For several weeks my wife and I contemplated sharing our experience with Dr. Friedberg, as it truly wouldn't be our intention to tarnish the reputation of a good doctor even if it's the slightest. But ultimately we feel that our story should be told as the experience was one of the worse that we've ever encountered. And hopefully it can sway and alleviate any grievance that another patient may endure when seeing this doctor.
Dr. Friedberg's bedside manner is so atrocious that it could really only be compared to an individual with Asperger's Syndrome. But that wouldn't be fair, because his behavior is rooted on clear intentional aggression. I will provide a short backstory only to set-up the situation that unfolded this summer when we saw this Dr. Friedberg. My wife has severe diabetic retinopathy which deteriorated rapidly after giving birth in January of this year. My wife has always taken her condition seriously, and never purposely procrastinated with the seeking of treatment. My wife also does not live a careless life, and is incredible with maintaining her diabetes. However after a few laser surgeries with no real improvement at the guidance of her normal ophthalmologist, we began to seek a specialist. This is coupled with the fact that her eyesight began to worsen a week before we scheduled.
Dr. Friedberg was recommended by my wife's normal ophthalmologist. We scheduled an appointment for a Saturday. We should preface that the front desk staff were professional and empathetic to our emergency situation. After driving for over an hour we finally pull into the parking lot of a rundown building. When we entered into the doctor's office it was evident that it was living in it's former glory. While sitting in the front waiting room, we also received the eyedrop treatment which was indeed awkward. This would had been acceptable to us had the doctor been good. But a tone was set.
A nurse took my wife into an exam room following with the typical questions and preps. When Dr. Friedberg entered into the room, he instantly appeared thwarted that I had also been present. My wife began to tell the doctor about her situation. It is our fear that she might lose her sight and not be able to see our baby. For some backwards reason, this was annoying to Dr. Friedberg. He had no patience for any emotion, as he stared expressionless. Before proceeding with examining he stated in a detached deadpan voice that he was going to say things to the nurse, and afterwards he'll give his prognosis. But he was also very clear that we not interrupt him. We certainly wouldn't, and remained respectful throughout the entire ordeal.
After the examination my wife began to cry and panic, and asked if she was going to go blind. Dr. Friedberg said that he doesn't know and he wouldn't want to give false hope as she has serious eye issues. My wife cried more, which upped the aggravation ante more for the doctor. As my wife was informing that her normal ophthalmologist advised recently that her retina was still attached, she was bluntly interrupted. As Dr. Friedberg held up his hand and stated: "I know that you're trying to help, but I don't need your help, okay?." My thought was instantly, how did it escalate that fast?! And I need to diffuse the situation, as my true intention is to see my wife get properly treated.
Throughout the examination Dr. Friedberg was clearly annoyed at the fact that his ultrasound wasn't working properly, nor was the system software on whatever dusty IBM it was running on. As more tears flowed down the cheek of my wife, I couldn't help but console her. But without a beat Dr. Friedberg asked me if "I could just get out of the way". As if I was an inanimate object interfering in the path of a fire escape. I honestly regret not standing up to him, as clearly he was just being a bully at that point. He laughed and made a comment that we were trying to justify why it took so long to see him when we were merely explaining our situation. At the end of the appointment, Dr. Friedberg recommended immediate surgery. There would be no way in hell that we would let him operate. So we ended up going to a real retina specialist who had the proper equipment to examine, diagnose and treat.
Ultimately we were an emergency appointment scheduled on a Saturday, and this clearly bothered the doctor. Dr. Friedberg was instantly annoyed, and didn't want to give us any of his time. We remained respectful and held our composure throughout the whole ordeal, as Dr. Friedberg behaved embarrassingly and unprofessional. Throughout our lives of meeting doctors and specialists, we really never met anybody as heinous as Dr. Friedberg. read more