Dr. Faissal Bahjat Zahrawi, MD

Best doctor around totally happy with his work pain free recommended to others who are completely happy

I had a spinal fusion l4 and l5 in 5/2014, , immediately after surgery I knew something was not right because I was told I would be able to go home same day. But when they woke me up in recovery I could immediately tell I was not going home, the pain was excruciating and I told the nurse there is no way I could go home. She said she would have to call the D rand it was up to him. Told her I don't care what anybody say I will not be leaving with the level of pain am feeling. Needless to say I spent 2days in hospital and still I did not want to be discharge but was told chance of infection will increase the longer I stayed.so I agreed to leave. For 3 months it seemed ok, but then my back pain got worse. I had told Dr Z nurse from the beginning when getting authorization from insurance for surgery, if they are not going to cover the cost of surgery that I will not do it. Because I am on Social Security and do not have any means to pay Dr. So of course they tell you it's all set… and schedule surgery. Now here I am 3mos later and still in pain. I was given my pain meds. By my 6mo follow up, here comes billing telling me they could not schedule me for visit until I made a payment arrangement for services the insurance did not cover. Apparently, this Dr was not even in my network and he did not get paid fully. I was on the Health exchange with Atena when it started. So they knew from the beginning they would not get paid fully. I got a bill for $147,000. Plus dollars, laughable! Then I got a bill for $3000. Plus and one for $481. For services apparently for pre testing before surgery. Now the 2smaller bills are on my credit report but the large one somehow never made it on the report and to this day I don't get billed. It's now 12/2017 I am still in pain management. This Dr have a lot of successful ssurgeries but what about patients like me where it was not successful and I know I am not the only one they did this to. When you can't pay the Dr they will not schedule an appt to even let the Dr know the situation. You become a number to these people. But the Dr have an office manager that I spoke to about being denied an appt because I could not pay those bills. It's a shame how they cut you open and operate, then dismiss you when you can't pay. So basically I was just practice for his minimally invasive surgery.

Fantastic. This is the first time in 25 years I have been pain free. Very professional and very knowledgeable.

Dr. Zahrawi has performed two (2) surgeries on me, a 4-level cervical fusion and a 1-level lumbar fusion. Both surgeries were very successful. I went home the following day after the cervical fusion and only had to use pain medication for 2 days. I went home the same day after the lumbar fusion and never had to use pain medication. I immediately started exercising as he recommended - walking and riding a stationary bike. I took a total of 27 days off work for both surgeries (11 business days and 6 business days respectively). I did not seek treatment with Dr. Zahrawi to be stroked or pampered. I wanted a solution to my spinal injuries. That's what I got. I first went to Dr. Zahrawi for a second opinion after receiving a surgical recommendation from a neurosurgeon. Dr. Zahrawi did not need to hear my life story; he wanted to see x-rays and MRI studies. He did not need to hear any other doctor's opinion. He took the time to explain specifically my problems and how he… would solve them. Every time I had questions, he would answer them. After my cervical fusion, I brought in a list of questions. He answered to my satisfaction each and every one. He is very matter-of-fact, which I have appreciated. He is never rude. I am grateful every day for his expertise.

after waiting for over an hour Dr. Z ddidnt know why I was there hadn't looked at my MRI Acted like I was a waste of his timeTried to ask him a few questions and all he said was I willnot give you pain meds I indormed himthat I didn't ask him for any brcause I go to pain management. If you want to be treated like a dog Dr Z is your best choice I left there feeling like I was a number in a grocery store or a drug addict. He showed not compassion IF THIS IS HOW HE TREATS A NEW PATIENT I CANT IMAGINE HOW HE TREAT pts post op. I got the impression that he treats every pt as a pay check never mind the pain that we deal with on a daily basisHe needs to become an medical examiner his pt will be dead

Excellent surgeon. His OP surgery done by someone else would've meant a 2 or 3-day hospital stay.

