Eileen
Avoid Dr Kann at Tri-State Orthopedics
Sought medical care for extreme pain on the bottom/ball of my right foot, below the second toe. Consulted w/Dr. Kann & he advised that my hammer toe was causing the issue & correcting it would alleviate the pain. I shared w/ him 2 additional areas of concern on the same foot, though neither caused me pain yet: a Tailor’s Bunion, below my pinky toe & the minor left curvature of my 4th toe. We agreed to address all 3 w/ surgery. Upon checking in for surgery, I noticed only 2 of the areas were described in the surgical plan. I brought this to Dr. Kann's attention. He modified the surgical “order” & I signed it. Post surgery I was surprised to find only two pins in my 2nd & 4th toe & nothing other than an incision on the right side of my Tailor’s bunion; but again, I trusted the doctor addressed all 3 areas as discussed. I saw Dr Kann 4 times over the 6 months following pin removal/regular follow-up appointments to communicate my concerns: 1) was still experiencing pain on the ball of my foot, below the second toe, 2) second toe was no longer arched, i.e. hammered, but it was not touching the ground—it pointed up. 3. The 4th toe was as curved, if not more curved, than pre surgery. 4. There now was a hard knot under my 4th toe and it was very painful to walk on. 5. There now was pain on the ball of my foot at the base of the 4th toe. 6. There was now pain on top of the 4th toe. 7. There now was pain under the Tailors Bunion below my pinky toe. 8. The Tailors Bunion was unchanged. Each time I went to Dr. Kann’s office I waited at least 45-75 minutes after my appointment time to see him. This happened every time, demonstrating no respect or regard for his patients nor their time & greed by overbooking his schedule vs allotting sufficient time to provide his patients quality attention, time & care. Every appointment I would communicate the above issues & he would say, “These things take time, be patient” despite it being 5-, 6- and 7-months post-surgery. After the 3rd “I’m concerned” appointment, we agreed to order orthotics to see if it would help relieve the pain I was experiencing. Desperate for relief, I accepted his proposal. He agreed to pay for the orthotics, recognizing, I suppose, that the surgery did not go as planned. The orthotics were ordered. As I waited for the orthotics to be made, I found myself, 8.5 months after surgery, to be worse off than before the surgery. My hammer toe is corrected but no relief has been recognized on the ball of my foot. Prior to surgery, I did not step on my fourth toe nor was there any pain associated with that toe but now its curvature is greater, thus I step on it constantly when walking, the knot under the toe causes major pain with every step, and there now is incremental/new pain both under my fourth toe & the pinky toe. On top of all this, I learned in the last appointment w/ Dr. Kann that he did nothing to address the Tailor’s Bunion & that the removal of a bursae on the underside of my foot below my pinky toe is all he did. I was floored to discover this was in lieu of, not in addition to, a solution to the Tailors Bunion. Clearly Dr. Kann was not listening to this patient’s needs because he initially omitted from the surgical plan one of the areas of concern & then performed a surgical procedure that did not address my complaint. I asked Dr. Kann what the solution is to address the 4th toe for it is causing me more pain than anything & his reply was “Nothing. I’m not operating on you again.” I was blown away that he was not taking any accountability for his ineffective surgery and offered no solution. He said he’d send me for a second opinion. In response, having lost all confidence, I requested that he reimburse my out-of-pocket expenses & I'll seek my own correction/hope my insurance will pay for it. He replied, “That’s now how it works." He then said, “What, you think you can go to a restaurant, order a burger and then 8 months later come back and say you didn’t like the burger and ask for your money back?” This blew me away, especially since he’s the one that kept saying, “these things take time, be patient.” Furthermore, he said, “Do you think all surgeries work out? It’s not a perfect science.” I have no problem that there’s no 100% guarantee, but to take no responsibility nor offer any solution is not acceptable. I was frustrated and angry. I ended up leaving that day without the orthotics (didn’t know I had to bring specific shoes). I called this week to reschedule the orthotics fitting and was advised I now have to pay for them. Hold a doctor accountable and they retaliate. Note: I’ve seen other doctors at Tri-State Orthopedics and they are fabulous. Not Kann!!! PS I find it interesting that all of his reviews on their site are glaringly positive--not one mention of being late or anything negative. Filtering reviews is false advertising in my opinion.