David Borenstein, MD

Sadly I too had less than satisfactory things to say. The atmosphere is anything BUT professional as the «receptionist» says nasty things about the callers on the phone — ahem…“patients” while the waiting room can hear everything. Dr. B reads his blackberry under his desk and amazingly does not perform an exam or read blood tests, scans or medical records. He is quick to prescribe custom «supportive supplements» and complicated dosing regimes and of course everything is paid in cash. Had he paid attention to what I had given him to review — he would have realized everything he prescribed was dangerous to me. Fortunately I had made an appointment later in the week with a highly recommended endo who diagnosed Plummers Disease. Several hundred dollars down the drain and all the bottles went in the garbage along with this «doctor» ‘s number whose «glowing recommendation» came from others who have self promoted and marketed themselves as «experts» …be very careful. .the negative reviews are pretty consistent. Your not going to find help if you do not become your own advocate.

Dr. Borenstein has done more for me in one solitary visit– than One Medical has done in the last year*
Dr. Borenstein is a genuine doctor and it doesn’t hurt he is also the thyroid whisperer. He basically took the words out of my mouth & instantly knew that energy, fatigue, adrenals, hair loss all of the unfortunate and god awful things that come with hashimotos, low thyroid were addressed on my very first appointment**
Prior to finding Dr. Borenstein I was stuck with non-​care, horrible insomnia and ongoing classic symptoms that were unrelenting.
Every single time I have needed something or called this office I get an immediate response, email and a clear answer. If you are like me and Levothyroxine (Levoxyl) is giving you no results, you owe it to yourself to find a provider that will actually do something about it.
My biggest regret is not coming here first.

I have been struggling with thyroid issues for 7 years and decided it was time to see a different doctor. That is when I was recommended from a friend who uses Dr. Borenstein and had great results. I took the leap and I am happy to say that I feel so much better now then for the last 7 years. If you struggle from thyroid issues then I highly recommend him!

Absolutely phenomenal for thyroid! I highly recommend him to anyone with thyroid issues. I have been under treated for years even after complaining of common thyroid symptoms. Dr. Borenstein did not dismiss my concerns and has worked with me to feel better. In just a short period of time, I find I have made tremendous progress. I can’t recommend him enough!

DON’T DO IT. I could have written any number of the poor reviews you find here because my experience was identical to theirs. And I saw him over a period of many years, so this is not based on a one-​off bad experience. He is just a very bad doctor and truly does not care about his patients. I too stayed with him as long as I did because, firstly, he was still accepting insurance and, secondly, because I hoped (like everyone else), that once he stopped he would actually spend more time with me. (And he was considered to be one of the top thyroid doctors I told myself time and again.) Total waste getting such thorough lab work – he barely even looks at it. He just takes a quick look at the thyroid levels and then makes adjustments to medication dosage without even looking through the history of the changes he’s made. He had me back and forth on the same doses for years and when I brought this to his attention he just ignored me and even had the audacity to tell me that my condition had worsened. I could go on and on but I prefer instead to focus on the positive. I found a real endocrinologist in NYC who is absolutely wonderful. He is everything Dr. Borenstein is not. Turns out I was completely overmedicated (thanks to Dr. B) and with the expertise and caring of Dr. F, I am now feeling so much better. He actually calls to discuss lab results and – gasp – phones in prescriptions. And when I happened to have a sore throat the last time I saw him he didn’t sent me elsewhere (as Dr. B has done) to be examined.

I saw Dr. Borenstein a few years ago and was very disappointed. I think he is a fraud, but I see he is appearing a lot these days in various venues.
I went to him b/​c of the usual frustrations experienced by hypothyroid patients. He seems to think that T3 cures everything, and he put me on what turned out to be a dangerously high dose. Plus he stopped my regular meds. It took months to get my bloods back to normal.
I also checked his background. He is NOT an endocrinologist. So beware. He has found a niche filled with desperate patients and is taking advantage of them. Beware.

After my 4^th visits with Dr. Borenstein I feel my health has improved because of his treatments. I have severe adrenal fatigue and hashimotos/​hypothyroidism that has been out of range no matter what other doctors have given me. Dr. Borenstein is extremely knowledgable when it comes to thyroid issues. He has me on supplements along with a slow release T3 and Naturethyroid. The combination of medication and supplements has slowly given me my energy and life back. I am so grateful that I found this doctor because all others have seriously wasted my time and money. If you have thyroid problems like I have, don’t waste anymore time. Don’t walk, run to Dr. Borenstein.

