Ronak Patel, MD

I visited Dr. Patel after my primary physician recommended an endocrinologist due to a neck sonogram. I have had thyroid nodules for well over a decade with zero issues/complications. Upon my visit with Dr. Patel he read the sonogram report off of my IPhone and immediately recommended surgery to remove my thyroid. He also arranged an appointment with a head and neck specialist who would perform the surgery. I raised concern because I would have to be on medication the rest of my life, to which he argued its technically not "medication" its just replacing what my body is no longer making. I also felt that surgery would be a bit extreme in my case. His response was "Elective surgery is the best kind to get. Just think about it this way, you wont ever have to worry about cancer or sonograms or follow up visits. If you were 90 years old I would just leave it, but since you are young, why not?" It is not as simple as remove my thyroid and off I go to live the rest of my life. I would be on… medication that would in essence cause me to have hypothyroidism. My life would change drastically due to a medication I would have to take daily that would alter my active lifestyle and also affect my quality of life. I would be subjected to constant adjustment of the medication. Why would I subject myself to this voluntarily? After some blood work he informed me that I had a very mild case of hyperthyroidism (which I have been told before). He recommended a thyroid uptake scan, which I did and he messaged me to mention all of the things I had been told by previous doctors that my thyroid is enlarged due to nodules. I had a biopsy in the past and the nodules were benign. He took the liberty to prescribe Methimazole and asked me to inform him of when my surgery date was set after my consultation with the head and neck specialist. I immediately called Walgreens to cancel the medication. If I am being completely honest, I feel that the way Dr. Patel practices medicine is quite scary. If I had a diagnosis of cancer then absolutely I would have surgery, but I have had nodules for well over a decade and have never required any medication. The theory that this doctor believes that removing my thyroid electively is best because of all of the things I would avoid worrying about is just as absurd as having a mammogram, finding a benign cyst and recommending the removal of both breasts so I would never have to worry about cancer or mammograms ever again. This type of doctor is dangerous because a lot of people take a doctors word as gospel and would never think to question their decision, especially elderly people. I would never recommend this doctor to anyone. Do not recommend this provider