I had a suspicious facial mole removed. Dr. Nelson told me to return in two months for a follow-up. She was out of town, but her PA saw me. I thought it healed well and the PA would send me on my way, but she said it needed another "spray." When I got home, I saw she had missed the mole (which was very hard to see now; you had to feel for it) and sprayed the healthy skin about a quarter inch to the right. I was annoyed, but not overly so - mistakes happen and the thing was very hard to see. I called the office and asked what I should do. They scheduled an appointment for today. I said I hoped I would not have to pay for another office visit as I would be coming to have done the procedure that should already have been done.
I never went to Nelson Dermatology that I didn't have to wait at least half an hour, but today (my third visit) was the worst at nearly an hour. They tried to charge me when I came in, and I again had to explain that I was here to have the thing done right and shouldn't have to pay. When I finally saw Dr. Nelson, she was very short with me. She asked me what the problem was, and I told her the assistant had frozen the wrong spot. She asked me what I was talking about. I explained, and she said the mole I was pointing out looked fine and had healed nicely (giving me a mirror so I could see for myself in a very condescending manner). I said I agreed with her, but apparently the PA had not because she thought it needed to be frozen again. Dr. Nelson asked me why I even bothered coming in. I said "Because you told me to come in as a follow-up!"
She then said the PA had probably seen another spot and frozen that - that it wasn't uncommon for such spots to crop up. I said I'm sure that was true, but that was not what the PA had told me - she had specifically said that THIS spot needed another treatment with the spray. Dr. Nelson, who clearly did not believe me, asked me to wait while she looked at my file (wonder why she didn't do that before my appointment; she took long enough to see me).
After ANOTHER ten minutes (during which time I was becoming increasingly anxious because I really needed to return to work), she came back and announced that she "didn't understand" what the PA had written, but the spot looked fine and I was good to go, and see you in six months for a checkup.
Like I'll ever go back there again. She obviously did not want to admit that her PA made a mistake. The ironic thing is that if she had given the healed mole another spray I would have just chalked it up to a simple mistake and never left this review, or do what I plan to do which is call my insurance company and tell them I was subjected to a follow-up procedure I apparently did not need and they should not pay for it. I doubt that will go anywhere, as I'm sure Dr. Nelson will stand by her assertion that the PA sprayed a "different spot," and will probably "doctor" the file to reflect that (doing a better doctoring job than she did on my face, no doubt).
Oh, well. The best I can do is warn others - stay WELL away from this one. read more