If Yelp allowed me to, I'd give Dr. Graffino zero stars, which is what she deserves. My son has been her patient for over two years. Her bedside manner has always been poor, but she crossed so far over the line yesterday that I had no choice but to report her to the NJ State Medical Board.
Several weeks ago, I brought a school form to the office to be signed by Dr. Graffino. This form is required for my son to have his epi pen in school (he has a life-threatening peanut allergy). Dr. Graffino would not sign the form without seeing my son (understandable) but the office could not give me an appointment until September 19th. This means my son was without life-saving medication for three whole weeks.
We arrived for the appointment on time yesterday, and we sat in the waiting room for 45 minutes. There were no other patients in the waiting room, and there was no explanation given for the long delay. A very kind nurse tested my son's lung function and then we sat in the waiting room for an additional 10 minutes before Dr. Graffino came in. She immediately accused me of changing my son's medication dose, and was extremely rude to me. She said that my son's lung function was "terrible" and he must be using his rescue inhaler all of the time. I calmly explained that he doesn't have a rescue inhaler, and that his breathing is perfectly fine. I also told her that I've not changed his medication, nor would I. She insisted with me that she never prescribed the medication that way (she did - I have the Rx label), but frankly, I could have dealt with all of that. What I can't deal with is her assaulting my six year old daughter! My daughter was in the middle of the room dancing around, which is understandable because Dr. Graffino kept us waiting for an excessively long time. Apparently, this was annoying to Dr. Graffino, who grabbed my daughter by the shoulders, physically pushed her across the room, forced her in a chair and said "you need to sit here and stay here." I was horrified! How dare she put her hands on my daughter!!
At that point, I said we needed to leave and I asked her to give me the signed epi pen form. She left the room and sent the nurse back to say that Dr. Graffino wouldn't sign the form. My son has been without his medication for three weeks, I have left work early to take him to this appointment, I paid $10 for the form and a $30 copay, I sat in the waiting room for 45 minutes and the exam room for another 10 minutes, I was yelled at and my daughter was assaulted and she STILL wouldn't sign the form? I complained to the nurse about all of this and Dr. Graffino obviously heard me because she came lumbering out of her office, got into my face and was screaming at me that she waits 90 minutes for her personal physician and I need to find a new allergist because this "wasn't working out" and "good luck to me" finding someone that won't make me wait. Then she signed the form and thrust it at me, without filling out the correct dosage of the medication or the way it should be administered, which I imagine is malpractice, and which I submitted to the State Medical Board, along with this information. Her behavior was disgusting and it reduced my 11 year old son to tears. This woman should NOT be allowed to treat children, and I sincerely hope someone stops her from ever treating someone else's child the way she treated mine. read more
