Matthew Katz, MD

Save your time and money, don’t go there. There are better practices out there. They will try to overcharge you and the person that handles the billing is very rude.

The entire family comes here! Everyone is great — we often see his PA, Esther O., who is knowledgeable and has a fabulous bedside manner!

This was the definition of my nightmare. I went in to have a small cyst removed from the front of my neck on my wind pipe area. It’s a delicate spot so I knew it might hurt, but Dr Matthew Katz assured me it should only take a few minutes and it would leave a minimal scar. Long story short, 2.5 hours later I was still laying on the exam table while he continued cauterizing what was supposed to be a small incision because he couldn’t stop the excessive bleeding. Needless to say the small cyst is now an very sore swollen gash. I can’t swallow or talk loudly or turn my head without it hurting. I can only assume that I will need to follow up with a plastic surgeon if I don’t want to be reminded of this experience every time I look in the mirror.
On a person note, I understand that medicine is not an exact science and everything doesn’t always go as planned, however, Dr Matthew Katz was obviously frustrated about the situation and his bedside manner went straight out the window. He was short, rude, mean and irritable and made an already stressful situation a lot worse.
I will never go back to him, and I may even try to find a different dermatologist to remove the stitches because he has lost my trust and respect. I should probably get a second opinion anyway, and I’m considering getting a lawyer in case it heals as badly as it looks like it will.
What a mistake.

WORST. DERMATOLOGIST. EVER!!! SERIOUSLY!!!
Do NOT go to him if you’re looking for a good experience — and especially don’t see Dr. Katz if you are looking for a doctor that actually KNOWS what they’re doing.
I went into see him during the summer to have a mole removed on my forehead — not only did he MISS THE MOLE but he was rude the entire visit. The front desk staff was arguably worse than he was. Snotty women who could care less about you as a patient.
If you’re looking for an excellent dermatologist — see Dr. Howard Brooks on Wisconsin Ave. He is truly the best, Listens to patients, takes his time — and does not shoo you out of his office unlike «Dr. Katz».
What kind of trained dermatologist can’t even remove a small mole!!! Pathetic!
Folks — trust me on this one — do not see this guy.

Worst experience ever! The doctor was flippant, sarcastic and rude. The front desk staff were even worse, I watched two of them fight at the front desk!

Staff doesn’t care about patients though Dr. Katz is very good. Expect to wait thirty minutes at minimum because they never on on time

This dermatologist SUCKS. I’ve had two disastrous encounters with Dr. Matthew Katz. I will describe the first one here:
My father died of melanoma, and i came to see Dr. Katz (the son, Matthew) about a mole I was worried about on the side of my chest. After a 3 minute interview & exam, quick quick quick, doesn’t really tell me what he’s planning to do, tells the nurse to get set up for a mole removal, and runs out of the room. Now, my knowledge on the subject dictates that you should NEVER shave biopsy a possible melanoma, because if it ends up positive (1) it probably hasn’t been completely removed, and (2) you risk seeding the blood with melanoma cells. So I did want to discuss his plans for me with him, before it actually happens. As the nurse is setting up, I ask her what kind of procedure he is going to do. She says she isn’t sure but thinks it will be a shave biopsy. I tell her I need to speak with Dr. Katz again.
So he comes back into the exam room, highly irritated, I’m like «hold on, what kind of mole removal are you going to do?» (he wasn’t even planning on telling me). He says, «oh a shave biopsy». I told him my concerns about it, and said i would strongly prefer a punch biopsy. He basically responded like i had said something ridiculous and absurd, and seemed angry! He said there is «no evidence» to what i’m saying.
I should have just walked out at that point. But I figured since he’s one of «Washington’s Best Dermatologists» maybe I had said something totally crazy. I second guessed myself and even felt a little stupid. Anyway, I let him do the shave biopsy.
Well then, the results of the biopsy come back. It wasn’t melanoma thank God, but there was some atypia to the cells (not totally benign). When he called me about the results, he totally downplayed it, and said there’s nothing to worry about, it’s all fine. I felt relieved and forgot about it.
A couple months later, I was visiting family in Boston. My mom happened to ask about that mole biopsy and whatever happened with that. So i told her everything that happened and the result, and what Dr. Katz had told me, and that everything was fine. She got worried… She had me see a melanoma expert in Boston.
The melanoma expert was INSENSED that a shave biopsy had been performed on an individual with such a strong family history of melanoma. She scolded me for letting it happen. She said next time, WALK OUT. It’s a real no-​no. And because of the atypia in the biopsied tissue, i was left in a sort of gray zone, where i couldn’t really be reassured completely about atypical cells having been left behind. The melanoma expert was also flabbergasted about how Dr. Katz had downplayed the fact that the biopsy had some atypia in it. She considered this a fairly serious issue. I provided her with the pathology slides and report as well.
So, in consultation with the melanoma expert, i ended up opting for a wide excision around the biopsied area, just to make sure no atypical cells were left behind, so that I wouldn’t need to be worrying about developing melanoma for years to come.
If Katz was worried about me having a scar from the punch biopsy, well, now i have a much larger, longer scar from the wide excision than i would have had from a bunch biopsy. Thanks for nothing and for causing me all this trouble and worry, instead of honoring my wish (which was actually a medically sound choice). I am a physician myself by the way.
The 2^nd disaster was related to a sebaceous cyst he excised from the top of my head, a few weeks after the mole shave biopsy. Prior to the procedure, he had the nurse basically make a bald spot around the bump, telling her «you dont have to make it pretty, it’s not a salon» and telling me «dont worry your hair will grow back». He cut out the cyst, and guess what, it’s been 3 years now, and the hair has not grown back So I am left with a 1.5 inch diameter bald spot on my head for the rest of my life. I am female, and it is quite unsightly. I have to keep rearranging my hair to hide the area, thank goodness i have a lot of hair (for now).
I recommend steering clear of this joker.

