Benn E. Smith

I can’t believe all the negative about Dr Smith. Sure he is somewhat conceited but he is one of the best with tons of research and writing to his credit. Ten years later his diagnosis still stands. One doctor wanted to do a Sural nerve biopsy but he blocked it and I am thankful for that. The VA accepted his diagnosis and granted my claim. I truly appreciate his help.

Dr Smith is very dismissive, arrogant and seems to be in a hurry to get you out of his office. He has no desire to hear your history or concerns, and seems to want to move on to the next patient. He acts like he can’t be bothered. This was our first experience at the Mayo Clinic and I left in tears.

He is absolutely awful. Knows less about disease treatment than the patient. We sent all my records in prior and he walked into the room not having reviewed anything. He wore a button saying "I'm the doctor, trust me." We drove 5.5 hours with me being really sick and he would not answer any questions. He did not run prior authorizations and so we are still trying to get bills paid by the insurance. Even at the follow-up video visit he told me to stop the only treatment that was working and I had to remind him and then he said to continue it. This is not acceptable care even and certainly when you are in critical condition.

“Dr.” Benn Smith should be lucky to still have a job and still be treating patients at all. All of these reviews are scarily accurate!! Unfortunately I didn’t see any of these before my EMG with him. As soon as this guy walked in the room he immediately started talking and wouldn’t stop, I couldn’t get a word in to ask any questions or be prepared for the needles that were about to come. The questions I did ask he just patronized me and immediately started the test, dismissive of my concerns and with NO WARNING before jabbing the first needle in my leg. The needle didn’t even hurt while he was moving it around it was the initial jab and disregard for the fact that he saw it was painful, I thought the crying and grabbing on to the bed rail was clear enough but clearly he had no time or care for any of that. He treated me like a child and that my pain was silly, he continued anyway. He completely was rushing everything and I was holding myself back from just yelling at him since he still had the needle in me and I didn’t want him to mess with anything on my report. I wish I did. 
When I reported him to the patient experience office I thought they cared. I told them the whole story immediately following my incomplete EMG, eyes still red and tearful after crying alone in the room, gathering my things and having to walk out alone and humiliated. No one cared. I was told I would get a call PERSONALLY from Ana Byrd within the next 4 days and that they’d look into getting a new doctor, the best one. Nope. I had to call her after not hearing from anyone. The result was “well they suggest if I’m not able to tolerate the EMG to talk to my primary care physician to see if there is another test I could do.” WRONG, I couldn’t tolerate the pain and disregard for that pain from Mr. Smith. “It’s policy that if the patient experiences pain that the doctor stops which he did.” WRONG AGAIN ANA. He did not stop. He kept the needle jabbed in my leg even though he saw me jump and grab the bed rail and he heard me crying, and he heard me say “I guess no one told you I don’t do well with needles to which he had the audacity to joke “if these didn’t hurt they’d be a lot easier.” He didn’t ask if I was okay, he didn’t stop the test, he kept the needle in my leg. I felt completely unheard and extremely uncomfortable with him treating me in general at that point. He told me if we didn’t finish the test would be incomplete and the doctor would only get a portion. I felt like I had to continue so I tried one more spot. Again he did not give any heads up and no less gentler. Jabbed it into my hip, he left it in there even while I was still crying in pain. He only stopped when I said I couldn’t do anymore and I didn’t feel comfortable. He was quick to pack up his things and leave telling me “that’s fine, you can change and head out that door, I hope they figure out what’s going on and best regards” and without a second though or any empathy whatsoever…you know, maybe asking if I needed any assistance since I’m still laying there crying in pain…he just left. I’ve been going to MAYO for a long time and I’ve NEVER had such a horrible experience! 
When I got home I looked him up and was shocked that others have been treated the exact same way and even more shocked that this guy is still treating patients. I agree with the person who said that he is ruining Mayo’s reputation. I asked that the test be taken off my bill if I’m going to have to re-do it. I plan on escalating this on the grounds that they think he stopped when I was in pain and he absolutely did not. If they want to fight it I am more than willing. No one should have to experience that. I encourage everyone who has a test done with this doctor to have your phone recording audio or video. They let me keep my phone with me while they did the first portion of the test with the nurses present, but when Mr. Smith came in he was by himself and he rushed and did everything so fast I couldn’t even think to hit record and I wish I had. I’d put this “Dr.” on blast immediately. One of Mayo’s values is “Provide the best care, treating patients and family members with sensitivity and empathy.” “Dr.” Smith has absolutely ZERO empathy, you’re just a number, he’s not there to make sure you are okay or taken care of, he clearly had other things to do and other patients to see. Please, it is worth cancelling last minute if you see this “Dr.” Come into your room rather than have to deal with the physical pain and emotions trauma plus stress you’ll have to deal with afterwards.
However, if you do get this doc and most likely have a bad experience I encourage you to report it to the Patient Experience Office by calling or visiting on the concourse level. They may not do anything but I hope the more people report their bad experience the more likely they will have to do something to remove this guy or face lawsuits for hospital malpractice/negligence allowing him to continue.

This doctor Benn Smith is a terrible diagnostician and he ruined 20 years of my life by not diagnosing my illness correctly. It was 11 years later that I finally found out I had peripheral neuropathy caused by a bacterial infection commonly known as Lyme disease. AVOID this awful “doctor”. He sent me away (in 2004) with a referral to a psychologist because my symptoms were “all in my head” and the tests my board certified neurologist had done were all “wrong”.

