Dr. John C Saldarini, MD

I am 45 and go to the Summit Medical group. I was told I had breast cancer and wanted to begin treatment as soon as possible to remove the cancer from my body. He had the nerve to rejected payment for part of what I was told was necessary screening/testing before beginning my treatments. BlueCross is morally bankrupt and is not fair to patients and doctors like this allow them to be.

This Doctor is a shill for Horizon BCBS. He rejected a scheduled knee surgery where I needed an autograft and meniscus repair. I had been to 3 separate surgeons over a 7 month period who all advised that I needed surgery to repair the damage in my knee. I settled on the Hospital of Special Surgery (HSS) in NYC because it is considered as the top surgery center in the country with some of the best surgeons this country has to offer. It also is covered under Horizon BCBS. The surgeon Dr. Ranawat advised that I needed surgery and a surgery date was scheduled. Dr. Ranawat asked that I wear a brace and did not think physical therapy was necessary considering I had pain for 7 months already and had given the knee rest and had attempted my own rehab to no avail. As I was waiting for my surgery date to come, I was advised that Dr. Saldarini was overseeing the surgery for the insurance company and requested that I get physical therapy leading up to the surgery. I scheduled physical… therapy and had two sessions in which I experienced extreme pain and discomfort for multiple days after the PT. Knowing this, Dr. Saldarini sent another letter to HSS stating my surgery was denied and he now requested 6 total weeks of physical therapy even though the physical therapy is causing me pain and is not working. In his denial of my surgery, he also rejected my surgeons request to inject stem cells into my knee to aid in the recovery as he labeled the use of stem cells as "experimental." It should be noted that many top surgeons consider the use of stem cells very promising and want the best for their patients and will thus use them. After getting the denial, my surgeon conferenced with Dr. Saldarini to discuss the matter and have him reconsider. With the knowledge above, Dr. Saldarini held his position, knowing I am in pain and refused to take the word of an extremely well respected, seasoned surgeon that this surgery was not only needed but necessary on the date scheduled. Dr. Saldarini intentionally had me put off surgery knowing it would cause me pain and suffering. He knew that I am having trouble walking and in fact can not even walk on a treadmill for more than 15 seconds without my knee locking causing pain. He decided to hold his opinion to fit his agenda with Horizon BCBS and is making me go to PT even though it is not working and another surgeon respectfully asked him to reconsider. It should be noted that through this process, i never received a single call or communication from Dr. Saldarini or his staff to discuss how I feel and my thoughts on surgery. I hope this can help anyone who may be making a decision on surgery and to know the type of person you will be dealing with.

Doctor Saldarini was my husband's doctor for over 2 years. He tried his best to keep him on dialysis even when others wanted to take him off. My husband lived those 2 years because Doctor Saldarini not only listened to our concerns but taught us to understand the situation at hand which led to better treatment. Though his compassion, extreme knowledge, and willingness to work with us not against us, we were released of that feeling of not being in control. We had control of the situation thorough his caring and showing us what was needed. We worked as a team to try to bring my husband back to good health again. Sadly this was not in God's plans and his body just couldn't go on. However, when that day came Doctor Saldarini showed me the same compassion he had given thought out my husband's treatment. Doctor Saldarini also gave ME the best gift ever, a phone call stating how sad he was for my loss, but also the gratitude that I worked so well with him on the same goal, my husband's… illness. He is one of the finest Doctors I have ever had the pleasure to have as my family physician.