Gustavo Westin, MD

I was referred to Dr. Westin because I was severely anemic; however, from the very first appointment, his ability to communicate effectively was very poor. He would order tests and not provide any information on them even when I would ask. He ordered weekly infusions and when I asked how many weeks I would need them, he said he didn't know. He said we had a lot of ground to make up to get my iron levels up so I had to rearrange meetings with clients at work to accommodate these infusions thinking it would be at least 4 - 6 weeks; however, he only tested my iron level during my very first visit. After 2 infusions, he told me he didn't need to see me any longer because my hemoglobin was back within normal limits; however, he did not check my iron levels. (This was a poor decision.) The doctor who referred me to him was concerned how quickly I was discharged from treatment so he ordered iron levels and we sadly found my iron levels were still very very low. The doctor wanted to send to me… another hematologist but I declined and decided to just take oral iron supplements instead. (It is evident that for every one competent physician there are 100 incompetent physicians). It has taken me a year and my iron levels are almost normal. Ultimately, Dr Westin's greatest opportunity for improvement is discussing the who, what and why behind what he is doing or ordering. He needs to provide details.

Dr. Westin has an obvious negative bias and prejudice against female patients, and he allows it to distort his medical opinion. He does not properly document symptoms, medical history, or current ongoing evaluations. He writes notes in medical records with a heavy bias towards emotional characterizations (upset, frustrated, etc.) When telling him about my symptoms, totally unrelated to any emotional issues, he asked me if I have a history of anxiety or depression. He said that he was only ordering tests because I was "scared." He did not document the recent diagnosis I received from a neurologist but instead only referenced a comment from a previous neurologist that was almost 2 years old. He put this old irrelevant note at the top of my medical records, along with a false claim covering for another doctor in the same practice. I was switched to Dr. Westin supposedly because I am a medical mystery and needed a doctor with a stronger academic background. He did not display the… appropriate medical knowledge to understand and evaluate my condition. He seemed to label me from the first visit according to old school ideas about women's health problems being emotional or hormonal in nature. He displayed no knowledge of the conditions other doctors have been evaluating me for, and expressed no curiousity or interest into their findings. He reminded me that he went to medical school when he was 19, his hair is getting gray and he has been practicing for a long time. That seems to be exactly what the problem is, he has not updated his medical knowledge or his attitudes towards patients. He ordered an MRI incorrectly that had to be repeated on a different machine. He did not even know how to order the correct MRI and had to be guided by a radiologist, and even after the hospital told me that he still did not code the MRI correctly. He gave me lab orders to test for a rare condition, but pressured me to do these tests in house against recommended protocol. The in house lab cannot even keep up with their labels, much less handle sensitive samples correctly. He dragged out my requests for an outside lab for almost 2 months with multiple staff members calling me giving different answers. When I went back on my next visit the lab had printed the wrong test according to his orders. The lab told me they could not send samples to Mayo, but he pressured me to do the tests anyway claiming he would ask the lab manager. I caught him in multiple untruths regarding lab tests or my MRI order, and I cannot say whether it was due to dishonesty or sheer incompetency, but my impression is that he was lying. When I questioned him, he responded by labelling me as getting "frustrated" "upset" etc. He wrote in my records that I was "verbally abusive." I simply told him why I was frustrated and questioned why he was not concerned about my symptoms. The frustration began on my first visit with him when he left me waiting in the exam room until closing time. He had no idea he was even supposed to see me. I walked out in the hallway and he asked me who are you waiting for. I said, you. My only mistake here is that I didn't walk away the minute that happened. Dr. Westin cannot even keep up with what patients he is supposed to see.