This will be a long post, but I really feel it is important.
Kirk Rousset was my physician in 2007. My entire experience with Kirk Rousset was terrible. He was consistently late for every appointment I had with him. At best, I waited an hour for him and at worst, up to 2.5 hours. Granted, OBs routinely get called away for deliveries and which results in wait time for patients. However, after several instances of waiting, I asked both him and his staff for appointment times which result in the least wait. I followed their instructions, but still waited. In addition to the unacceptable wait times, Rousset's bedside manner was terrible. He treated me in a very cavalier manner, dismissing my questions with sarcasm. I was never given complete information (like when to get bloodwork done or that I needed to leave a urine sample at each visit), but was then treated like I was irresponsible or ignorant when I didn't do something at the right time. Because I was more advanced when I discovered I was pregnant, my due date had to be estimated by an ultrasound. I determined that the US date had to be incorrect, because it would have meant that my daughter was conceived at a time when both me and my husband were in different parts of the country. When I told Rousset this and that I believed I was further along, he told me that "All women at 30 weeks think they are further along than they are." When I tried to explain to him why I was correct, he blew me off.
These were somewhat minor annoyances that would not normally prompt me to write a negative review. However, as I stated earlier, Rousset's actions became more egregious as time went on. When I was 39 weeks, Rousset recommended that we induce labor because I had reduced levels of amniotic fluid. I stated that it was my preference not to have a c-section if at all possible. Although I was not dilated at all, he didn't feel that it would be a problem. I went in the next morning and was induced. After running a pitocin drip all day, there was still no progression. He recommended that we stop the pitocin and start again the next day in hopes that I would progress. We started up the next day and after I finally got an epidural (28 hours after we started), I finally started to make some progress around 4 pm, the nurses told me I was complete. They paged Rousset and told him I was ready to push and that he needed to come. 3 hours later, we were still waiting for Rousset and I was no closer to delivering. Most doctors would recommend a c-section well before 3 hours of pushing. Rousset said that he was going to try a forceps delivery and it that didn't work, he would do a section. So they took me down to the OR for delivery. Unfortunately, the forceps worked. He delivered her head with the forceps and then pulled her out by her head. When he pulled her out, he pulled her incorrectly which resulted in damage to her brachial plexus nerve on her right side, which resulted in paralysis to her right arm (also known as Erb's Palsy). The reason for my slow progression and pushing for 3 hours is that I was not large enough to deliver my daughter. It was a very unfortunate situation which, to this day, I still hold Dr. Rousset accountable for. However, what made his actions even more reprehensible was his incredibly cavalier attitude about the whole situation. After his attention had been called to the fact that her arm wouldn't move, he blithely told me and my husband that "It'll be fine in a week." That couldn't have been further from the truth. Although, Dr. Rousset realized that there was a serious problem, yet he never inquired to the status of my daughter's situation in any follow-up appointments that I had with him. It seemed as though, he was trying to deny the entire situation ever happened. Furthermore, it seems as though he was trying to cover up the situation through his poor medical charting. When we were considering a malpractice suit, we pulled all of the records from the hospital and his practice. The delivery notes were incredibly vague, leaving out many details. Some forms were incomplete and others were outright lies. In the post deliver notes, Rousset documented that all of my daughter's extremities were "normal." Does a paralyzed arm sound "normal" to anyone else? So at best, he was incredibly sloppy with his care and his records and at worst, he was doing something illegal.
Please ladies, I implore you...do NOT use Kirk Rousset.
There are some other wonderful doctors in his practice. I also suffered a number of problems as a result of his "care." The other doctors in his practice provided excellent care throughout the weekend, since Rousset was not on call. If you choose to use any of these doctors, be sure to let them know, in no uncertain terms, that you will not see Rousset for anything.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at mclark0297@yahoo.com. I will be happy to tell you anything you want to know. read more