Dr. Lisa Gfrerer, MD

I had a terrible experience with Dr. Gfrerer and am writing this in hopes that I can help someone else avoid the same. Dr. Gfrerer performed a procedure on my foot one year ago. I was planning to have the procedure mid-August, and needed to be 100% functional when I began teaching at the beginning of September. Dr. Gfrerer assured me that I would be. One year later I still am not. In my consultation, Dr. Gfrerer also told me that I would be able to walk on my heal but not the ball of my foot post procedure, but I woke from the procedure to find that I had to be non-weight-bearing (on crutches) for a week. At my follow-up appointment with the nurse practitioner (not Dr. Gfrerer), I was told that I would need physical therapy and that it would be at least 2 months until I was back to normal activities! After the procedure, I developed painful nodules on the ball of my foot. With persistence, I was able to get an appointment with Dr. Gfrerer. This was the first time I had seen her, 2 months after the procedure. When Dr. Gfrerer examined my foot, she said it was "weird." Yes, that is a direct quote. I had an MRI at 4 months. In my follow-up video appointment with Dr. Gfrerer, she said that I should see a podiatrist for the issues because she didn't know much about feet. Then why did she operate on my foot?! That was the last I heard from Dr. Gfrerer. No follow-up. No checking to see if I was okay. She was done with me. At the end of January, I filed a complaint with Weill Cornell Patient Services. The letter I received with the outcome of the review stated that I had received standard care and that my surgeon's recommendation to see a podiatrist was appropriate because the nodules "were in a different area than the surgery." However, I have an MRI, diagnostic ultrasound, and 2 podiatrists who say otherwise. I wrote a response, but Weill Cornell was not interested in what I had to say. And so a year later, I am still paying for out-of-pocket treatments in hopes that someday I will be able to walk normally again. I understand that there are risks with a procedure, but doctors should be required to give complete, accurate information pre-surgery so that patients can make informed decisions about whether to proceed. And if there are complications, they should take responsibility and help the patient rather than dismiss them. If you are considering having Dr. Gfrerer perform surgery on you, I strongly suggest that you get a second opinion and make sure that you are fully informed before moving forward. And if it doesn't go as planned, don't expect her to be there for you.