Dr. Cristian Penciu, MD

My relationship with Dr. Penciu started out fine. I had been prescribed Concerta for over a decade and have a working knowledge of how it affects me and what my mental health needs are. I needed to continue my mental health treatment, but his approach treated me as if I did not know what my needs were. While he made helpful suggestions, he also used moments when I was out of my medication to suggest changing my medicinal treatment. I felt I had no other option but to accept his recommendation. After taking his advice and changing my medication after 10 years, I found that it wasn't working and needed tweaks. However, he outright refused to prescribe me anything else. I was left with a prescription that was not satisfying my mental health needs, and during a crisis, his attitude was that I had a bad attitude and needed to calm down. Being sensitive to a patient's needs, even when they are frustrated, is an important skill that Dr. Penciu lacks.

Dr. Penciu is a very good doctor. I have been seeing him for years and I have no complaints. Don't listen to the previous reviews, which seem to have been written by the same disgruntled person using the exact same language multiple times.

I'm a physician myself and i actually shadowed Dr. Penciu as a resident. Thus when my own mental health struggles came up he was the first one I thought of and indeed he helped me get back on track. He is very good in understanding nuance as well as the big picture. Highly recommended

My personal experience with Dr. Penciu has been invariably positive. He's been patient with my many questions and has given me excellent advice and care so far. I would highly recommend him and absolutely nothing but praise for his care.

Due to the Corona pandemic, I was able to talk to "doctor" Christian Penciu over a video chat. The reason I went to see him was due to my chronic depression, anxiety, and panic disorder, and I had already been on medication for eight years. Instead of treating me for my previously diagnosed conditions, he recommended that I should be tested for ADHD, but still prescribed me anxiety and depression medication. However, he made a significant mistake in the prescription by only giving me ten days' worth of anxiety medication, and 30 days worth of anti-depressants. When I asked him about this, he told me that he wanted to see how I was doing with my new medication. That was strange because he never gave a follow-up call. When I finally got to reach him again, he told me that my medication was whats "making me sick" and told me to go to rehab, treating me as if I was a substance abuser. He lowered the dosage at such a rapid pace, and I was getting panic attacks numerous times daily. When I… told him about the symptoms that I was experiencing, he recommended that I lower the dosage again. I explained to him that the pace was too fast for me, and he said that I would end up in a psych hospital and lose custody of my baby if I continued with the medication. When I got upset over his comments, he ignored me. He didn't ask a single question about the symptoms that I was experiencing and made no comments regarding the ADHD diagnosis. He is negligent, has no compassion, scares his patients, has no sympathy or empathy whatsoever, and causes MAJOR distress to his patients. He is a terrible psychiatrist, and not only would you end up wasting your time and money, but he will also make your conditions worse. He does not deserve to be a psychiatrist. If this is the way he treats all his patients, he should have his license taken away. "Doctor" Penciu is the worst doctor I have ever encountered in my whole life. His ego is so over the top he will patronize you and verbally hurt you by adding unnecessary comments.

Due to the Corona pandemic, I was able to talk to "doctor" Christian Penciu over a video chat. The reason I went to see him was due to my chronic depression, anxiety, and panic disorder, and I had already been on medication for eight years. Instead of treating me for my previously diagnosed conditions, he recommended that I should be tested for ADHD, but still prescribed me anxiety and depression medication. However, he made a significant mistake in the prescription by only giving me ten days' worth of anxiety medication, and 30 days worth of anti-depressants. When I asked him about this, he told me that he wanted to see how I was doing with my new medication. That was strange because he never gave a follow-up call. When I finally got to reach him again, he told me that my medication was whats "making me sick" and told me to go to rehab, treating me as if I was a substance abuser. He lowered the dosage at such a rapid pace, and I was getting panic attacks numerous times daily. When I… told him about the symptoms that I was experiencing, he recommended that I lower the dosage again. I explained to him that the pace was too fast for me, and he said that I would end up in a psych hospital and lose custody of my baby if I continued with the medication. When I got upset over his comments, he ignored me. He didn't ask a single question about the symptoms that I was experiencing and made no comments regarding the ADHD diagnosis. He is negligent, has no compassion, scares his patients, has no sympathy or empathy whatsoever, and causes MAJOR distress to his patients. He is a terrible psychiatrist, and not only would you end up wasting your time and money, but he will also make your conditions worse. He does not deserve to be a psychiatrist. If this is the way he treats all his patients, he should have his license taken away. "Doctor" Penciu is the worst doctor I have ever encountered in my whole life. His ego is so over the top he will patronize you and verbally hurt you by adding unnecessary comments.

