James G Beckerman, MD, FACC

Good doc to deal with. Personable, but gets right to the point. Just what I want in a cardiologist.

In 2008, I had been having chest pain, pallipitations, and slow, hard beats, that ultimately led me to the ER. My doctor ordered an echocardiogram and also an event monitor to be worn for a month. She got the results back and stated there was some irregular rhythms noted and referred me to see Dr. Beckerman.The office staff was wonderful, but Dr. Beckerman walked in, and said "why are you here?" Before I had a chance to answer him he said "You're 33 years old and overweight. Your tests are normal, so I don't understand why you are here." He then proceeded to tell me to lose weight and my symptoms would go away. He didn't even examine me. I was mortified and felt like a complete hypochondriac. I was too embarrassed to followup with another doctor.I have lost weight since then, but my symptoms continued. Now, TWO YEARS later, my mother finally convinced me to talk to my new PCP about the problem. I got all my records together and went in, embarrassed and nervous about what would be said. My new doctor told me that the echo was normal, but couldn't believe I was dismissed like I was. The test results that Dr. Beckerman was given, had he bothered to look at them, showed that I had irregular sinus rhythm and sometimes my heart beats very slowly (bradychardia). I went to another cardiologist and this time, was actually examined. He could clearly hear my arrhythmia. He has ordered another series of tests, but my blood pressure is very low and my heart beats very slow. He said that I should have at least been put on medication 2 years ago and now, i may need a pacemaker due to the damage! At age 35. Thanks, Dr. Beckerman. Maybe next time you see an overweight, young woman, you'll actually look at the test results before simply dismissing her as "fat".