Elliot S. Krames, MD

This guy should not be a doctor. He had two trials for Stimulators and really messed me up. Then he did a continuous epidural and it was done wrong. I had to go to Cleveland Clinic to get help. Krames told me to stay in bed and I’ll never walk again. Within months of another doctor I was walking. He does not even know how to deal with people. If things go bad then your really in trouble.

I agree with Jeff D.- Dr. Elliot Krames is a clown and has no business in the medical profession. After my first visit with him, I thought he was going to help me create a pain management treatment for chronic back/​neck pain. Instead, he shoved me off on his assistant (who is very nice). He and his assistant didn’t really care what I wanted to do — at all! They insisted I keep trying to use pain patches that were prescribed every 7 – 10 days. I explained I don’t have time to keep taking buses to their office 3 – 4 times a month. None of my previous pain management doctors did this.
Dr. Krames and his assistant knew I was planning to have lumbar surgery within a few months to correct Spondylolisthesis in my lower back. Dr. Krames asked me to bring in my MRI’s, but never looked at them! They decided without consulting with me, that I would have a medical branch block. This would tell the idiot doctor where the pain was coming from in my back even though my previous 4 surgeons already all knew where it was coming from! I also told them I already had this procedure done before and it would be a waste of time. They never asked me if I was ok with this — they just wanted to make a quick $ 10,000. I reminded Krames assistant she never went over my treatment plan and she gave me a vague response! Next they had planned for me to have a Rhizotomy procedure. Really? This is a very painful procedure which they never asked me if I was ok with? My neurosurgeon had no idea what this so called doctor was doing with me because there was no communication from Krames.
This dynamic duo failed to provide professional quality treatment. They’re doctor patient relationship is almost «robotic», something wasn’t right. Once I saw this place for what it was, I ran! «Patients beware» — don’t waste your time going to this old crack pot! Like other patients have said, he’s just in it for the money!

Excellent doctor. he jumped in to give me a spinal steroid injection right before leaving for Christmas in Mexico! Couldn’t have made it without him and his excellent skills.

Never go to Dr. Krames! He is in the wrong business! He will immediately cut your medication, whether your pain level is constant 8, he does not care. I was introduced to his assistant as Mr. Blank, he does not like himself that much. He is a complete ass, and I called him on it saying i have never been treated so poorly by anyone in my life. He also had the balls to call me a liar, when he put way too much tape on my back to hold wires in place for a procedure. I came in a day early to meet with the sales/​tech person from the stimulator company who ended up cutting about four inches of tape off me, because every time I moved, it ripped hair off of me. I came in the following day and met with Dr. Krames. I told him that I had to have tape cut off me, and he called me a liar and said that that had never happened! I said you didn’t just call me a liar did you?
He asked how the stimulator worked, I said I got very little to no relief, he stood up, as he was walking out the door, mumbled «I can’t be your doctor any more.» I was injured in 1994, and in all those years I have never crossed paths with somebody as dehumanizing, egocentric and completely off base when it comes to having a bedside manor.

Do not go to Dr. Elliot Krames or this so-​called pain treatment center. Dr. Krames has no business treating patients, let alone patients with chronic pain. He is unprofessional, inappropriate, and has no bedside manner — you do not yell and swear at patients. I agree with Jeff D., this man has NO business being in health care and Krames is verbally judgmental toward his patients — not that he will even know who you are after 2 years; he takes no interest.
This clinic is a complete mess. It sounds great on paper, yet is not much of a collaboration. So beware of the false promises of this disorganized bitter group of insensitive and incompetent people. This clinic is set-​up to just take your money. These people do not take any interest in their patients on any sort of personal level or otherwise — get you in, give you drugs, and take your money. Moreover, the staff is over-​worked and incapable of processing basic paperwork in an accurate or timely manner. They are stressed, difficult, and defensive — seems like a product of working with someone like Krames… what a JERK!!!
Save your self from the frustrations. Go somewhere else before you find yourself 2 years in and in worse shape then when you came in.
When I read Allison C.‘s review, it makes me sick to my stomach because, I assure you, Dr. Krames is not professional, talented, skilled, or sensitive. He does not read anyone or anything, including the patient’s chart.

