Eric A. Brown's Online Review Report Card

Seek a second opinion. Charisma doesn’t mean you’ll get the best care. No CT, MRI or PET scans are ordered prior to surgery to ensure the primary cancer is found or to ensure there is no other cancer. Please seek a second opinion!

Zero stars! After finding a lump 2 months after a 3D mammogram I was referred to Brown. He assured me "if you were my mother, sister, daughter...I would leave this alone, it's just a lymph node". He told me to come back in 3 months, but I went back in 3 weeks and demanded he removes the lump. Post-op he said he "was even more sure that it was nothing". I am in the medical field and know that a pathology report shouldn't take long. I called daily and was told by the nurse "it just is not back yet". On day 8 I called demanding to speak to the doctor. His nurse said, "I know you are anxious and I don't want to make you wait, you have invasive cancer". I am able to quote Brown and his nurse because their words constantly resonate in my head. I suffer from severe PTSD due to what was said to me and more importantly how the news was delivered. Unprofessional is an understatement. A doctor is responsible for providing the pathology report, an ethical human would never allow his nurse to tell a patient they have "invasive cancer". Only a coward would allow anyone other than himself to provide results. I have worked with surgeons in my career for many years. Any time I tell my story, they are appalled and disgusted. I went through hell, and 4 years later still dealing with reconstruction. I saved my life, I am physically fine. Mentally, I will never be the same.

Always takes time to answer questions, make you feel informed and supported. So thankful for him!

I have been a patient of Dr. Brown for 15 years and have had 4 surgeries. He listens to your concerns, has a positive attitude and addresses the health issues and offers his opinion on how to address the problem. He has a calming and confident approach which makes his patients feel at ease. I would highly recommend him.

First let me disclose that I am a nurse, so I have a bit more knowledge than the average person who seeks help from a surgeon. Unfortunately, that didn't help me, because I made the huge mistake of trusting that Dr. Brown would do his job well instead of seeking any second opinions. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2021 and had my first visit in March, where Dr. Brown entered the room, clappped his hands enthusiastically and said "This is no problem, we'll handle this!" (strike one: false sense of security) He offered a lumpectomy, I countered with requesting a biilateral mastectomy. He did not challenge me on that request, only asked my rationale before agreeing to do it. I had the mastectomy in early April. I was his last case of the day, and it ran longer than he anticipated. I spent the night in the hospital and was seen in the morning by a physician assistant (not Dr. Brown) before being discharged home 18 hours after a major surgery. I was told to follow up with Dr. Brown in two weeks. On day 9 post operatively, the steri strips covering the wounds started to come off and my incisions began to open. It was only then that I discovered that the top closure had been completed with skin glue, not sutures or staples. My mistake for assuming he would close me properly and thoroughly. (In hindsight I'm angry at myself not asking how it would be closed during our preoperative consult, but in my defense I believed a surgeon with his reputation would be closing wounds that measured 30 inches total with sutures.) Long story short - I ended up with 10.5 INCHES of open wounds that took 157 days to completely close. Dr. Brown quickly pawned me off to Beaumont's wound care center (a fantastic facility who helped get me healed) and I never heard from him again. 5 months of being able to literally see the inside of my body. 5 months of doing my own dressing changes and not being able to move my arms for fear of re-opening the incisions. I now go to physical therapy because my shoulder froze in place from lack of movement. Throw in a bout of cellulitis in the middle of summer and the stress of being told "we can't begin chemo or radiation until your wounds heal" and you can imagine the emotional mess I was. By the way - that left breast I asked him to take off? It had cancer too. And my "No problem, we'll handle this" Super Simple Cancer was diagnosed as stage 4 in May. Stage 4 breast cancer is treatable, but not curable. If you've stuck with me this far, let me tell you to please, do your homework. Get 2nd opinions, don't fall for glossy offices and super friendly buddy talk. Be your own watchdog. Ask every question you can think of, pump your medical friends for honest opinions and (my advice) ask for a plastic surgeon to close you EVEN if you aren't having reconstruction (I did not want reconstruction from the beginning but I didn't know it was an option to have another specialist close me.) I wrote this review because I never want anyone to go through what I did. To be clear, I do not blame Dr. Brown for my metastatic cancer diagnosis. I don't believe my diagnostic or surgical care was delayed, although chemotherapy would have been if I had qualified for it with a lower staged cancer. I believe I was dealt a very, very crappy hand with the type of cancer that chose me. I wish I would have gone to U of M for another opinion. I am grateful I listened to my intuition that said something was very wrong and I should have both breasts removed, because if I had agreed to the lumpectomy that Dr. Brown initially offered me I would have ended up back in surgery having it done all over again. What I give Dr. Brown one star for is his sloppy, careless work, his lack of follow up and ghosting his patient when she was in dire straits. Do better. Do much better.

