James Stein's Online Review Report Card

I entered Dr. Stein's waiting room after swimming in the UW pool a floor below, with severe shortness of breath (I could hardly get my name out) and chest pain. He was with a routine patient in a room just down the hall. A nurse went to get him but, without stopping for even a moment to check up on me, he refused to come out and told them to just call an ambulance. They arrived 10 minutes later. Two of three bypass grafts had shut down and I was emergently stented and survived no thanks to Dr. Stein. He later told me 1 - He didn't know it was me as though that should have made a difference 2 - he was very busy and 3 - he had no means to help (actually not true they do have a crash cart). At this point, I no longer care what kind of doctor Dr. Stein is. To me, he is a pathetic excuse for a human. I am obvisuly no longer his patient.

Arrogant, narcissist. Cannot admit when he made a mistake and someone who absolutely can't be counted on when you have a severe problem. Not sure what kind of doctor he is but absolutely certain about what kind of person he is. Would steer clear.

Seems to care about little else besides reducing cholesterol metrics with statin. Downplayed potential side effects & overstated the benefits, disregarded the dietary work I'd done to improve numbers (acted as though he was a nutrition expert, which really hurt his credibility), assumed my numbers had to indicate a hereditary condition w/out doing genetic testing, & did all this while really trying to scare me as much as possible. It's hard for me to trust him, despite his breadth of knowledge..

I went in for a first appointment with him following elevated cholesterol numbers. Within 5 minutes he had told me I would be "the person who had a heart attack at 40". The scare tactics were totally unnecessary; I was planning on taking whatever he prescribed! It made me trust him less, and also made me anxious both during the appointment and after (very counterproductive, as stress is also a huge factor in heart disease!). He did not seem to care much at all about my well being at all.

Dr. Stein is a wonderful, kind, compassionate, and caring doctor. He never rushes through appointments, listens to everything patiently and responds in a gentle and honest manner. He also has a great sense of humor, which is important to me personally. If you need a cardiologist, he should be your choice.