Dr. David Martin Frim, MD

My 6 year year old son suffered a gunshot wound through his c4-c7 spinal cord. Dr Frim patiently and always calmly explained his condition and always broke his injury down to term i could understand. But necer look for a precise answer.?? He has been a big help. And although my son experiencd a traumatic situation he always looks forward to seeing Dr Frim. Its been 7 months and yesterday Frim took off RJ's halo. May i say Dr Frim has been a blessing and a privilege to have as our Nuerosurgent. We love Dr Frim

My daughter was diagnosed with Chiari malformation and syringomyelia 8 years ago, when she was a child. Neither was impacting her life, or has since. Several years ago, we ended up seeing a number of neurosurgeons around the country, after we'd seen one in Minnesota to get her cleared for scoliosis PT , and were lied to that the child had a tethered spinal cord and could not have it de-tethered without a chiari surgery and a bunch of other dangerous, potentially lethal, surgical procedures done at the same time. Dr.David Frim was one of the 2nd opinions that we went to see trying to find a surgeon, who could 'de-tether' our daughter's spinal cord without doing a Chiari decompression. Not only did Dr.Frim confirm that our daughter's spinal cord was not tethered (as every single other surgeon we saw after MN had ), but he also told us in regards to my daughter's Chiari and syringomyelia : ' Ultimately, your daughter is the one who should decide whether or when she needs that surgery… done, based on how her symptoms impact her life'. My daughter was 13. We were impressed, because most of the other neurosurgeons had not even asked her whether or how her conditions were bothering her. Their focus had been on the MRI images, not on the patient. Chiari decompression is a lucrative surgery, and the revenues it can generate for the hospital are endless (if the patients lives), as it opens a path to multiple other surgical procedures : cerebral shunting , EVT, multiple revision surgeries. A vicious cycle of suffering for the patient , huge profits for the hospital. It is very rare nowadays that you will find a neurosurgeon, who would advise to leave a largely asymptomatic Chiari patient alone. Most of them will suggest surgery., ignoring the studies done on the subject that advise to limit the treatment to observation. It is very disturbing when doctors, who abide by medical ethics and recommend conservative treatment, are branded as 'quacks'. There is a lot of pressure within the peer circles for surgeries, and those, who do not go along, are seen as damaging 'business'. We got to observe that first-hand. We do not know whether or how Dr.Frim has evolved in his opinion since we saw him 3 years ago (the other conservative surgeon that had followed my daughter for several years, cracked under the pressure from authorities, and reneged on his opinion 2 years after he last saw our daughter, without as much as evaluating her. Canadian-educated Dr.Robert Kerr), but the advice Dr.Frim gave us took a lot of weight off our minds at that time and allowed us to continue with our lives. Three years later (total of 8 since the diagnosis), my daughter's conditions remain stable, allowing her to enjoy her teen life and a variety of rec. sports. If we had gone against her wishes and succumbed to the offers of surgery- just in case -, instead of riding horses and playing basketball, she would now be popping pain-killers, while haunting chiari surgery forums searching together with other victims of ' Chiari decompression for a new surgeon to 'decompress' her for the 6th or 7th time, looking for and not finding relief for the new symptoms that crop up after each surgery. That is if she was lucky not to have died, had a heart attack, stroke, or ended with a profound mental disability, as a result of a surgery.

Dr. Frim is extremely knowledgeable and has fantastic bedside manners. The best decision I made for my baby was bringing her to him for neurosurgery.

The best.

I saw Dr. Frim for treatment of congenital hydrocephalus that was diagnosed as an adult. He is a caring and intelligent doctor. Great bedside manner! He will spend as long as it takes to answer your questions and concerns. That being said, you will have to wait. His willingness to spend as much time as necessary with patients makes him run late. Every time I have seen him, he is running at least an hour or more behind schedule. I am more than willing to wait for a doctor of his expertise and compassion. He was my second and last opinion on my condition. He performed a successful surgery and I now see him regularly for follow up appointments.

This doctor gets mixed reviews and it is understandable - he seems very good at covering up what he doesn't know. I asked around about his reputation and soon found out that many people across the country (neurosurgeons and pediatric neurosurgeons) consider him to be a quack. When I saw him, I got that sense as well and quickly left.

Dr. Frim saved our son. We were at another major children's hospital up the Lake Shore and they were doing nothing to save our son. We were transported to U of C where doctor Frim fixed our son's problem, so he could be living at home instead of hospitals. We will always be grateful to him!

Dr. Frim may well have saved our child's life.After another neurosurgeon "botched" the surgery, we traveled out of state to Chicago to see Dr. Frim. He re-operated and was shocked at the poor condition our child was in. We've been with him ever since.

This guy is not good at all. I waited almost 60 minutes to see him and then he was confused with what to do about my condition. I went to another surgeon at Harvard, and he said Frim is not that good.

The top of his field--one of the best pediatric neurosurgeons anywhere, does see some adult patients, expert on Chiari malformation and related congenital anomalies, wonderful person as well.