Dr. Leonard Saltz, MD

My dad was under his care. With stage 4 colon cancer he takes a wait and see approach. About a year later when my father was on his death bed dr saltz didnt have the decency to meet with the family and explain the situation. His nurse said "that would be unfair to other patients".

He is abrupt and not compassionate at all. I’m a physician myself and was so surprised by his attitude given his experience and position. He only knows chemotherapy as a treatment.

Treated my brother with stage 4 colon cancer. All he said was my brother's case was unique and gave him chemo up until 3 weeks before he passed. Poor bedside manner interested in money at the cost of his patients quality of life.

My brother was told on many occasions by dr. Saltz his CT should mucus on his stomach lining. Eight months later my brother had surgery when the found cancerous tumors on his stomach lining, not mucus. This prevent my brother from getting a procedure for the cancer on his liver. The outcome did not end well.

Dr. Saltz does not treat his patients like human beings. He simply announces his plan in a harsh manner, and immediately gets defensive and argumentative when questions are asked. His bedside manner is the worst I have ever seen in my life in 10 years as a patient at MSKCC. He treated me like a dog. Makes sense, as he manages the number of available beds in the hospital. When I had nurses page his team to get him to come back to speak with me again, shortly after he finished rounding, he never came. To him, patients are just a number. No empathy, no compassion, terrible to work with. Try to avoid or disregard if he is your Inpatient Doctor. I cannot imagine working with him Outpatient. Essentially, complete ***hole.

I’ve given much thought to what to say about Dr. Saltz. I think doctors in general are much like auto mechanics. If they can find and fix the problem they are great if not you’re unhappy with the work. To this date my car is running fine and I am in good shape and in total repair and also running fine. I had a very unusual/rare reoccurrence of my colorectal cancer after the operation. I am very pleased with the way Dr. Saltz is treating me. He is very knowledgeable and honest in his his approach.

Ten years ago I was diagnosed with anal cancer. I had never been sick a day in my life. As a life long New Yorker I had many top doctors as friends and neighbors. I did thorough research, and the name that came up repeatedly was Dr. Leonard Saltz at Memorial Sloan Kettering. What a remarkable man. Not only is he brilliant, but he cares deeply about his patients. After major abdominal surgery, my anal cancer was on hold. But I subsequently developed multiple myeloma, an incurable blood disease, and Dr. Saltz did not abandon me. After recommending an excellent myeloma specialist at MSK, Dr. Saltz continues to keep an eye on me.One evening at 9, I received a call asking me to come to Urgent Care. Dr. Saltz had been reviewing my latest blood test results and wanted something checked out. He returns e-mails and phone messages immediately, and is never too busy to help you. Dr. Saltz saved my life. I am honored to know him. Alice Fixx, ten year patient of Dr. Leonard Saltz.

Please take the time to read carefully Beware's comments about this doctor. We too visited this doctor many times in the past year and a half in the belief that he was a leader in the field of colorectal cancer. I have never met a doctor that was so cold and uncaring with not even 1% of what you would call a reasonable bedside manner. After surgery and waiting 3 months to see how the latest round of chemotherapy was working, he literally walked in.the door and said it wasn't working, the cancer had spread, he was referring us back to our hometown hospital and recommended medication that he said hasn't had good results. No time for questions and he just walked out and left us alone with this news. Even if he sent in another staff member to help explain what was next, our options, and at least taken the time to answer our questions, it would have been much appreciated. MSK promotes its facility as providing the best cancer care available by treating each patient with the best care… possible, both physically and emotionally, but this doctor definitely does not live up to the hospital's mission. I've seen several other reviews who have experienced similar problems, and I just wanted to save others from having such a painful experience after selecting this doctor.

I was misdiagnosed, went 4 years believing i had metastatic colon cancer, had chemo but was too sick to tolerate it. A biopsy to determine with certainty was not done. Dr saltz recomended a new trial drug which requred a biopsy which showed that I did not have metastatic colon cancer. I have primary lung cancer which has gone undiagnosed for 4 years.

Using this doctor was a HUGE mistake. His bedside manner is horrible, but we were willing to put up with his terrible attitude thinking we would be getting the best possible care being that he is head of Gastrointestinal Oncology department in Sloan Kettering. Nothing could be farther from the truth! This man, I can't even call him a doctor, was cold and abrupt, uncaring and just plain mean. If you are considering using this doctor please beware and save yourself a lot of pain and heartache, and maybe even your life.