Rudrajit Masand Rai

My sister and I both had our initial consultation with Dr. Rai and he seemed attentive and pleasant. We both scheduled an upper endoscopy and colonoscopy. I was diagnosed with an IBD and we are unsure of my sister’s diagnosis. I decided to get a second opinion, and this backfired on me. Fast forward to few weeks later, my sister had another follow-up appointment with him and I went with her. During the appointment, he made smart comments to both of us. She asked for his recommendation, he told her to ask me for my recommendation or maybe get a second opinion (like I did). He told us both that he is tired of dealing with us.

I had the first appointment and the doctor called that she will not be in the office for another hour as if my time is not important. That says something about the doctor

I am writing this a few years after I visited Dr. Rai, because I did not think about posting a review at the time. I made an appointment with him because I have GERD and was looking for alternatives to taking proton pump inhibitors which seemed to be causing me side effects such as not allowing absorption of vitamins and minerals. He did give me a lot of suggestions regarding ways I can control without PPIs - no tomatoes, use a wedge, no eating late at night. However, his manner was so rude and condescending, I would not go back to his office. I give him two stars because the advice he gave me was good; however, he is too rude.

I developed constant bouts of sinusitis with a bloody nose, acute bronchitis and laryngitis while on Remicade. Dr. Rai told me that I cannot stop a biologic for any old cold. I was recently discharged from the hospital after a syncope episode from dehydration due to profuse diarrhea. I followed up with Dr. Rai, whose expertise I have the uttermost respect! I was advised by the GI doc in the hospital to go on another biologic to control Crohn's. Dr. Rai told me that I could not be "flippant" about stopping biologic agents and that I cannot stop them after a couple of weeks because of something that may not have been caused by the biologic agent. I was very ill and his bed side manner was extremely rude. Even my husband, who accompanied me was offended by his bedside manner. I have developed a migraine because of his very insensitive words after I just was released from the hospital! I explained that I am not flippant about stopping biologic agents. He, in fact, told me to stop Humira after I had left jaw tightness. I developed acute bronchitis and laryngitis after my first infusion of Remicade. Dr. Rai told me that I cannot stop a biologic after developing any old cold. I was offended because I had more than "any old cold"! Dr. Rai told me to try Remicade one more time. He told me that if I still have side effects after the second infusion, we can stop it. I continued to get side effects from Remicade to the point of constant sinusitis and anbloody a nose. However, I did not tell him because I was intimidated to do so because of his statement, "You cannot stop a biologic because of any old cold". I continued with my third infusion of Remicade. However, I was so sick that I did not proceed with my maintenance dose. Four months later, I was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia and pyelonephritis. I also had a bad Crohn's flare. If I was still on Remicade, I cannot imagine how bad my pneumonia or pyelonephritis would have been, even my rheumatologist stated this. Dr. Rai never took this into consideration when he lectured me about stopping Remicade during my last visit with him. He just seems very frustrated with me for having stopped the Remicade. He does not listen to me! He has concerns about starting me on another biologic, thinking that I may stop at any little thing. However, I will not! I need to get my Crohn's under control. I also have Lupus. My rheumatologist has a patient with Lupus and Crohn's disease. She is on a biologic that she can tolerate, has helped her Crohn's and not worsened her Lupus. When Dr. Rai mentioned this biologic agent, I told him this is the medication that I want to try. I will start on this new medication after it is approved by my insurance company. I was placed on prednisone 40 mg after my recent discharge from the hospital until I saw Dr. Rai. Dr. Rai did not give me a follow up plan about how to control my Crohn's until I start the new biologic agent. He did not discuss tapering or continuing the prednisone I was placed on in the hospital. Because I am a pharmacist and know that I cannot stop prednosine at 40 mg, I decided to taper the prednisone on my own. I was only prescribed a five day supply of prednisone 40 mg in the hospital to control my Crohn's until I saw Dr. Rai. Also, my husband was concerned if I should have another colonoscopy sooner. I was shocked at Dr. Rai's demeanor. He lectured me that a colonoscopy will not treat my Crohn's disease and it did not matter when I had it performed. Of course, as a health professional, I know that a colonoscopy will not treat Crohn's. My husband and I just wanted to know if there are any changes in my colon because of the increased frequency of my episodes of diarrhea. I respect Dr. Rai's expertise, but his bed side manner is not the same! I am sticking with him for now because I have had Crohn's disease since the age of twenty and he is the only one that caught it. I was 52 years old when I was diagnosed. I love Dr. Rai for finding out what is wrong with me, but he is not the same mild mannered gastroenterologist that I met four years ago. He no longer appears compassionate. I will continue to see him for now because of my past relationship with him. However, if he continues to hurt my feelings and treat me with such insensitivity, I will be forced to look for another gastroenterologist.

Dr Rai performed an upper endoscopy and a colonoscopy. I had no complications and my biopsy was negative. Total time spent with Dr. Rai in the initial consultation, discussion prior to the procedures, discussion after the procedures, and in the follow-up visit was between 5-10 minutes total (a nurse practitioner performed the initial consultation and follow-up visit). I was unable to obtain a cost estimate prior to the procedures. My insurance company was billed >$11,000 for the two procedures.