Dr. John Peter Winikates, MD

After waiting for TWO months to see this doctor, (I have sleep apnea and he and one colleague are the only two sleep specialists in town, and see sleep patients only on certain days of the week,) I waited almost an hour in the exam room for him to come in. He was, as others have noted, dismissive, aloof and distant. It's been quite a long time since I have seen a doctor with this kind of demeanor. I will not be back. It's a shame, too, because I find the staff in this office to be some of the very best I've ever encountered.

Ive had cluster headaches ever since returning from Desert Storm. The VA has never helped me. Atleast he has been trying different meds to help and hasn't given up on me. All I can say is hes a great Dr.

I found Dr. Winnikates to be a really frustrating individual to deal with. There was no empathy shown and in fact it was if he couldn't be less interested in the patient's well being. His diagnosis included about a half dozen "possibilities" that ranged from a prognosis of 2yrs or less to something that wasn't life threatening and stated that "I would find out eventually which it was. Duh!!?? I knew that much before going to see him and I am not a doctor. He promised to provided some feedback to me if I brought in some information, which I did. Followed up multiple times. His assistant reminded him several times...never got feedback. When I asked for a referral to a more specialized doctor who could give me a more definitive diagnosis, he acted put out, but did end up giving me the name of an excellent doctor. I ended up changing to another doctor. He obviously didn't care much whether he had me as a patient, which convinced me that I no longer cared to have him as a… doctor.

I became one of Dr. Winikates' patients after another partner in the practice he works for retired. My first visit with him was terrible. I have suffered spinal cord damage which affected my balance and left me with chronic pain syndrome and "ghost pains" such as people who have lost limbs still feel pain in the missing limb. I will suffer from these things for the rest of my life. I had been told this by two other neurologists, a neurosurgeon, an orthopedic surgeon, pain management specialists, a physiatrist, rehab people, and other doctors. My first visit to Dr. Winikates turned into a lecture immediately after introductions and a handshake. He lectured me about taking pain medication and how I needed to get off of them or all I would become is an old person taking pain medication. He never discussed my condition, asked about my symptoms, my treatments and their effectiveness, or anything with me. He lectured me and then rushed me out of the office. I was so stunned I was speechless.… On my second visit I stated my displeasure at his conduct at the first visit. He listened in detached silence and never commented on anything I had said or apologized. I was prescribed a medication that was an anti-seizure drug whose side effects were successful with easing some types of pain. While it did ease some of my symptoms, since taking the medication I had been having multiple daily bouts of severe muscle cramps all over my body, especially in my limbs. They were painful enough that at times my eyes would tear up and I would actually cry out in pain. I brought this up at this visit and he flat blew me off. He quadrupled the dosage of this medication saying this was what I needed because I wasn't taking enough of it. It literally put me into a stupor which was so bad co-workers wanted to drive me home when they saw me at work that night. Within a few days cramps were both more frequent and more intense. One sudden bout of the cramps in my forearms and hands caused me to lose control of my vehicle and crash into a fence doing over $1500.00 worth of damage to the door and fender. Fortunately it was my fence and I was backing into my driveway when it happened. Two other times cramps occurred while I was in traffic and I had to steer by sticking my arms through the opening in my steering wheel and guiding the vehicle off the road until the cramps stopped. At night, cramps in my calves were almost nonstop and painful beyond endurance. I stopped taking the medication and researched it online. I found that my symptoms were well documented side effects of this drug. The article said that it produced muscle cramps and "palsy-like symptoms." It said lawsuits were pending against the manufacturer for promoting off-label uses for the drug, primarily as a pain medication. Evidence showed the manufacturer had distorted test data and had used bribes to encourage and promote this drug for other uses. The visit after this I told Dr Winikates about wrecking my vehicle and the other close calls I had had when suddenly struck by cramps. I told him about the night cramps and about what I had found out about the drug. I explained how my cramps had ceased almost completely within a few days of stopping the drug. I even gave him a print out of the drug information I had found. He could not have cared less! He never even looked at the papers I gave him and acted like he did not believe me and never acknowledged he was aware of any of it. He didn't ask or comment about my cramps stopped after discontinuing the medicine. Subsequent visits continued to make me feel like I was an imposition on his time. Questions I had were responded to as a harried parent would respond to a 5 year old with a bout of the "Whys? Finally, enough was enough. My chronic pain worsens in direct proportion to my activity. I had always taken just enough pain medication to take the edge off the pain and allow me to be mobile and function. In the decade plus I have been in pain management I had never asked for an increase in strength or dosage of the medications I take once an acceptable level was found. I had never asked for stronger drugs or an early refill. By my request I had also been to a pain management clinic seeking an alternative treatment for which none was available because of the nature of my injuries. However, I was told the amount of pain medication I was taking was low all things considered. Since my injury and before I was working full time, often 7 days a week with 2 to 4 hours of overtime during weekdays and a 2 1/2 hour commute each day. I seldom missed work and I was certainly not laying around at home in a narco-stupor. I felt I was a good and responsible patient. On my last visit to Dr. Winikates I told him I had a "good month" where I didn't have to spend any downtime unable to move and I hadn't fallen from my balance condition. He said "Great!" and immediately reduced the amount of pain medication I was taking by 20% on the prescriptions he wrote me. He didn't say this out loud to me, of course. He was chatty for the first time ever and he told me the practice was being investigated by law enforcement for over-prescribing narcotics because a patient had been robbing drug stores, was caught, and claimed one of the doctors there had gotten him addicted. I understood then what the obsession was with the pain medication I was being prescribed. Even though I was a patient with a medical need that was documented and provable, he was willing to sacrifice my care for his own ends! After getting my prescription filled and seeing what he did, it was the last straw. The total disregard of me and my needs as a patient, the rushed office visits, the dismissal of my concerns and questions, ignoring medication side effects and not bothering to check on the drug to follow-up my complaints, all topped off by the indifferent, "Go away kid- you both