Dr. Edward Connor Covington Jr, MD

This man is both among the best and the worst doctors I've ever seen. First what's good. Just one thing: he founded the Cleveland Clinic Chronic Pain Rehabilitation Program (CPRP) and it gave me my life back. As a person, he's a pompus blowhard, who loves to hear himself talk and rarely gives you a straight answer. Seeing Dr. Covington is a necessary evil of being in the CPRP and if you suffer from chronic it is well worth the unpleasantness od Ed Covington.

Dr. Covington is a total SOB, but he's the best thing that ever happened to me. Here's what most patients don't realize: he's not there to be nice to you, he's there to get you feeling better. Once I figured this out, I went from yelling at him and crying, to laughing at his snide remarks and letting them role off my shoulder. Yes, he'll totally type on his computer while you talk to him, he'll give you 3 mins of his time (basically, all the negative stuff people have said on here is true). But while I was there I saw I young man come in in a wheel chair and leave walking with a cain, not to mention my own success. Here's my advice: Dr. Covington is trained as a psychiatrist, so when he treats you like poorly, realize that it's a tactic. In short, there's a method to his madness, and you figuring out why he's doing what he's doing, is part of the secret to you feeling better. The 5 star rating here is inaccurate because the number of stars do not correlate with how patient feels one… year after seeing him. If he's being a d**k on purpose, as a tactic to make the patient feel better, then a one star bedside manner rating isn't indicative of his success rate as a DOCTOR. If he's spending 5 mins with you because in his 35 years of running this program he's seen 1000 people JUST like you, then it doesn't mean he hasn't spent enough time with you, it actually means he's seen enough of you over the years to know what to do with you. If I could, I would send everyone there. I only wish there was a place like this in every city :(

sarcastic cynical style in conversation

Typed while not looking my way. I believe he prefers peer support and acknowledgements, sitting on laurels more than listening and investigating into his patients physical problems.

I was taken advantage of by this program and this doctor in 2008. I was told my illness was all in my head and behind the mind and body approach they had was a lot of old shcool pop psychology and me being told my parents abused me and thats why i was this way. There were human rights violations and i was thrown in in group setting with people who were severe drug addicts who needed a seperate treatment environment. I have filed several complaints. I ended up having a metabolic disease diagnosis that is very serious and he dismissed my concerns pre diagnosis. Do not reccomend him.