Dr. Steven Rudolph Speth, MD

A local Dr. in Helena tried to steer me away from surgery as if my severe low back pain was going to somehow fix itself after years of getting worse. After going along with all of the shots and waste of money therapy, I was finally able to meet with Dr. Speth. Right off the bat he acknowledged that I must be in a lot of pain and said that he could help. During my surgery he removed the bone cyst that had been pressing against the nerve at C4-5 and changed my life. My family and I will always be grateful to this man for the fine job that he did. Thanks again Dr. Speth!

All the tests ie MRIs, Nerve Conductivity and a long history of extreme low back pain pointed to L4/disc damage that required surgery. All conversations with Speth concerned this damage. At no time did Speth discuss cutting me from T12 to 3 inches below the back of my pelvis and screwing 4 vertebrae cages into my vertebrae, and installing rods on the left and right side that extend from T12 to 3 inches below the top of my pelvis where they are screwed in. And after 12 hours of surgery with me almost bleeding out and loss of blood pressure he stopped without fusing L4. He wrote in the surgery notes that L4 had no nerve signal. I became "aware" of my surroundings 14 days after my surgery. A week later, using a walker, my wife took me to my post op appointment with Speth. He walked into the examination room and never showed any concern for how I was--instead he wanted to know why I wasn't wearing my back brace! I told him he hadn't had one made for me. He didn't say anything--he… left the room for approximately 5 minutes. When he returned he never brought up the back brace again. Now he wanted to know if I needed more pain drugs? I told him I was Not taking Oxy or Valium. He looked at my wife--she repeated what I had said. He Never asked about my reaction to these meds during the previous two weeks. My reaction was hallucinations and night mares. He demanded that I take all the Oxycodone and Valium that he had prescribed. I told him I was Not going to get "Hooked" on Oxy and Valium. Speth does Not care about my health or quality of life. Speth Crippled me. And I told him so! His answer was, "I didn't do anything wrong." I answered with I know--you have a license to practice and that's just what you did. Today, Sept 11, 2018, I drove with my wife for 25 miles and nearly fell over when I got out! Extreme pain with all my left leg strength gone. It came back in a couple minutes. At night I don't sleep because the aching is constant with No escape. Speth Never explained what he had planned to do to me. He led me to believe I would get L4 fused and be back at it again. There will Never be "back at it again" for me. I would have NEVER given him my consent if he had been honest. But Speth has NO integrity. He feels he is Not accountable to anyone--especially a disabled combat Vet. His appointment reports Never state that I told him of the extreme pain I still had from L4. During a follow up MRI he instructed the technician to NOT scan the Lumbar region! St. Vincent Hospital in Billings won't operate on L4 because of all the metal that Speth screwed into me. He Crippled me!! If you need back surgery--RUN from Speth!!