I moved to Arizona and needed a new neuromuscular specialist for a rare condition diagnosed 3 years ago. He did not review or consider any prior testing, did not give a diagnosis or ask about the treatment I was on. He ignored my trying to show him my physical findings. I was also told to get personality testing, my mind was making my body do this. I filed a complaint with the patient experience office and was informed that his treatment was adequate. By the way, I was a physician before my illness and would never have dismissed a patient this way.

Dr Benn Smith is the worst doctor I've ever met. I was referred by my board certified neurologist to Mayo for workup of 3+ years of peripheral neuropathy both feet, with tests. After a full day of testing, Dr Smith said "it's All in your head" and referred me to a psychologist. He dismissed all 3 tests as "wrong". I was diagnosed last year with Lyme disease, which causes nerve damage. I was infected in 1995, when I had the classic rash. I saw Dr Smith 7 years after, he completely missed the diagnosis. He is TERRIBLE!! Avoid him at all costs!!

“Dr.” Benn Smith should be lucky to still have a job and still be treating patients at all. All of these reviews are scarily accurate!! Unfortunately I didn’t see any of these before my EMG with him. As soon as this guy walked in the room he immediately started talking and wouldn’t stop, I couldn’t get a word in to ask any questions or be prepared for the needles that were about to come. The questions I did ask he just patronized me and immediately started the test, dismissive of my concerns and with NO WARNING before jabbing the first needle in my leg. The needle didn’t even hurt while he was moving it around it was the initial jab and disregard for the fact that he saw it was painful, I thought the crying and grabbing on to the bed rail was clear enough but clearly he had no time or care for any of that. He treated me like a child and that my pain was silly, he continued anyway. He completely was rushing everything and I was holding myself back from just yelling at him since he still had the needle in me and I didn’t want him to mess with anything on my report. I wish I did. ?When I reported him to the patient experience office I thought they cared. I told them the whole story immediately following my incomplete EMG, eyes still red and tearful after crying alone in the room, gathering my things and having to walk out alone and humiliated. No one cared. I was told I would get a call PERSONALLY from Ana Byrd within the next 4 days and that they’d look into getting a new doctor, the best one. Nope. I had to call her after not hearing from anyone. The result was “well they suggest if I’m not able to tolerate the EMG to talk to my primary care physician to see if there is another test I could do.” WRONG, I couldn’t tolerate the pain and disregard for that pain from Mr. Smith. “It’s policy that if the patient experiences pain that the doctor stops which he did.” WRONG AGAIN ANA. He did not stop. He kept the needle jabbed in my leg even though he saw me jump and grab the bed rail and he heard me crying, and he heard me say “I guess no one told you I don’t do well with needles to which he had the audacity to joke “if these didn’t hurt they’d be a lot easier.” He didn’t ask if I was okay, he didn’t stop the test, he kept the needle in my leg. I felt completely unheard and extremely uncomfortable with him treating me in general at that point. He told me if we didn’t finish the test would be incomplete and the doctor would only get a portion. I felt like I had to continue so I tried one more spot. Again he did not give any heads up and no less gentler. Jabbed it into my hip, he left it in there even while I was still crying in pain. He only stopped when I said I couldn’t do anymore and I didn’t feel comfortable. He was quick to pack up his things and leave telling me “that’s fine, you can change and head out that door, I hope they figure out what’s going on and best regards” and without a second though or any empathy whatsoever…you know, maybe asking if I needed any assistance since I’m still laying there crying in pain…he just left. I’ve been going to MAYO for a long time and I’ve NEVER had such a horrible experience! ?When I got home I looked him up and was shocked that others have been treated the exact same way and even more shocked that this guy is still treating patients. I agree with the person who said that he is ruining Mayo’s reputation. I asked that the test be taken off my bill if I’m going to have to re-do it. I plan on escalating this on the grounds that they think he stopped when I was in pain and he absolutely did not. If they want to fight it I am more than willing. No one should have to experience that. I encourage everyone who has a test done with this doctor to have your phone recording audio or video. They let me keep my phone with me while they did the first portion of the test with the nurses present, but when Mr. Smith came in he was by himself and he rushed and did everything so fast I couldn’t even think to hit record and I wish I had. I’d put this “Dr.” on blast immediately. One of Mayo’s values is “Provide the best care, treating patients and family members with sensitivity and empathy.” “Dr.” Smith has absolutely ZERO empathy, you’re just a number, he’s not there to make sure you are okay or taken care of, he clearly had other things to do and other patients to see. Please, it is worth cancelling last minute if you see this “Dr.” Come into your room rather than have to deal with the physical pain and emotions trauma plus stress you’ll have to deal with afterwards.?However, if you do get this doc and most likely have a bad experience I encourage you to report it to the Patient Experience Office by calling or visiting on the concourse level. They may not do anything but I hope the more people report their bad experience the more likely they will have to do something to remove this guy or face lawsuits for hospital malpractice/negligence allowing him to continue.

“Dr.” Benn Smith should be lucky to still have a job and still be treating patients at all. All of these reviews are scarily accurate!! Unfortunately I didn’t see any of these before my EMG with him. Went straight to Patient Experience and told them the whole story immediately following my incomplete EMG, eyes still red and tearful after crying and left alone in the room, gathering my things and having ...

I’m almost 56 years old. So have had plenty of experience with doctors. This guy is a complete jerk. He doesn’t listen to the patient. He’s arrogant and certainly doesn’t represent what Mayo Clinic stands for. They should kick him to the curb. Run as fast as you can away from this jerk.