Dr. Brown referred me to the Wound Clinic when 10.5 inches of my surgical incisions opened after he did my bilateral mastectomy. It took them 5 months to close. He (or whomever he left to close me) "secured" 30 inches of incisions with skin glue instead of taking the time to sew them shut. The lumpectomy he offered at my consultation would have been completely inadequate as I ended up with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer in both breasts. (This diagnosis is not his fault, but if I had not requested a bilateral mastectomy I would have ended up back in surgery for it a month later.) Although he was included on all wound care and subsequent follow-up documentation, he never bothered to check and see how I was faring. The one-star rating is for sloppy wound closure, false hope in my consultation (enthusiastic hand clap and a "This is no problem, we can handle this!" when he entered the room), and for disappearing into the abyss after pawning me off to the Wound Clinic.

First let me disclose that I am a nurse, so I have a bit more knowledge than the average person who seeks help from a surgeon. Unfortunately, that didn't help me, because I made the huge mistake of trusting that Dr. Brown would do his job well without seeking any other opinions. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2021 and had my first visit in March, where Dr. Brown entered the room, clappped his hands enthusiastically and said "This is no problem, we'll handle this!" (strike one: false sense of security) He offered a lumpectomy, I countered with requesting a biilateral mastectomy. He did not challenge me on that request, only asked my rationale before agreeing to do it. I had the mastectomy in early April. I was his last case of the day, and it ran longer than he anticipated. I spent the night in the hospital and was seen in the morning by a physician assistant (not Dr. Brown) before being discharged home 18 hours after a major surgery. I was told to follow up with Dr. Brown in two weeks. On day 9 post operatively, the steri strips covering the wounds started to come off and my incisions began to open. It was only then that I discovered that the top closure had been completed with skin glue, not sutures or staples. My mistake for assuming he would close me properly and thoroughly. (In hindsight I'm angry at myself not asking how it would be closed during our preoperative consult, but in my defense I believed a surgeon with his reputation would be closing a wound that measured 30 inches total with sutures.) Long story short - I ended up with 10.5 INCHES of open wounds that took 157 days to completely close. Dr. Brown quickly pawned me off to Beaumont's wound care center (a fantastic facility who helped get me healed) and I never heard from him again. 5 months of being able to literally see the inside of my body. 5 months of doing my own dressing changes and not being able to move my arms for fear of re-opening the incisions. I now go to physical therapy because my shoulder froze in place from lack of movement. Throw in a bout of cellulitis in the middle of summer and the stress of being told "we can't begin chemo or radiation until your wounds heal" and you can imagine the emotional mess I was. By the way - that left breast I asked him to take off? It had cancer too. And my "No problem, we'll handle this" super simple cancer was diagnosed as stage 4 in May. Stage 4 breast cancer is treatable, but not curable. If you've stuck with me this far, let me tell you to please, do your homework. Get 2nd opinions, don't fall for glossy offices and super friendly buddy talk. Be your own watchdog. Ask every question you can think of, pump your medical friends for honest opinions and (my advice) ask for a plastic surgeon to close you EVEN if you aren't having reconstruction (I did not want reconstruction from the beginning but I didn't know it was an option to have another specialist close me.) I wrote this review because I never want anyone to go through what I did. To be clear, I do not blame Dr. Brown for my metastatic cancer diagnosis. I don't believe my diagnostic or surgical care was delayed. I believe I was dealt a very, very crappy hand with the type of cancer that chose me. I wish I would have gone to U of M for another opinion. I am grateful I listened to my intuition that said something was very wrong and I should have both breasts removed because if I had agreed to the lumpectomy that Dr. Brown initially offered me I would have ended up back in surgery having it done all over again. What I give Dr. Brown one star for is his sloppy work, lack of follow up and ghosting his patient when she was in dire straits. Do better.

Dr Brown did a great job with my bilateral mastectomy, but when it came to follow up, he never even looked at my chest 10 days later and had a newbie take out my tubes....all my other Dr.’s said only they would have taken them out. He never went over my pathology report, just handed it to me? When I looked it over and asked a specific question, his response was to ask at my next visit....that was in 6 months????? All of my other breast surgery physicians saw/see me regularly. I never heard from him to see how I was doing and found someone else for my follow up appointments. Very poor after care....would not recommend.

I was diagnosed with breast cancer and was able to immediately get an appointment with Dr. Brown. He takes his time explaining all your options. He is so caring, and patient.

Dr. Brown is an amazing doctor. He really cares about his patients. The way he talks to his patients make them feel comfortable and ready for any treatment they have to go through. I remember the first visit when I took my mom, she was depressed and you can clearly see how she gave up on her life. But after she saw Dr. Brown, everything changed. His smile, and the way he talks to his patients play a big role in the patients treatment. Thank you Dr. Brown for everything that you did for my mom. Thank you for helping her to see the life in a positive way.