We are the son and wife of a deceased patient diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma who was under Dr. Robert Alter's care. While we have no reason to believe the doctor did not provide the required standard of care, we can say with certainty that his bedside manner is absolutely abhorrent.
Dr. Alter showed complete indifference toward his patient, lacked sensitivity, and moreover behaved in an entirely tasteless manner. He made inappropriate jokes, appeared to always be in a hurry, abruptly cut appointments short, and during these short visits often pulled out and played on his cell phone without warning, appearing to ignore us.
While there are too many incidences to list, below are the most egregious, ending with the biggest offense at the end of the patient's life:
After a routine blood test, the patient was sent home. Later that night, another doctor named Dr. Guttierez, whom we never met, called after looking at the results and left a message that we were unable to understand. Dr. Guttierez soon called back to make sure that we got his urgent message and explained that the patient should immediately go to the emergency room due to kidney failure. It was not until 24 hours later that Dr. Alter himself -- the doctor who's supposed to be caring for the patient -- finally called to relay the same message. If not for Dr. Guttierez, Dr. Alter's phone call would have been too late.
The least forgivable behavior came on the day of the patient's final visit to Dr. Alter. Already suffering from liver failure, the patient was extremely weak, his arms were shaking uncontrollably, and he was experiencing extreme nausea. He was sitting helplessly on the patient chair like a child, looking down at the floor with the understanding that he was about to be given a death sentence. Dr. Alter walked in and first made a joke about how, with the patient's belly swollen from retaining water due to poor kidney function, the patient looked "4 months pregnant." Then he told us we had a few options. One is to do nothing, in which case "within a week..." and he made a throat-cutting gesture and a sound with his mouth, suggesting in an incredibly callous way that the patient will die. Another option was hospice. In the midst of our discussion of next steps, Dr. Alter suddenly picked up his cell phone and began reading something on it and typing with a slight smile on his face, evidently enjoying a personal text conversation. He didn't even say, "Excuse me," or anything. He just picked it up while we were talking to him. So we stopped talking until he was ready to hear us again.
Dr. Alter's behavior does not amuse anyone but himself, and his silly jokes are of no comfort to the gravely ill, only an unwelcome annoyance. read more
