anything there, my incision will be here�, and he indicated the other side of my finger. After surgery, while I was still in recovery, my husband was in the waiting room and happened to look out the window and saw Dr. S walking to his car. My husband ran out into the parking lot and stopped him to ask how the surgery went. My husband reported that the Dr. said the surgery went fine, and it was NOT a cyst. He told my husband to tell me to bend the finger. There were no other after care instructions given. If my husband had not chased him in the parking lot, the doctor would not have spoken to either of us after the surgery that day. When I saw him one week after the surgery he spent perhaps three minutes with me. A tech removed the stitches, and Dr. S told me he had to leave as he was due in surgery. He said it was not a cyst, and was perhaps a hemangioma, especially, he said, given the bleeding I had reported (which came from the spots on my hand he said were not related to the swelling). He told me that the pathology report was not in yet, and I would need to come back the next week if I wanted to �talk about it�. He left. I told the office assistant that I wanted the pathology report and the operative notes faxed to me as soon as they were ready, as I could not come back the following Wednesday due to work commitments, and Dr. S is only in that office on Wednesdays. I did want the opportunity to �talk about it�, however, so I made an appointment for two weeks later. In the meantime, the path report and operative notes came in. The diagnosis on the path report was �hemangioma�. The operative notes were notable only in that they described, in three separate places, the diagnosis of and procedure done to my LEFT index finger. The lesion was on my RIGHT hand, and the surgery was performed on my RIGHT index finger. At any rate, I had several questions based on my own research and my conversations with my doctor brother. When I went in for my appointment, I waited over an hour to be seen. When I went into the exam room, Dr. S came in and said �Let�s have a look�. He looked at it and told me the hemangioma diagnosis, and that the incision looked good and would be red for a while. I asked him if there was any known etiology of hemangioma and he said �Why do people get cancer? I�m a hand surgeon, not a doctor.� He told me that the hemangioma may come back, or may not, and to call them if it did, and he got up and headed out the door. Since I still had questions I continued to address him as I followed him to the counter where he had the office assistant make me a copy of the pathology report. I asked him about one of the tests that had been run, and he said, �Talk to a pathologist, I don�t know what they do.� He then turned and began to open the door to the next exam room, and I told him about the operative report error. He said he would fix it and went into the room and closed the door. After waiting over an hour for the opportunity to �talk about it�, I felt very dissatisfied, and my questions were unasked and unanswered. In my opinion the unwillingness to consider and address questions raised by other health professionals, if not by the patient him or herself, and the lack of attention to anything other than the very narrow area he would be excising, could conceivably lead to mismanagement of a patient�s issue. In my case, hopefully, no adverse development has occurred, but as several of my questions remain unanswered, I don�t really know. I will be seeking a referral to someone who will allow me to ask the questions I still have regarding the original condition, and the recovery of my hand, and who will do their best to answer my questions. I will not be returning to Dr. S for any reason.

The best doctor in his field. This is who patients go to when no one else can find out what is wrong. He is extremely professional, does not discuss other doctors because he is classy and does not criticize others! I was treated very professionally, and thankfully not asked to repeat unnecessary tests. Actually, when tests were necessary I was tested with the most updated equipment all onsite! I never waited and his staff is courteous and professiomal as well. His office is modern and clean and very awesome! I cannot think of any improvements as from first visit to post op and occupational therapy, all was professional and delivered with the highest standard in medical care.

My right index finger needed to be fused. I knew this when searching for a surgeon. What I didnt realize is there are 2 ways of performing this particular surgery. One method takes around 30 minutes and has a less natural look to a fused finger. Dr Slutksychose the best: which took nearly 2 hours resulting in the best I can hope for. He has been meticulous, preop care was attentive to detail. While no one can say why: I had no (zero) pain with my recovery.

I came in with a broken wrist and Doctor Slutsky set and cast it. It was a pretty horrific looking injury and I was in a lot of pain. The procedure itself was over quickly and the doctor brought an air of calm to the situation, patiently explaining each step. I appreciate that he didnt push surgery, as is the trend these days. There were no complications and the physical therapy went well. There is an onsite physical therapy center which is really convenient and thorough.

This man had no interest in addressig my questions or concerns. He didnt want to hear anything. He just poked around and said so do you want the shot or not. That was the first visit. Repeat during the second visit followed by you dont want the shot, you dont want what I recommend, then you need to get a second opinion and he got up and walked out. What I wanted was a conversation about my problem at some point during any of those two visits. You wont get it from this guy. He gave me referrals which I refused. The doctors that are referred by him should know that the patients will be skeptical of them too.

Dr. Slutsky examined me thoroughly before diagnosing my problems. He is quite pleasant and takes the time time to discuss my condition during each visit. I am pleased the carpal tunnel release went quite well.