Dermatology Affiliates

My wife also saw Dr. Katz 7 years ago when she was pregnant with my son. She went because of ezcema that she had as well as some hair loss in the back of her head. I can attest to what the other reviewer said about him — one minute he was looking at her bald spot in the back of her head, the next he was injecting the area with a drug! This was in spite of the fact that she told him she was about 4 months pregnant! Turns out the drug was Class C (the inconclusive type for birth defects) so we worried for the rest of herpregnancy that my child would have cleft palate. Everything turned out well — thank God. She wrote him a letter but we should have reported him to the medical board!

Worse visit ever! The staff is very unprofessional and unfriendly. Dr. Katz seems like a senile old man who should be retired. He misdiagnosed my rash (still don’t know what it is) and didn’t seem to remember what I was in for despite having my chart in front of him. I visited twice, which was a big mistake but it’s the closest dermatologist in my PPO to my house and accessible by public transit. The first visit was mole removal — he hacked that baby off like it was a turkey leg (hurt too). The second time was for this rash, which I figured wouldn’t be too painful because he just has to take a look at it right? Wrong… he took a «sample» of it which left a small scar on my upper right shoulder. I understand the need for a sample, but a warning would have been nice. One minute he is writing something down, and the next minute he is coming at me with a metal inoculating loop to dig into my skin. Drew blood and everything. Gave me a ‘scrip for pills and cream — super expensive and didn’t work. Sold me some magic soap from his office too which was also super expensive.
In addition, the lab which he sent the sample to was not a member of my PPO so I had to shell out $ 220 for the tests. The results came back inconclusive, but I never got a call from Dr. Katz. The only way I got my results was by contacting the lab who did the culture who then mailed it to me. And the only reason I knew he had the results was b/​c I got the lab bill.
Basically, they suck. Why does it seem that so many people successfully complete medical school but have absolutely no social skills or bedside manner? And why is the office staff always bitter and disdainful? OK. I’m done now.
Update: May 2009 — so what Dr. Katz thought was ringworm (even though the sample he took came back negative) was actually Lyme Disease. He didn’t bother to order a blood work up though. Also, turns out the anti-​fungal he gave me (ketoconazole — prescribed 28days of it) is toxic over long periods of time. The new dermatologist I went to said I should stop taking it immediately b/​c it can really hurt my liver. I shouldn’t complain so much — if it wasn’t for his incompetency, I would never have found another dermatologist and as a result, never would have found out I have Lyme (which I am now being treated for).