Dr. Nikola Gajic

I saw Dr. Gajic three years ago, and from what I recall, his staff was very kind. I don't recall any extreme wait times either (I think only up to thirty minutes after my appointment time). I started seeing Dr. Gajic for a myriad of symptoms that were worsening (many present at birth and undiagnosed, some more recent). I had gone to the Emergency Room shortly after seeing him (for what turned out to be related to Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome/dysautonomia). He had run only A1C and TSH on me, and promptly decided that there was nothing wrong with me. I started to feel very overwhelmed by all of the mystery symptoms and the fact that I wasn't able to function or take adequate care of my basic needs, so I was crying a little bit and asked him (sincerely and not confrontationally) what I should do. He screamed, "Well there's nothing medically wrong with you, so suck it up!" Of course, it turns out that there is something medically wrong - I have a rare genetic condition called Ehlers-Danlos, which comes unsurprisingly with a myriad of other chronic, sometimes rare, conditions. Not at all upset that he didn't help with that diagnosis, but there is absolutely no call for verbal abuse, even if I'd turned out to be a hypochondriac or suffering from some other psychiatric disorder. There's no excuse for the constant invalidations, like "gastroentorologists only tell you they found inflammation because they don't want you to think you wasted your money," "your hands and feet turned cold and numb because it's cold outside" (this is related to why I went to the ER), "your pain is from anxiety and depression" (crippling pain from a lifetime of innumerable joint dislocations and connective tissue damage/weakness). The thing is, I wasn't anxious or depressed when I started seeing him, but I certainly did need mental health therapy after... I felt absolutely defeated, and even though I now have compassionate, competent, helpful doctors, I still feel dread that they will eventually treat me the same as this doctor and a few others have, and abandoning me. It's also worth noting that I have family members who see him. They specifically see him because he does not care and doesn't take their symptoms seriously... They hate going to the doctor, they hate facing their mortality, and they don't want to have even minor procedures done that could significantly improve their quality of life. He also gave out free samples of meds, which is indicative of at least some modicum of compassion. However, he ended up giving one of said relatives expired medication which made her severely ill, and barely even half apologized for it.

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flag | Submitted April 28, 2016