The University of Washington Pain Management Clinic was recommended by a close friend so I felt safe in asking my primary care physician to refer me to them. I was given an appointment with the first available doctor who happened to be Dr. Ballantyne. I was under the impression that I would be seeing a Pain Management specialist, not a psychiatrist. This was not explained to me when I made the appointment. I even asked, however the receptionist didn't know what kind of specialist I would be seeing, she told me that a number of different types of specialists saw patients in the clinic. This is not a very good sign if you ask me. I should have researched the doctor before I saw her, but I was so excited about finally being able to see a specialist because up until this point I'd only been able to see nurse practitioners and osteopaths which are plentiful in Washington, but not very knowledgable about spinal problems.
I have seen pain specialists before who are knowledgable about state of the art methods for relieving spinal pain, both through surgery and medications. This clinic advertises on its website that it specializes in "Interventional procedures that target long-term pain relief" and "State of the art diagnostic imaging", but according to Dr. Ballantyne, they could only offer me physical therapy and counseling services because I'd already tried cortisone injections and did not want to take SSRI's. They do not prescribe any other type of medications for pain unless, according to Dr. Ballantyne, "you are dying, or completely incapacitated". Cortisone injections have been used for pain resulting from spinal deformities since the early fifties. This is by no means state of the art technology.
I spent hours painstakingly copying my medical records and I even made a late night trip to a hospital to get a copy of a medical imaging report for this visit, yet Dr. Ballantyne didn't even glance at my records. She had a fellow review my medical history with me, and even then this medical student only glanced at one report that I had obtained. None of my other records were reviewed. Even the forms that I was asked to fill out with all kinds of personal questions about my family and whether or not my parents were alcoholics or iused illicit drugs were not reviewed. These forms are copious, and a waste of time if you ask me if they are just going to ask you the question again anyway in person because apparently they don't want to take the time to read.
After I met with the fellow, who told me that my MRI didn't look that bad-I know it looks bad because my neurologist wants to see me in the morning, she returned with Dr. Ballantyne who literally sneered at me for some reason as she passed me to sit in her "throne" (end of the table), she didn't even bother to take a seat at a chair or to examine me. My vitals had been taken by a nurse who was equally as snooty. She spoke little except to say that if I refuse to take SSRI's then all she could recommend was seeing their staff psychiatrist. She was apparently above reviewing my chart or any of my paperwork. When I started crying she looked away, and told me that I needed to find a better way of dealing with my situation.
When I researched this woman further, I found that she is a clinical social worker and owns a company that does parenting evaluations in divorce and custody court cases and reunification therapy/supervised visitation. How does this qualify her to do Pain Management? How did this woman get this job? Why is this clinic masquerading as a bona fide Pain Management Clinic? This is the University of Washington? Apparently.
Not only is she unqualified, she is uncompassionate. The UW Pain Clinic website states:
We provide comprehensive compassionate pain care and guidance on the latest evidence-based practices.
This is the biggest lie I have ever read. Dr. Ballantyne is a cold fish. I should have saved the trip into Seattle, I got the same advice from another cold fish osteopath, who at least was more qualified. read more