Dr. Paul B Rizzoli, MD

Seen him for a few years and very drug oriented. Cared very little of side effects only that you listened to him. Made a complaint about bad response time and he became hostile and sent a 3 page derogatory patient message filled with misinformation. Doesn’t care about helping patients.

He told me Gabapentin has no side effects other than sedation. When I picked up the pills, it had 4 pages of box warnings!! He is a headache specialist and yet knows less about the side effects of pills he prescribes daily than doctors very far from this specialty. Other knowledge he was sorely missing.

Dr. Rizzoli is a competent doctor, however, his staff is sorely lacking. I have had several incidents where I needed to follow through with various things and it has been ridiculous. Phone call after phone call after phone call and things just don’t get done. This is not an efficient office.

Despite Dr. Rizzoli's excellent reputation, his bedside manners need some work. I did not receive a single smile or word of empathy from him during the entire visit. At some points (e.g., asking about frequency of my headaches) he was even patronizing. Very opinionated and does not involve you in your own care (e.g., whether you are comfortable with using a certain medication). In addition, he was facing the computer screen for most of my visit (even when he was NOT typing) — very poor eye contact. I was very disappointed by the way I was treated during this visit. Of course I received an expert opinion about my condition, and maybe this type of visit would have been appreciated by a patient 50 years ago, but it was not up to the standard of current healthcare practice. Truly disappointed. Will not recommend and will not return either.

I have been a patient of Dr. Rizzoli for quite a few year with migraine problems and although we still not even close to figuring out the reason for my never ending and debilitating problem (I don't have hopes that he can figure it out without drugging me into unconscious, but it is not his fault...), but we have been managing it with bearable amount of meds. My frustration is with not being able office stuff and not being able to get appointments when I need to ( I schedule 3 months in advance!), not being able to reach them by phone, being on hold for 15-20 minutes. I have to arrange delivery of some meds for injection and the pharmacy could not reach the office to do so for two weeks! They had to cancel the shipment and I did not get my meds on time! That translated into canceled appointment with Dr. Rizzoli and to schedule another one with him urgently you have to be a president... Extremely frustrating!!!

Dr Rizzoli may be very smart but what good is that when you don't receive the care you need in a timely manner. I am a chronic migraine sufferer and i see Dr Rizzoli for Botox Injections to prevent migraines as well as pain medicine and two preventive medications. I had a migraine every day for 2 weeks. I called Dr Rizzoli's office a few times and was not able to reach anyone. One time, I was on hold for 15 minutes, then someone picked up and hung up on me. I then emailed Dr Rizolli through patient gateway advising that I needed help as it was an emergency. He never responded. Two days later, i sent another email. No response. That was two weeks ago. My migraine has passed but I got no help from Dr Rizzoli to treat my migraine. I have a botox appointment scheduled for this week. Dr Rizzoli's office called this week to advise that my botox was never delivered. I called the mail order pharmacy and they stated that they had been trying to call Dr Rizzoli's office for two weeks and have… not received a call back so a delivery could not be scheduled. Now i'm in a tough spot because his appointment availability is so bad taht if I don't have the treatment this week, I won't be able to get another appointment for 3 months. He also isn't a very compassionate doctor. You can tell that he has never had a migraine in his life! I have had it and will be switching doctors. My PCP referred me to another Neurologist. Unless you have the patience of a saint, I suggest finding another doctor.

I would Highly Recommend this doctor, it may be difficult to get an appointment for your first visit, and you do need a referral, but it is well worth the wait. He is very very caring, understanding and will take the time to work with you to understand what your issues are. His staff is also very good at working with you. I had been suffering with Migraines for year's and been seeing a Neurologist (who referred me to Dr. Rizzoli), the first visit he agreed with the Diagonis of Chronic Migraine's or Daily Chronic Headaches, but went further, he scheduled a spinal tap, Sleep Specialist, Pain Clinic and further tests to confirm everything and see if there could be some additional help or relief. He also tried different medications and suggested other forms of relaxations. I have since started Botox treatments and it has helped a great deal. He is excellent!

Poor follow-up even with established patients.Poor office staff.Poor interpersonal skills.Bright but opinionated and his is the only one that counts...not willing to speak with other doctors and does not return their phone calls.Not "connected" or 'dialed in" to his patients. Can be very gruff and dismissive.Really not a compassionate person at all.Unless you can deal with all this, seek other help.

I have waited for over six months for his office to schedule a procedure he recommended. Answer from his office is there are a lot of patients ahead of you.You wait a long time to get an appointment with him and then he orders tests. You do not get results unless you keep calling. I wasted time suffering and waiting for him and his office to treat me. Frustraing!

My experience with him was horrible. He wasn't willing to help treat my severe migraine that lasted over 2 months. I tried to get an emergency call into him for help but they just said to go to ER which I did and they admitted me for a week. Dr. Rizzoli never came by my hospital room or anything. At follow up appt. he wouldn't help me when I said I still was in pain as I sat there crying my eyes out and said it was all in my head. He wrote in his report that he would refuse to treat me unless I sought the advice of a psych. I did see a psych who in fact said I was actually in a lot of pain and it was not "all in my head" as Dr. Rizzoli suggested. I sought a second opinion and found a wonderful neurologist who was able to cure my never ending migraine with a simple IV treatment, such a blessing. Dr. Rizzoli should be ashamed of himself that he refused to treat one of his long time patients for an emergency condition and left them to suffer. I don't know why he has such a good… reputation, he is a horrible dr!