I know you are in pain but run away from Elliot Krames and his horrible staff before it is too late.
Unprofessional at best with an overinflated ego and no listening skills whatsoever. Treats his patients in degrading and humiliating ways and his stuff of course follows his example.
Krames was born in the 20^th century but lives in the 19^th, never made it to the 21^st. Money seems to be the bottom line at Elliot Krames’ practice not patient care.

Just want to add.
After the awful, degrading and humiliating way I was treated at his office, I sat down one night and read Dr, Krames entire web site, including his library. I did come across his mission statement and that was to get people OFF medication and save the insurance companies some MOOLAH.
My words of course, but if you take the time to read his entire library it’s in there.
Oh yeah I almost forgot, the fellow I saw who reeked of cologne, in his written instructions to me said «see a psychiatrist».
I guess they think a person who vehemently defends themselves, against a doctor who is loudly maligning their character in front of 5 strangers, is «crazy».

I was referred to this doctor for by my primary care physician. I tried calling their office at least fifteen times, but they don’t actually bother answering their phone. I dropped by their office, and they were closed with no posted hours or anything. I tried stopping by again, and they told me the next appointment wouldn’t be available for another two months and hands me a 20 page packet to fill out. I read their reviews, and this place seems like a complete waste of time based on the general majority’s opinion. I didn’t even get a chance to meet the doctor to give him a bad review because he was so poorly put together and reviewed.

I have had the incredible good fortune to have been a patient of Dr. Krames and the Pacific Pain Treatment Center for over 15 years. I was initially referred to him by another doctor who was following me after a work injury required me to have a spinal fusion in my neck. The surgery went fine and fixed the pain I’d lived with for over a year, but about six weeks post op I developed a very different nerve pain. Neither the surgeon or my other doctor was able to get on top of it, and I was referred to Dr. Krames for pain management. No one wants to admit that they have chronic pain (pain that lasts more than six months) and that they need help. I was very lucky as many people end up having to search for the quality of pain management that Dr. Krames and his staff offer their patients, and suffer needlessly while doing so. As it happened, the surgeon had misdiagnosed my chronic pain condition and Dr. Krames knew immediately what it was. it is a relatively rare problem that most people, including doctors, have never heard of, much less treated. Dr. Krames was thorough, compassionate, and incredibly kind. He explained that the clinic’s philosophy was to start with the simplest and least invasive treatments and therapies, and as needed, we would progress up the treatment ladder to whatever was necessary to give me the best possible pain control that skill and technology could offer me. While no one wants to live with chronic pain, much less severe neuropathic (nerve) pain, the only way to do it is to have the best possible team of professionals in your corner to support you. There is no question that Dr. Krames and his staff is that team. They have an interdisciplinary approach. After trying several modalities we finally found the combination of medications and implantable therapies that allow me to be as functional as possible. He and his staff gave me my life back! I learned to live with the pain that remains, and returned to college after raising my family to finish my degree and am now about to complete my MA. I lead an active and busy life. Do I still have pain? Yes, and probably always will. But I do know that with Dr. Krames and his very talented and experienced staff looking out for my best interests that I will always receive state of the art care with personal attention. And as far as medications are concerned, there has never been an issue about my receiving whatever medication I might need, including opioids. Dr. Krames is an international leader in the treatment of chronic pain and in the advocacy for the rights of chronic pain patients to have their pain properly managed. He has trained many doctors to become chronic pain specialists themselves as there is a dreadful shortage of capable pain specialists. Unfortunately that means that sometimes we patients have to say «So long» to those fellows, and meet new ones. That is a small price to pay for expanding the number of skilled pain doctors in this country. I live with chronic pain. I do not suffer with it. In many ways, suffering with chronic pain is totally unnecessary with proper medical care. I cannot imagine where I’d be without the unflagging care he and his staff have given me over these many years. Do not hesitate to put yourself in his very capable hands. What have you to lose but the pain you live with every day?

