Dr. Marinos C Dalakas, MD

I had previously been a patient of Dr. Rakocevic in this practice for approximately 8-9 years. He is SUCH a wonderful, compassionate & knowledgeable physician AND human being. Unfortunately, he left the practice & I received a phone call canceling my appointment on very short notice. I was asked to reschedule with another physician in the practice-these are your choices, choose NOW so that an appointment can be scheduled. I had no information about the other physicians & no time to research. I was advised that Dr. Marino’s Dalakas was the head of the Jefferson Neurology department so I chose him as my “new” physician. If he was the head of the department, he MUST be a great physician-right? WRONG!! My first appointment was SO impersonal-I don’t think he even introduced himself. He spent less than 10 minutes with me (my diagnosis is CIDP-at the time, I received 90 gm of IVIG every 3 weeks, for the past 9 years. Attempts to extend the length of time between treatments resulted in a… significant increase in symptoms- i.e. pain & paralysis in feet, lower legs & hands. After a 60 second “exam”, no discussion, he gave instructions to the resident who accompanied him to REDUCE the IVIG to 60 gm. I did speak up & question WHY that decision was made when Dr. Rakocevic & I had tried various combinations of meds & IVIG timing schedules over the years to find what was WORKING-why randomly make a change after meeting with me for 5 minutes? He didn’t have an answer so decided I should have blood tests & an EMG to test nerve function The result was that the nerve function was extremely poor & he ended up INCREASING IVIG to 100 gm every 3 weeks! When I returned for my second appointment, I was the first appointment of the afternoon (2:00)-he was in the hospital in the morning. I arrived early, taken to a treatment room on time & left with the door closed. This was the second week of the COVID-19 outbreak & it was obvious that there was minimal staff & that were NOT wiping down the treatment rooms!! I heard 2 other patients brought back to treatment rooms and finally heard his voice at2:20-except he did not come to my room (first appointment!). I was very annoyed but waited & then he went to the other patient in the third room! At this point it was 2:50. I was SO angry! I went to the front desk to complain & was asked “who are you?” which made it so much worse! I was finally directed to the office manager-advised her of the situation & that I was leaving-“And don’t you dare bill my insurance company!!”. She was so nice, agreed with my decision to leave. Dalacas called me the next day but just couldn’t bring himself to apologize!! Don’t want to see him again but don’t know where else to go. Can’t get appointment at Penn cause I’ve been treated so long at Jefferson. Uncomfortable switching to different MD at Jefferson plus have quite severe CIDP & unsure if I “trust” a physician who just finished a residency.

The 2 stars are given primarily for his outstanding resume. As for Dr. Dalakas’s commitment to excellent patient care, I must honestly give him 1 star for the care I have received thus far. After a disappointing initial visit I attempted to follow up with patient portal messages which went unanswered. After advocating for myself, my messages continued to be disregarded and my appointment was cancelled without an offer for rescheduling. I was also denied requested imaging without rescheduling of the cancelled OV and without a return call from Dr. Dalakas to discuss the issue. I will spare you the rest. At this time I will see a secondary neurologist at another institution, but as a patient with Dysautonomia, my family will help me to fight for the care I deserve fro Dr. Dalakas. Care all patients are entitled to. I should hope the doctor will be on his best behavior for patient lbs moving forward and I wish you all the best.

I brought my husband that has cidp in severe pain for a second opinion to see dr Dalakas . He didn’t look at my husbands medical records or recent bloodwork . Just asked my husband questions about his condition . Examined him . Didn’t want to listen to our concerns . Every time my husband mentioned his pain. The doctor said to him “ forget the pain” .A doctor should never say that. Never again !