Dr. Howard W. Weiss, MD

Very bad office communication with patients,they don't call you back and follow thru with services they tell you .

Dr. Weiss listened to me when my doctor would not. He diagnosed & treated my RSD. He takes his time, he listens, & he truly cares!! I have & will continue to recommend him!

I've been a patient of this dr. For almost 10yrs. I've had over 50 surgeries all different (from kidney stones, to failed spinal surgery.) I began going here because at first they "acted"as if they cared. I have fought to stay alive over a dozen times. I am suppose to be treated for my spine which is broke, and abdomen pain because to take me to surgery is life threatening when it comes to my abdomen because it has so much scar tissue the surgeons can't see and my last one I nearly hemorrhaged to death because an artery didn't get closed and kept bleeding until I had over 7 pints of blood in my abdomen. Dr. Weiss agreed he would treat the scar tissue pain but as yet to do anything when I've ripped it causing me to bend over into a fetal position. My spine I have had to endure 14 epidermal blocks and have yet to get any relief! The last selected nerve block he did caused me to have a spinal fluid leak that he refused to fix and sent me home with some strong narcotics (the same… narcotics he accuses people of abusing) I went home and for over 3 months unable to barely get out of bed. I called many times and he just told me to up my narcotics. Well doc i Don't WANT YOUR MEDICATION I want to get rid of this horrible spinal headache!!! After the 3 months past which was most of summer he finally took me back and did a blood patch which made a world of difference! First off to become his patient you must sign a pain contract in which you agree not to get any pain Meds of any kind from any other person including the emergency room. I have had to suffer thru several kidney stones without pain Meds. I have had joints replaced and was allowed to have pain medicine for just a couple of days even though I was to be on pain medicine for around a month. I had pain in my upper back for 5 years I complained they did an x-Ray and said I had minor arthritis. Well a few weeks later I woke up and could not move my head or neck. Finally I got them to do a MRI and I had a ruptured disc, and bone spurs so large they were cutting into my spinal cord (which meant at some point I would be paralyzed from the neck down). I just had surgery on two joints one went as planned but one did not! According to everything I've read I should be in pain for 6-8 weeks, but I wasn't even allowed two weeks of pain medicine. Then I was called a drug addict in front of my mom who worked in the ER for over twelve years and was appalled he called me an addict. As a patient I believe this is medical negligence. Leaving me to suffer on purpose is cruel, especially since I've done everything asked of me!!! Now I've just been informed he wants me off all medication (apparently my broken back has been healed, the ruptured disc is gone, and my abdomen no longer has any scar tissue, not to mention the kidney stones I produce from both kidneys at the rate of one a week so that's two a week I'm expected to endure without anything for pain, which if you've ever had one you know how painful they are! This doctor and his staff have NO empathy, no compassion, and could care less if you live at a zero pain level or a ten!! I have gotten so desperate I've considered going to his office and make him and his team of "nurses" watch as I end my life! They make you frustrated, depressed, angry, and like you are no better than someone who steals to get drug money! This is how alcoholics are created, drug addicts, and people that get so desperate they'd rather die than live a life of pain so bad that getting to the bathroom is a struggle!! My father died and I had to ride almost 1000 miles and was not allowed one extra pain pill to get thru it, I mean I didn't sleep for three days because I paced the hallways taking care of my mom who has a heart condition, and I called three times begging for help because stupid me thought "PAIN MANAGEMENT" meant if I was in pain they'd help. NOT. I have kept my phone records to prove how many times I called and how long it took them to get back to me. If U miss your appt than he can get rid of you with no notice, which means where are U going to get the Meds he has put you on?? I was told by him to go to the ER and have them call once I arrived and I was dumb enough to believe this, but the ER doctors will not call it's his way of getting rid of you! I've had over 130 broken bones in my life, and I also had my first disease by 13 so I've had pain Meds in my life since I was a kid, it's been over 30 years I cannot help I've built up a tolerance to medications. So what does that mean I'm a bad person? I've tried everything else before I ever was put on narcotics but because that's how I get relief (not like I'm pain free by any means!). I've seen thousands of doctors in my lifetime and I can name on one hand how many were good and that's a shame. May GOD help us all!!mb