After being looked at by hospital doctors, infectious disease specialists, foot doctors, and allergy doctors, Dr. Katz was able to figure out what my problem was. And because he knew his stuff, was able to figure it out in no time. I got an 8am appt (no waiting) and got everything taken care of. I will be back in a few weeks for a follow up. Finally someone that understands my problem! Been going here for years and I always get answers. A+++

This is the first time I’ve been compelled to share a positive or negative experience about any physician. Unfortunately I have to say that Dr. Katz and his practice are really truly awful. He is nice enough and seemingly competent when he sees you, but his practice makes you feel like a «product» than a customer or a human being. They try way too hard to be efficient, at the patient’s expense.
Dr. Katz tested me for strep (which caused a skin problem), and it took his staff 3 days (!!!) to even diagnose me – mostly because of their automated system which only lets you leave a message asking for your lab results. Unlike all medical practices I’ve experienced, for some reason nurses & office mgrs. won’t call you with results, only the doctor can — this resulted in needless days until I could treat my problem.
Dr. Katz was also way too aggressive in treatment, telling me I needed ultraviolet radiation 3 days/​week — which lines his pockets. A second opinion confirmed my hunch that I didn’t need such time-​consuming and risky treatment just yet. He is a shyster!!!

The last time I went to see Dr. Matthew Katz, I had to wait 40 minutes. I never waited that long at a doctor’s office in my life. He prescribed medication for breakouts and acne for my face. After taking the medicine for three days, I had a severe allergic reaction. I called Dr. Katz and went to see him again.
I had blisters all over my body, but he just looked at it and prescribed me another acne medication. And then he told me, if the allergic reaction gets worse, go to the ER. He didn’t give me any specific information about the medication and the possible side-​effects.
After a week, I got a bill in the mail from Dr. Katz’s office. The bill was apparently for my visit in 2007 (three years ago). I have since found a new doctor that cares about me as a patient and is very personable. I will never go back to Dr. Katz.

Dr Katz is one of the most rude and not helpful dermatologists I have ever seen. Due to birth marks, I have seen many doctors since I was very young. I recently moved to North Bethesda and I was very disappointed by the treatment at this office. The receptionists were rude. I had to wait nearly 45min although I was on time. I had 3 questions for Dr Katz and he said he only had time for 2. He rushed through the visit and did not explain anything about my treatment even though I asked.
This is my first review on Unilocal.This horrible visit compelled me enough to take the time to sign up. Do not waste your time or money or health.

I have never written a bad review for someone before but my experience here just blew me away. I switched to this Dr. after changing jobs and my old dermatologist, Dr. Jaffe (fantastic), became out of network. Dr. Matthew Katz is a fine doctor, but his rude band of front office staff make it impossible to get anything accomplished. I have been in for 3 – 4 appointments, and each time I have only been let in to the exam room 30 minutes after my scheduled appointment time. That does not include the normal wait time for the Dr. to actually come in to the room. The receptionist that answers the phones is hostile, and the nursing staff are totally rude and incompetent. They do not follow up with patients — it took them a full 30 days to call me and ask me a question that prevented me from getting my prescription filled on time. They did not fill the prescription before my written one expired, so I had to have them call it in to a pharmacy which became a huge inconvenience for them. The head nurse Shawn actually yelled at me on the phone, condescendingly called me sweetie, stated that I had never talked to her before (although I had several interactions with both her and another nurse on the phone), and screamed that she «doesn’t need to call anything in unless she feels like it.» Save your time and effort and go somewhere else.