I was diagnosed with Hashimotos a year and a half ago. I went to a few different doctors. I had aTSH of 12 and my first doctor told me I didn’t need medication, but I felt terrible! Dr. Borenstein was the first doctor to really look at my blood labs and talk to me about what was going on. I’m finally for the first time normal in my thyroid numbers and I feel great! I no longer have digestive issues, my hair is growing back, I started to lose weight and my nails are no longer brittle. I follow strict regimen of supplements a long with my thyroid meds all prescribed by Dr. Borenstein. The only negative is that he’s not covered by my insurance so I’ve really had to ‘invest’ in my health out of pocket but it’s really worth feeling better. Dr. Borenstein is great though, I will continue to go to him. What I like about him and his office is that he remembers my past visits and what we discussed. The lady at the front desk knows that I like to have my blood lab printed and always has it ready for me with no complaints. Overall I’m very happy with Dr. Borenstein.

Dr. Borenstein was awful back when he WAS accepting insurance. It was very clear that all he cared about was money. I came to him after feeling completely helpless and he promised he would «fix» me. Let’s just say he didn’t. I’ve been struggling with my thyroid and adrenals for over two years. All he did was try and push different kinds of pills on me.
My biggest grievance with him was not that he couldn’t fix me, but that he was unbelievably rude, arrogant and unprofessional. Every time I visited him he would be on his phone and/​or computer, talking over me, interrupting, hurrying me in and out like he was running a factory.
Then he stopped taking insurance as of January 2015 so he could make more money.
And the receptionist is BEYOND rude. It seriously shocks the conscious how rude this woman is.
Don’t even consider wasting your time or money seeing Dr. Borenstein.

I would just like to update my review and further prove my point as to how awful this practice is and how little they care about there patients. I am completely out of my armor thyroid; CVS called the office and requested a refill and were told No, not unless I made an appointment with the doctor. They are clearly all about the dollars and not the health of the patient!
I have no medication that supports the function of my thyroid and the doctor and his office will not authorize a refill unless I make an appointment that costs me $ 250.00 out of pocket???
I called the office, was forced to make an appointment with a nasty receptionist and then she said «have CVS call us back»; wait — no, you call CVS, they called as they should and you declined the refill. I said «why can’t you call?» She said that is not our policy, our policy is for them to call US!; I said they did and you said No! She said I will do you a favor and call them; what’s the number? Do me a favor??? You are doing me a favor?
Had they not said No in the first place, then forced me to make an appointment I would not be having this issue. Authorizing a refill for a necessary medication is not doing me a favor.
Do yourself a favor and go anywhere else but here!

I have been working with integrative and functional medical doctors in several cities around the United States since the late 1990’s.
Each one has added a valuable layer to helping me recover and feel well. It was only in the past couple of years that I discovered I had Hashimotos. It was this new information that brought me to Dr Borenstein through Isabella Wentz’s website. After going to the website and seeing what he specialized in I decided to make an appointment. It was after that that I looked up reviews. I must say I was a little hesitant but decided that I would give Dr B a shot. It can be very overwhelming to go from a Western Medical office to an Integrative office if you are not familiar with the process. The nurses were personable and have a very good system for payment, labs and follow up. I didn;t have to wait very long to see the doctor. On my first visit, Dr Borenstein was pleasant and listened carefully to my story. I had brought some previous lab work which he looked through. He seemed to be very familiar with my situation as I am sure he sees many patients with similar issues. By the end of my first visit I felt very confident that he was knowledgable and I had a lot of faith that he would be able to help me. Fast forward a couple months, I have emailed him a couple of times and he responded in a timely fashion and helped resolve some issues that had come up over the phone. I feel better and have more energy. I believe Dr B is on the right track and I would recommend him to my friends and family.

Is there a way to give this «doctor» zero stars?
Borenstein was incredibly rude, dismissive, unhelpful and in general, extremely uncomfortable to be around. During our first visit, he promised to fix all my problems (resulting from an under-​active thyroid). He then proceeded to call his pharmacist friend on speaker phone while I was in his office… called him three times while I sat there. (btw, have never had a legitimate doctor call in an rx while i sat in his office), then the pharmacist picks up his cell phone and screamed an expletive). Is that what I paid $ 500 for an initial appointment for?
I could go on and on about the overall experience of working with him but its the same story of many of the other people below who vocalized their disturbing experiences.
In short, do not go to this doctor. He’s a rip off and incredibly unhelpful.