I have had mediocre health since my childhood, so I have seen my fair share of Dr.'s & I would DEFINATELY NOT rate this office on my list of well run. While they have improved slightly over the past year, they have always been a running joke in my family. Comments like, "Noooo, they didn't goof up your medication again? Not them." I have been with MPM for about 7 years now, & the ONLY reasons I haven't switched are that I am from out of state & don't know who "is" good here, for most of my time w/ MPM I could not even walk (HORRID pain), I have other health issues which keep me far from energetic, & I DO like Kathey, Dr. Weiss' internest. She is thorough, & quite possibly the only one in that office who is. On prescriptions. Often times it has taken me several calls to recieve my script in the mail. When it doesn't arrive on time (or hasn't even been sent at all after calling) I'm the one left waiting until THE DAY OF its being due to try & straighten things out. Which might… not be so bad if MPM were like other Dr. offices where you can immediately get a nurse on the phone or recieve a call back, but here, sadly this is not the case. You will wait, & wait, & wait, & then you have to call them back as the day is winding to an end. You will call & tell the secretary (whom you've already spoke w/ & who repeatedly sends you to an answering service) that they still haven't gotten back to you & that you need your medication. Not fun, especially since the nurses there are not the nicest when it comes to these thing's. You can always expect to be spoken to in the tone of "bad child," or the "addict tone," or the "blame tone." Many times I've heard an accusitory, "well I don't know, we mailed it," or "oh our answering machine wasn't working this week so we didn't get any msgs people left," etc. & so on. There's been many excuses through the years. So don't call anyone normally due around that week & let them know?! Again, this wouldn't be a big deal if their mistakes were not on a constant basis. Many times I've had to tell them to give me me a new script & that I would return the other as soon as it arrived in the mail (if they sent it at all, & thankfully I have always eventually recieved it, because who knows, if they screwed that up & I hadn't returned a late one, they'd probably never allow this exchange situation again I'm sure). The sad part is, I ALWAYS call w/ enough time alloted for the mail to arrive & not be an issue. I also have NEVER given them reason for any distrustful tones. EVER. I am like a Dr.'s dream patient. So my guess is they just act this way to everyone since there are so many problems w/ pain management drugs these days... but really, it's RUDE!! In the end, many patients like myself live out of town, & in this event of late scripts now have to spend a 1/2 day or longer driving back & forth for a prescription! Again, not a big deal if they didn't screw it up on a regular basis, but we've come to expect this behavior at our household & are now shocked when there aren't issues w/ my prescription. Also on MANY occassions they have written the wrong date on my prescriptions, even the wrong YEAR!! Sometimes I let it go if it's only a day or two off, but this eventually builds up through the months & you end up short in supply for a month when they're repeatedly shorting you a few days every other month or so. Speaking of which... another issue I find in concern to this (especially since, again, you CANNOT get a nurse on the phone but are rather directed to a machine), any Dr. I've had in the past wants to make sure you have extra medication on hand in case there are problems such as these. They've always given me my prescriptions a few days early here and there. A few have actually written scripts w/ extra to keep on hand for cases such as these. It's forseeable, this is life, we're humans right? It's gonna happen so be prepared. Not the case w/ Dr. Weiss. Dr. Weiss WILL NOT fill on any day except for the fill date 30 days ahead. Again, this would be fine if they weren't continual problems, but there are. If you are going on vacation (I leave for home, out of state, for a month at a time some times) they will only forward you a 2 week supply. Almost like you need babysitting. I've been w/ them SEVEN YEARS now! I think the trust factor should come into play! I find this rude. I've explained to them that my state is far worse w/ filling these types of medications, especially when the script is from out of state, & on some occassions I haven't been able to fill them at all back home. Not good. Especially since I was under contract on many of these occassions for jobs when I could still work (I was self employed prior to our move to IL & much of my work would still flow in from out of state). Being under contract for events which only fall on one day means even if my script didn't come, I HAD to be there. How is that possible w/ a physically dependant body? Again, I find this rude, & showing a lack of care & empathy for their patients. Lastly on scripts, if I ask that one be called in to the pharmacy (especially if I'm also calling one in at the same time that has to be mailed - in this case it WILL not be called in until you call back & remind them), they NEVER remember to do this. In fact this occurec today. My script is due, they never called it in, & now I have to wait until the weekend is done to call and nag them, & this will probably carry out until tues. or wed. before I see the script. Whatever... Out of these past seven years I can count on my hands how many times they've actually called in this particular script on time. This really tells me one thing only. They DON'T care! Even if they're overworked/understaffed, it still tells me they don't care because otherwise they'd do something about it. I've had to

not a good experience-unfriendly staff,not willing to work with patient,do not return messages promptly

not good experience and don't go to their friends that they recommend

I have been a patient of Dr Weiss for 10 years. The only reason I rated him "good" for waiting time during a visit is because it does take time for him to get to each appointment. This is not a bad thing because he ALWAYS spends as much time as a patient needs, sometimes making him run behind. Dr Weiss is an excellent pain management physician, and I would not want to see anyone else other than him for my pain issues.

Spent the time to explain thigns