I was an established patient of Hutzel's and in good standing with him. I had an espisode of excruciating pain & admitted to the hospital. After 24 hours and a lot of confusion among the attendants and a lack of physicians, the hospital released me with no treatment other than pain meds. To add to the misery, once home when I called Dr Hutzel as I was advised to do, he reprimanded me for leaving the hospital (as if there was a choice) and provided NO care, no meds, no follow up. I was forced to call another provider and within an hour, the proper meds were ordered and follow up care arranged. The lack of integrity to get the hospital story straight was alarming enough, but the absence of care was unacceptable. If this is Hamot's mission for excellence, this is frightening. His staff called to aplogize. I switched doctors.

Submitted Feb. 19, 2020

All he is good for is the sniffles other than that he sent you to a . specialist, he seems very arrogant not understanding and not compassionate when confronted he gets very nasty and then when you're in front of him he takes it all back I would not see David Hutzel

Submitted Dec. 4, 2019

he does NOT care about his patients at all. Very unpassionate and unprofessional. By far the worst Doctor I have ever seen. Not to mention, while sitting in the waiting room you can hear his staff discussing the previous patients problems/illnesses. I even overheard them discussing a lump they found on one of the patients Pap tests. I can't believe this disgusting man is still in practice

Submitted Oct. 1, 2017

He is regulated by UPMC and one can not choose their own pharmacy . You are restricted to UPMC rules -your care is not considered in what works best for the patient but what will bring in more money from UPMC

Submitted Jan. 6, 2016

I am amazed at how many others have had equally horrible experiences with this doctor. I am going to bring this to the attention of the UPMC Hospital board, the AMA, and the Department of Health and Human Services. I have been thinking about reviewing Dr. Hutzel for about 4 years now. I don't have any idea if he's a good doctor or not. What I do know is that he was extremely reckless with life changing information he gave to my mother, his patient at the time. My mother had recently started seeing him in the summer of 2011 when she complained of being hard of breathe. Rather than doing his own testing or referring her to a specialist, he relied on an inaccurate supposition in a report he was sent from another physician. In doing so, he blatantly told my mother that she suffered from Mesothelioma and had 4 months to live.

After she told me this I was devastated! I immediately started researching Mesothelioma and found that the leaders in this field were conducting screenings in Pittsburgh, PA. I made her an appointment, packed a bag, and flew from Florida to be at her side. After our appointment at the leading facility in the nation researching Mesothelioma, the chief surgeon said in no uncertain terms..."you are Not dying and you do NOT have Mesothelioma." So in essence, he gave her her life back. She still had lung issues, but not life threatening.

My problem with Dr. Hutzel is that he put a death sentence, complete with a timeframe for death, into my mother's head and she was never the same from that day. How could she be? Subsequently, we approached her illness aggressively armed with a correct and informed diagnosis, went through many ups and downs, but I could not erase the damage that Hutzel had done. At one point he came to see her in the ICU and I banned him from entering her room or having anything to do with her as a patient.

He may be a nice man. He may be a good GENERAL doctor to treat colds. But he is NOT qualified to determine a patient is dying without ever doing one single test or even knowing about the disease of Mesothelioma, since it was so new in the medical environment at that point. We know that in order to develop Mesothelioma one needs to have been exposed to active asbestos over a very long period, i.e. construction workers, roofers, HVAC workers, etc. Not a white-collar professional woman who's never been exposed to asbestos anymore than the rest of us.

I will never forgive him for the damage he did and the life he took from my mother. Had he never said that to her over and over she would not have had a mindset that she was dying. I would caution him to have a more responsible approach to such important matters. Matters on which he is not qualified to speak. I would also caution patients to be careful with the level of medical advice you are seeking from him, outside of colds or chicken pox.

Submitted Oct. 18, 2015

My mother had a horrible experience with him. As many people state, he is easily frustrated but also really arrogant. I think there are other docs in Erie who have more patience with elderly rather than risk a bad experience with him.

Submitted Sept. 15, 2015

Dr. Hutzel is hands down the best doctor I have ever had. He has great bedside manner. He's knowledgeable but if he doesn't have an answer he doesn't make something up. He will make a referral to a specialist. I have seen him 2-3 times a year for the past six years. I'll say, one time he seemed to be not on his A game but he was not condescending and did not appear frustrated (just not his usual self). I dislike feeling like a doctor is not really listening and is trying to get rid of me (like my gynecologist). Dr. Hutzel has never given me that impression.
As for his staff, I personally have never had a problem with them. One time I called ( last minute) to have my records copied to take with me to Cleveland. She explained that she may not have time to do it on short notice. However, I got a call a couple hours later and she copied my records for me on her break!!! That was above and beyond.
Dr. Hutzel is the only doctor my son (who is a young man) has ever liked. I don't have to hear negative comments anymore when he has to go for his physicals....bonus!!

Submitted May 4, 2015

Dr. Hutzel is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I have been his patient for many years and have a huge family and personal heart related conditions. Dr. Hutzel has always been there for me, explains procedures, text results and takes the time to make sure that all my questions and concerns have been taken care of . He is one of the kindest, most knowledgeable, detailed oriented Doctors I have ever been to. He has referred me to the Cleveland Clinic who specializes in my condition. I continue to see him regularly and he keeps in contact with my Doctor from Cleveland and keeps up on everything going on with me. I do not know what I would do without him. I would highly recommend to everyone. His staff are very professional and kind and go out of there way to meet your needs.

Submitted April 24, 2015

I was in stage 4 cancer when I went to dr. Hutzel......I am here today in remission.....he is one of the most caring people I have ever met....always takes the time for me...never in a hurry...talks to me about everything...I don't know what people are talking about when they say he doesn't know what he is doing...his staff is wonderful as well!!!!

Submitted Feb. 9, 2015

Staff was very unprofessional. Dr. Hutzel seemed like a nice and caring doctor but when he can not figure something out he is easily frustrated and gives up. This leads me to believe he is unknowledgeable. I would not recommend him to my worst enemy.

Submitted Sept. 22, 2012