Due to the Corona pandemic, I was able to talk to "doctor" Christian Penciu over a video chat. The reason I went to see him was due to my chronic depression, anxiety, and panic disorder, and I had already been on medication for eight years. Instead of treating me for my previously diagnosed conditions, he recommended that I should be tested for ADHD, but still prescribed me anxiety and depression medication. However, he made a significant mistake in the prescription by only giving me ten days' worth of anxiety medication, and 30 days worth of anti-depressants. When I asked him about this, he told me that he wanted to see how I was doing with my new medication. That was strange because he never gave a follow-up call. When I finally got to reach him again, he told me that my medication was whats "making me sick" and told me to go to rehab, treating me as if I was a substance abuser. He lowered the dosage at such a rapid pace, and I was getting panic attacks numerous times daily. When I… told him about the symptoms that I was experiencing, he recommended that I lower the dosage again. I explained to him that the pace was too fast for me, and he said that I would end up in a psych hospital and lose custody of my baby if I continued with the medication. When I got upset over his comments, he ignored me. He didn't ask a single question about the symptoms that I was experiencing and made no comments regarding the ADHD diagnosis. He is negligent, has no compassion, scares his patients, has no sympathy or empathy whatsoever, and causes MAJOR distress to his patients. He is a terrible psychiatrist, and not only would you end up wasting your time and money, but he will also make your conditions worse. He does not deserve to be a psychiatrist. If this is the way he treats all his patients, he should have his license taken away. "Doctor" Penciu is the worst doctor I have ever encountered in my whole life. His ego is so over the top he will patronize you and verbally hurt you by adding unnecessary comments.

Due to the Corona pandemic, I was able to talk to "doctor" Christian Penciu over a video chat. The reason I went to see him was due to my chronic depression, anxiety, and panic disorder, and I had already been on medication for eight years. Instead of treating me for my previously diagnosed conditions, he recommended that I should be tested for ADHD, but still prescribed me anxiety and depression medication. However, he made a significant mistake in the prescription by only giving me ten days' worth of anxiety medication, and 30 days worth of anti-depressants. When I asked him about this, he told me that he wanted to see how I was doing with my new medication. That was strange because he never gave a follow-up call. When I finally got to reach him again, he told me that my medication was whats "making me sick" and told me to go to rehab, treating me as if I was a substance abuser. He lowered the dosage at such a rapid pace, and I was getting panic attacks numerous times daily. When I… told him about the symptoms that I was experiencing, he recommended that I lower the dosage again. I explained to him that the pace was too fast for me, and he said that I would end up in a psych hospital and lose custody of my baby if I continued with the medication. When I got upset over his comments, he ignored me. He didn't ask a single question about the symptoms that I was experiencing and made no comments regarding the ADHD diagnosis. He is negligent, has no compassion, scares his patients, has no sympathy or empathy whatsoever, and causes MAJOR distress to his patients. He is a terrible psychiatrist, and not only would you end up wasting your time and money, but he will also make your conditions worse. He does not deserve to be a psychiatrist. If this is the way he treats all his patients, he should have his license taken away. "Doctor" Penciu is the worst doctor I have ever encountered in my whole life. His ego is so over the top he will patronize you and verbally hurt you by adding unnecessary comments.

He does not care for the well being of the patient. All he cares about is money. He does not listen to the family of the patient on how the patient behave and destroy their life and the lives of their loved ones . Because of their illness,the psychiatric patient don’t believe they are sick and refuse treatment . “Doctor” Christian hides behind privacy and confidentiality laws and refuses to listen to family of the patient and how they behave . How can you treat a psychiatric patient if you don’t listen to family on how they behave . As a family we were not discussing the patient case , we tried to tell the doctor how the patient behave so he can take medical action and give advice of what to do . He even refuses to give a diagnosis although the patient has a diagnosis from previous doctors .

I would not recommend this doctor. He doesn’t show compassion or empathy. He doesn’t discuss the illness being diagnosed. He says that understanding what is happening is unimportant. His approach lacks humanity. He acts like any emotion is a symptom and so is not valid. Also any concern about side effects of medication is considered a symptom and so is not valid. He acts like the person’s experience is irrelevant. It doesn’t matter to him if the patient is frightened or saddened by what they are experiencing. It doesn’t matter to him if the patient feels guilty or ashamed about things that he knows the patient is imagining. He might even add to the guilt by telling them that their illness is their fault because it could have been prevented if they went to the doctor sooner. He lets mentally ill people believe their delusions or hallucinations are real even if that means they might act on them and do things that could disrupt their lives or destroy relationships or cause them to lose… their job. And lastly, he doesn’t do follow up appointments once the symptoms are under control or the patient is well. There is no support through the process from being diagnosed to being better or being well. He never shows any compassion that the patient is mentally ill or that the diagnosis might be frightening or heartbreaking. He prescribes the correct medication and that’s it; he does the bare minimum required and takes home a huge pay check. $150 for 15 minutes or $600 an hour. That kind of pay should be reserved for people who are extraordinary in their field. This doctor is not extraordinary. He is cold and patronizing and lazy.