Dr Zahrawi did not get pre-approval from my insurance company before he operated. Angela lied and said she got verbal authorization, when in fact the insurance co. does not give verbal approval. therefore my insurance won't pay for the surgery. i would have not gotten operated without approval from my insurance company. I am disabled and don't have the means to pay for the operation.

I went to Dr Zahrawi concerning severe lumbar pain on my right side and pain radiant down the right leg to my knee. He took a couple of xrays and told me I had bone-on-bone on my L5 - S1 vertebra. I attempted to ask him some questions and he immediately interrupted me told me to get an MRI, request a copy of the MRI on CD and to schedule an appointment as soon as I got the MRI. This was on a Friday afternoon. I was able to get the MRI and immediately called his office to schedule an appointment. The office proceeded to tell me they couldn't see me until 9 days later.. I explained to the scheduler that I was in severe pain and that I could not wait 9 days to have a follow-up visit. She told me she would check with the doctor to see if could see me on Tuesday and would call me back. Approximately three hours later she called me back and said Dr Zahrawi would see me on Tuesday, as long as I had a CD copy of the MRI. I arrived at my appointment and only sat in the waiting room for about… 15 minutes before I was called back to see Dr Zahrawi. I handed the MRI CD to the nurse as we walked back to the room. Dr Zahrawi entered the room and asked me if I had any XRAYs done along with the MRI. I informed the him that his office did the XRAYs and that he showed my wife and me the XRAYs and pointed out in the XRAY that I had bone-on-bone on my L5/SI vertebra. His MA then entered the room and asked me if I was sure they did XRAYs at his office because they couldn't find them. I asked Dr Zahrawi what he found on the MRI and he said he would not look at the MRI without the report. He didn't say anything but got up and left the room and returned 5 minutes later. I attempted to speak again and he immediately cut me off in mid-sentence again and told me he was going to send me for 3 sets of injections. When I attempted to ask more about the procedure he again cut me off in mid-sentence and told me he would fix me. It was apparent he was not interested in what I had to say or if I had any questions or concerns about his treatment. I said well can you at least write me a prescription for pain before I leave. He stood up and instructed me (didn't ask but instructed me) to follow him to the nurse's station. He wrote me a script for pain medication and told the nurse to schedule me to see another doctor for three set of injections. My wife, which is a nurse, proceeded to ask him a question about medication reaction and he told her to contact my family doctor then turned and walked away. I have never seen such a self-center egotistically doctor as Dr Zahrawi. A doctor needs to listen to their patient and treat them with respect. After all it is my body, my life and I am the one that has to go through the procedures and suffer from the results if it is a bad diagnosis or procedure. We started looking for another doctor as soon as I got out of his office. I just returned from a visit with the new specialist and he spent time going over what he saw in the MRI and the various treatment options. He asked me if I had any concerns, told me what to expect in my treatment. I will never go back to Dr Zahrawi.

I had surgery 3 years ago, I wish I wouldn't have. After surgery I was walking worse, had broken instrumentation in lower back one month after surgery and he refused to continue treating me, because I still had an outstanding balance. This is the worse I've experienced.

Let me begin with the fact that this doctor was not very informative. My appointment began with a physical and they(the doctor and PA) looked over MRIs. I was told I needed surgery. The questions that this doctor asked me were inappropriate and should not have been asked. For example, where I was born, and where did my mother work? I'm 23 years old, these questions should not matter. I was in pain and needed help asap! I did not have insurance so it was out of pocket, he was worried that I would not be able to afford the surgery. HE ONLY CARES ABOUT THE MONEY! I was so upset and frustrated but I figured I'd let it go because maybe he'd help me. I was told he would contact that hospital to see if theres something they can help me financially. Now a week and a half later, I have not heard anything. I've been calling and trying to get answers but I keep running around in circles. The nurse Angela takes forever to respond to my calls and when she does, she does not help at all. I would not… recommend going to this doctor! He only cares about money and because I am unable to work due to my pain, he treats me differently!