Dr. Edward F Rabe JR., MD

I assume Edward Rabe is smart and may be good with other patients. However, my experience with him was frustrating. Rabe never knew my name or took the time to learn it through our treatment, which was fine when he was just a meds dispensary. However, when I needed to try new meds and was having issues, Rabe was impossible to reach by phone after an appointment. I mean, he never returned my calls at all. And I'm not saying I am the ideal patient but I'm reasonably understanding (at least I was in the beginning). When I asked Rabe about his lack of response during our next visit, he seemed to suggest I was lying. But when checked his phone records, he saw that I had called 3 times. Then, in a bizarre statement, he said to me, "If I were you, I wouldn't stand for this. I would file a complaint." Also, Rabe became confrontational when I asked him if he would be willing to talk to Tufts Insurance about signing off on a new drug that would require his approval. When I… left and immediately requested to replace Rabe with another doctor at Harvard Vanguard, his staff said the next doctor would be a 5 month wait. I could have done my due diligence and found someone else, but I let myself suffer through his laziness and incompetence, thinking he would somehow get better if I got angrier. My own fault. I definitely learned my lesson. My complaining was annoying and pointless to his staff that must suffer immensely with his incompetence. Even though one of them tried to slap me with a missed appointment fee, she did not tell me when I actually went to cancel and actually occurred 23 hours before the visit instead of 24. Look, I'm sure Rabe isn't a bad guy and I understand treating patients must be difficult - but his behavior was dangerous - especially if I had been in a life threatening situation. Rabe's service was poor enough that when I called other doctors and they returned my call within a day, I was grateful they actually called me back. And my new doctor is fantastic. She called me right after an appointment to make sure I had additional questions. The more I write this, the more angry I get it about Rabe. I heard he's retiring soon so now he won't have to return calls.