If I could give 0 stars, then I would. This doctor is totally incompetent, and he's a very rude, uncaring individual. In fact, I think he's most likely a sociopath. When you call him, he NEVER returns your calls. My grandfather went to him because he was experiencing horrible pain - Dr. Distefano did not care at all. When my grandfather called him to tell him that he was suffering immensely, he had to call twice to get him to call back, and when he did call back, he acted very annoyed, and was very rude. He told my grandfather, "I don't see anything wrong with you - I don't know why you'd be in pain", or something like that. He obviously thought that my grandfather was trying to get opioids or something... Anyway, my grandfather never received a call to tell him what the findings of his first test were. We had to call to get that information too.
When my grandfather had to get a cystoscopy, nobody ever bothered to explain to him what that entailed, and they did not offer… any option to receive anesthesia or something. I guess it ended up being not too bad, thankfully.
So, it turns out that my grandfather had BPH, an enlarged prostate - which is funny, because when Dr. Distefano originally checked his prostate, he said that it seemed to be normal... which is absurd, since probably nearly elderly men have at least a somewhat-enlarged prostate...
The doctor prescribed my grandfather a medication to shrink his prostate, without bothering to explain the potentially serious side-effects... When he started taking the medication, he was becoming very dizzy all the time, and he actually passed out at least once. We had to watch him at all times to make sure he didn't fall down. It turns out that dizziness is one of the main side-effects of that medication... we called Distefano to tell him that the medication was not agreeing with my grandfather, so he could change the medication. Guess what? He never called back. Shows how much he cares!! All he cares about is money - his patients are meaningless to him. Like I said, he's a sociopath.
Oh, and my grandfather also developed an irregular heartbeat, which probably had to do with his dizziness. This medication may have caused that, who knows. Reading the information about this medication, it says that it can have potentially life-threatening side-effects.
This worthless place was completely unwilling to give my grandfather any pain meds, even though he was in agonizing pain and couldn't sleep at all. Over-the-counter meds were not working at all for him. They don't care - they have no qualms about letting an elderly man suffer. It's bad enough to make someone suicidal.
HARTFORD HEALTHCARE SUCKS. They advertise themselves all the time, making themselves look like they're the best of the best, which is just laughable. I think we should probably avoid Hartford Healthcare from now on - maybe we'll try places affiliated with St. Francis.
In summary - AVOID THIS GUY!!! I can't believe all the reviews for him are positive!!! What on Earth??? Maybe they're all women - maybe he treats women better lol? I have no clue. Maybe people like A-holes?
By the way, I haven't even scratched the surface. Another minor thing - my grandfather mentioned taking vitamin E and this guy said that vitamin E supplements are worthless and a waste of money... hmm, I wonder how much the pharmaceutical companies are paying him lol. He's the type of doctor who, if you act as though you know something he doesn't, or if you challenge his ideas in any way, he will get angry with you. If you don't act like he is all-knowing and his opinion is the only thing that matters, then he will get mad and treat you like garbage. He has a huge ego problem, that's for sure. He thinks he's so great...
Anyway, I'm still forgetting many other things, but I think what I've written should give people a pretty good idea of what this guy is like - regardless of the fact that there are so many good reviews for him... it's unbelievable.
Oh, and when he got the results of the cystoscopy, he told my grandfather, "there's nothing I can do". THEN WHY THE F ARE WE GOING TO YOU THEN!!??? WHY ARE YOU EVEN A DOCTOR????
WHY ARE WE PAYING FOR YOU???? Ridiculous...
People like this should NEVER become a doctor in the first place. He does not give a F about his patients. It's all about the money for him.
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