Sadly, this doctor no longer accepts any insurance at all. Like so many integrative and holistic practitioners, it has become out of reach for many who need it. The appointments are extremely rushed, in and out, often fewer than 10 minutes long, no time for questions. Perhaps this will improve now that fewer people can afford the appointments?
In my experience, Dr. Borenstein is clearly knowledgeable, but during the almost 4 years I saw him, I almost always felt like he had decided how to treat me before I opened my mouth. Recently, after trying a particular medication a few months back, and finding it very ineffective and to have quite bad side effects for me, he recommended it again, without looking back at my prescription history to see what I’d already tried. Fortunately I remembered and immediately said, «let’s please not try that again.»
If you can afford the appointments and are willing to be extremely forceful and a strong self-​advocate, this place may work for you. Otherwise, not.

I have been to many doctors over the years about my constant feeling of lethargy, and generally not functioning how I envisioned I should be. I also have had severe neck pain from a herniated disc that has been treated with trigger point injections for years with 0 improvement.
Dr. Borenstein identified my under active thyroid and low testosterone, in addition to a slew of other blood and nutritional deficiencies. I was prescribed some medication and offered dietary supplements that were available at the office. Well, fast forward a few months and I actually feel like a human being. I feel motivated to exercise, am able to do my work quickly and efficiently, and no longer need to lay in bed for the majority of my free time.
As far as my neck goes, Dr. Borenstein administered prolotherapy to me, which has been a life changer. I make regular trips to his office, experience minimal soreness at the injection sites for a day or so, and then have relief like no other treatment I’ve ever attempted. The best part is that the injections are making my condition IMPROVE, not just treating the pain.
Overall, my quality of life has improved tremendously over the duration of my treatment with Dr. Borenstein; I can’t imagine going back to the way I used to feel!

I have not seen Dr Borenstein for over a year now. But, I have been feeling badly about not making a review. I have never posted a review before. I was being treated for Hashimotos. I found the doctor to be quite arrogant and he would brush off my questions and eat sushi (that would fall out of mouth) during our 10 – 15 minute appointments.
He kept telling me I had adrenal fatigue and that is why I felt so awful. He never tested my adrenals. He upped my nature throid dose 3 times. He prescribed all his adrenal supplements and told me to de-​stress myself (I have a pretty stress-​free life I told him, but that was ignored).
He also said I should take a prescription for hormone balance (again, never tested) and would call his friend or maybe it was his brother’s pharmacy and they would have a quick banter on the phone.
I continued to feel horrible and never got any other answers from him so I started seeing a new doctor. Turns out I had Lymes Disease (never had the bulls eye rash) and I was being totally over-​medicated for my Hashimotos.
So please be weary.

Beware. This doctor is rude, arrogant and dismissive. After spending $ 1000 on two visits and being brushed off with concerns I’m left feeling this guy is little more than a hack. Visits to his office are rushed and his behavior is strange and off putting. Like someone else said — I suspect the glowing reviews are either posted by himself or friends or maybe at the very least favorites who are easily treatable anyway. Don’t waste your time or money — It’s sad that integrative doctors are so far and few and many of the ones available just seem to take advantage of vulnerable patients running out of choices. Integrative doctors are supposed to work WITH patients and at the very least explain the rationale behind the treatment instead of giving glib one sentence responses. Disappointed :-(
* The day after posting this review my wife received an email from this Dr. stating that he needed to talk to her «about something I did». This of course set my wife thinking of the many possible things I could have done (unethical much?)
—. She called him and it was about this review — Why didn’t he just state in the email it was about the review?
The doctor asked that it be removed and then we would be «friends». There was no mention of what he could have done to address my concerns one of which was the long time between being given medicine and following up (2 and a half months!). We then later got a call from the office stating that the doctor was not available for that appointment anyway and would have to reschedule — Maybe because I didn’t take down the review? I’m angry that we wasted so much money on this doctor who clearly does not have his patients needs at heart. We have found another doctor who is more «integrative». Oh and it’s interesting that the day after I entered my one star rating a 5 star rating pops up. All the ratings are either 1 star or 5 star — Guess which ones are more believable? The 5 star ratings all sound the same — It’s your dime.
Oh, and the cost of the bloodwork that this doctor referred me for and took all of 15 seconds to peruse? $ 3400. Thank god I have insurance.
***Just found out our insurance refused to pay for the blood work because they are not medically necessary and we have to foot the $ 3400 even though we were assured by Borenstein’s office insurance would cover the tests. This means two visits to his office have left us almost $ 5000 worse off and NOTHING to show for it.
I IMPLORE anyone to think twice about seeing this fraudster and quack before he severely damages your finances and health.