Wow…
After reading all the reviews about this ‘doctor’, I cannot describe how much I agree with their reviews. Dr. Elliot Krames has no business being in health care. I had the unfortunate experience of going to this clinic month after month for approx 2 years. I am young with chronic pain, and it started out with a competent ‘fellow’ that ended up leaving. Once the fellow that I enjoyed seeing had left, it was all down hill from there. Dr. Krames not only judges people that ACTUALLY NEED MEDICATION to get THROUGH THE DAYS, but he performs UNNECESSARY SURGERY just to make a few bucks. I had been told by several doctors that a specific surgery would NOT benefit me, nor help with the pain levels — only to have Dr. Krames pressure me over and over, along with him writing in my file to have the ‘fellows’ ask me every visit about the surgery.
It seemed that in their opinion, if I didn’t want the surgery, that I didn’t need the medication to help with the daily pain. It was after TWO POINTLESS SURGERIES that I finally gave up on this guy who has no business practicing medicine. This of course is AFTER I have thousands of dollars in surgery bills for procedures that DID NOT HELP AT ALL, and AFTER he decided that I do not need medication despite high pain levels that I have to deal with ²⁴⁄₇.
Trust me when I (and the other reviews) tell you, pick a different pain management doctor. Dr. Krames will do whatever he can to get your bills increased. Including pointless procedures, and will not give you the medication that ACTUALLY HELPS. If there is a medication that actually WORKS, good luck getting them to give it to you. Fact is, if someone needs medication to help with day to day activity, it should be given. It should not be denied solely on the fact that the doctor decides it is so called ‘addictive’. Seems to me that he purposely keeps the patients at pain levels that requires them to continually come in and pay for visits, and are pressured into pointless and EXPENSIVE procedures.
ONE OF THE WORST DOCTORS I’VE EVER MET!

Unlike Claude and Mia, I didn’t actually see Dr. Krames at his pain clinic. Rather, he was the only Doctor whom my insurance covered that I could find to perform a lumbar epidural on me at CPMC in the time frame I needed — I am definitely grateful for that. Actually, I’d only give him one star if it weren’t for that. Read on…
I only met Dr. Krames briefly before the procedure. He seemed ok, I thought. During the procedure though, he didn’t seem to care about my comfort level at all. Being jabbed with huge needles in your bootie is not fun, and he didn’t try to alleviate my discomfort or even take a brief break. It may have helped if the nurse had made sure my arm was positioned properly for the IV *BEFORE* the procedure began, rather than waiting till the end before realize i was tense. «Why are you so tense, relax!» she kept yelling at me, before realizing it was the position of my arm that prevented the medicine traveling to where it was needed. She’s the expert, she should have known. That part wasn’t Dr. Krames’ fault, but his bedside disposition wasn’t the warmest. He walked out of the room without saying anything like «i hope you feel better». I had to be informed by someone else that the procedure was over. On a side note, his surgery scheduler didn’t call me with the appointment reminder/​guidelines a couple days before the procedure, like he said he was going to. Good thing I remembered the part about not drinking or eating 12 hours before the procedure. So now my insurance is going to pay Dr. Krames for a procedure that was way more stressful than it needed to be. Not that this is necessarily his fault, but I didn’t even get any pain relief from the epidural and it’s been well over a month. If I ever need to get this again, I’ll definitely look for someone besides Dr. Krames.
Update: I’ve left several follow-​up messages with his office regarding the resumption of activity after the epidural, and all of my calls have been ignored. I guess once he had my money it was «hasta la vista, baby»

I’m with Claude, the fellow who I met with basically insinuated that I was looking for drugs. I, like Claude, don’t even want the drugs…

I’m young. 24. I’m not happy about seeking treatment from a pain treatment center. That, however, doesn’t mean I’m not entitled to seek treatment for it, nor that my pain is any less real than another persons. Dr. Krames set up the Pacific Pain Treatment center as a resource for people suffering from chronic pain. The fellow (as in someone serving a fellowship) that I saw, instead of reading my paperwork that took me 45 minutes to fill out proceeded to ask me the same questions that were answered on it. He than asked, «How I heard of pain management», and commented that, «I was pretty young». No Shit. He then went through several rounds of insinuations that I was hunting for drugs, despite my explicit statement that I wanted to treat the cause of my pain not the symptoms.
The fellow also implied that my pain could be from an earlier injury (5 plus years ago) which was corrected surgically and never bothered me since.
After my «evaluation» I was given no plan of treatment, or diagnosis to work with. I was simply told I needed to see their counselor to evaluate if I could safely be given pain killers (even though I didn’t want them). I told them I already was in the care of a licensed psychiatrist and that they should contact him, and they said, no, that wasn’t good enough.
To sum up, during my evaluation I nearly walked, out, and when I walked out the door I resolved never to come back.
+1 star for their new patient coordinator, Richard, who is friendly and thorough.