Colin M Whitaker, MD

This review shall serve as an update to my prior review of Dr. Whitaker. Since my initial review appeared Dr. Whitaker amened my records to include a diagnosis of degenerative disc disease even though the doctor who read my x rays reported no evidence of significant degenerative changes. Dr. Whitaker also identified the procedures he expected the physical therapist to follow. While this appears to be a step in the right directions it is not without flaws. First, Dr Whitaker reported that i did not have injections or physical therapy prior to his examination. This is not true. i submitted to both. neither proved useful. i admit that I was unsure about past physical therapy but i would never say i did not have physical therapy. The point is that i was never asked injections or physical therapy during my brief office visit. In America today there is one prejudice that has never been addressed. It is called ageism and it helps to explain why seniors are often denied organ transplants.… Is it farfetched to find that expensive diagnostic tests and/or complicated treatments may be denied seniors as well simply based on age?

i am a 75 year old male with herniated discs and other back related abnormalities. My back issues have been confirmed by past MRIs and have existed for many years, though now the problems seem worse i have constant pain as well as limitation of motion. i cannot put on socks, tie shoelaces or lift objects that fall on the floor. i am limited as the weight of objects i can lift. i find bed rest to be helpful and spend most days in bed. i have very little help around my home. i have had three injections to the back with no success. Pain management put me on opioid medication as a last resort since i declined surgery which i view as risky. I was told that physical therapy would not likely resolve my issues though i think i submitted to physical therapy nevertheless many years ago. i saw Dr. Whitaker in January 2025. X rays were taken, and they (as far as i could determine and also based upon his diagnosis of radiculopathy) did not reveal herniated discs. In fact, the x-rays appeared to… me to be of poor quality. i asked Dr. Whitaker to order an MRI which i have been told is the gold standard when it comes to herniated discs. He refused and offered me physical therapy instead. My time with Dr. Whitaker was no more than 10 minutes. He held out the possibility that maybe an MRI would be ordered after my course of physical therapy. Dr. Whitaker ordered physical therapy based upon radiculopathy (pain) and the limited value of the x rays but without giving the therapist a concise diagnosis as to the cause of pain. This, i believe, was a fatal flaw. it encouraged the therapist to do manipulations and offer other therapies without understanding what exactly is needed and more importantly what will do me harm. In other words, i would be getting generic physical therapy, one size fits all physical therapy for anyone with back pain. Under these circumstances i felt i should decline physical therapy. I decided to go for a second opinion. i made an appointment with Dr. Fayyazi,. also, a St. Lukes affiliated orthopedist. Prior to the appointment i received a phone call. Dr. Fayyazi did not want to see me. Instead, he insisted that i go to physical therapy before he would see me. It appeared to me that Dr. Fayyazi was not making an independent judgement based upon careful consideration of my subjective complaints and past objective diagnostic testing which confirmed a history of herniated discs. No one likes to criticize a doctor as it is believed he/she can do no wrong. Twenty years ago, a urologist offered me a bladder neck operation to fix urinary retention. i went to Dr. William Terrens in NJ for a second opinion prior to surgery. Turns out i had advanced prostate cancer requiring a radical proctectomy. Dr. Terrens saved me from an unnecessary operation and more importantly saved my life. Dr. Terrens tried to confer with the other urologist but the other urologist refused to speak to him. When people say that doctors do not make mistakes i tell them about my cancer. Many doctor errors lie in cemeteries. i do not wish to join them. Do you blame me?

I felt comfortable with this guy and his assistant. They both were pleasant and answered my many questions. I didn’t feel rushed and he gave me the time of day. Im not sure if I need surgery or not but I left with good information and some options.