Okay– so I chose to scroll down and read the one star reviews because honestly I was shocked to see so many. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s almost two years ago. I under the advice of my awesome primary care physician sought treatment through an endocrinologist and was literally told that, «once your TSH is at an acceptable number you’ll feel great. You’ll just have to take a pill everyday for the rest of your life and come in twice a year unless there are problems.» I felt really hopeful and started my dose of synthroid right away.
I’m gonna fast forward to a year later where I was so sick that if I could get off of the couch to clean my bathroom it was a HUGE success! I am a very active person and being this ill brought a lot of frustration and sadness. i became pro-​active. I went online and joined support groups– I bought books that came highly recommended and read them with a highlighter in hand. I would call my endocrinologist with a million questions and she was very kind to answer them all with her medical opinion but I NEVER FELT BETTER. I saw a «10 Steps to Thyroid Health» workshop being offered at The Open Center here in NYC by Mary Shomon, a leading patient advocate. I signed up immediately. I attended the day long workshop and that is when I was introduced to Dr. David Borenstein. He came in and offered to answer any questions we had to the best of his ability. I found his answers thoughtful and Mary highly recommended him so I booked an appointment.
After over a year of not receiving optimal treatment I was ready to get better and came in with a health folder containing all of my recent medical records and blood work. Dr. Borenstein asked a series of questions while reviewing my papers. He was very confident that he could help. He switched my medicine to nature-​throid and gave me some adrenal support supplements and an order for bloodwork. I left feeling cautious but hopeful. My husband and I couldn’t believe the difference! Within two weeks I was making my way back emotionally and physically to my old great self! It felt so good that I was careful to «wait and see». It’s been 5 months and I still feel great! I have my life back. I recently had a second type of thyroid added to my treatment and when I emailed Dr. Borenstein after a month of taking it with concerns because I wasn’t feeling well not only did he respond right away via e-​mail but also called me personally, on a Saturday to check in. I was really impressed with that type of attention to patient.
He has a large personality– he is funny and boisterous and seriously that may not work for everyone but for this patient it’s a treat to walk out of a doctor’s appointment not only feeling better but laughing. The proof is in how I feel and I recommend him to everyone.

I would rate him a zero if the site had that option. Run, don’t walk from this doctor.
He caused me huge problems with my thyroid that has taken months to resolve by aggressively dosing me way too high. My pituitary shut down and I had lots of unpleasant side effects that I’m still dealing with. He certainly does not dot his i’s and cross his t’s. He may have knowledge but doesn’t take the time or provide oversight, plus his demeanor is surely odd.
I never received an answer from his office when I called about symptoms I was having after a change in the dose of my thyroid medication. What really signaled a problem for me, as the full picture of the aggressively overdosing my thyroid medication had not yet become fully apparent, was when I left his office with FOUR prescriptions for new medications I had never taken and was told to come back in four months. That is beyond unprofessional and irresponsible to wait that long and not followup. I then sought help elsewhere.
Essentially he seems more concerned with pushing thru large numbers of patients thru his office rather than taking the time to help them. Certainly, this approach is the total opposite of what integrative medicine is about. If I wanted that approach, I could have gone to a mainstream Endocrinologist.

Never judge a Dr. by his cover… or his front desk. And like the other review said, «I don’t care if he had a fire-​breathing dragon at his front desk. .. «I would still go to this Dr.
I, too, was at the end of my ropes and with the help of
— I searched for a Dr. that would help me! The traditional Endocrinologists losers that were dismissing my «depression», «anxiety» and «overweight» as a cause for my misery were a waste of time. Not only is he the right Dr., but he takes my insurance as well. He prescribed a dissected thyroid medication & supplements that no other Dr. would do. The results? Magnificent! My family and I are so happy that I’ve come back to life.
Bring your sense of humor and your high expectations when you go to see Dr. Borenstein. He will not let you down.

A relationship with a doctor can be a very personal thing. I’m glad I didn’t read the other reviews before I made my appointment. My experience with Dr. Borenstein has been very positive.
I went to Dr. Borenstein after reading
recommendations. At the time I first saw him, I was near the end of my rope. I needed someone to figure out how to help me. He was very encouraging and told me he thought he could help. He wasn’t judgmental and didn’t play the blame game.
After running a battery of tests, he sat with a calculator and figured out that my meds needs to be altered slightly. Eureka! It worked and continues to work.
He’s never tried to sell me any vitamins (although I’ve seen them in his office). He’s thorough, and I wouldn’t give a flip if he had a fire-​breathing dragon at his front desk. .. he helped me when none of my other fancy schmancy Park Avenue doctors did.
Again, this is a very personal review. Everyone should try to find the doctor who meets their needs. Dr. Borenstein certainly met mine.