Noah Klein, MD
Optomologist
51 East 25th Street
New York, NY 10010
Oxford Number AS022

Alright ladies this is not a VV doctor however, one of the things I am always writing about and trying to promote is awareness of your right to be treated with respect from the doctors you see. Over the years I have exchanged emails with many of you regarding your queries about poor treatment from the doctors you have recently visited. I have counseled you to walk out of a doctor's office if you are being treated in a derrogatory manner of any kind. I have also told you that you should write to that doctor and make your complaints known to your insurance company and send complaints to the medical board in your state. You can be sure my letters have been sent.

I have had some poor experiences with doctors but nothing compares the treatment I received from an Optomoligist I had an appointment with on September 20, 2006. And since he felt it was his right to know all my very personal medical and personal history including gynecological questions, I feel it is not only my right but my duty to inform you of his questionable practices.

Upon entering the office of Dr. Noah Klein, Oxford ID number AS022, I was asked to fill out paperwork..the normal insurance forms, agreement to pay him if my insurance didn't cover the cost of his visit, HIPPA acknowledgement ...blah blah. Then however there were four pages of additional medical questions he wanted me to answer.

FOUR PAGES? Why would this eye doctor need that much information? My friend Zaida (whom I called to vent to) brought to my attention that it sounded to her like he was collecting data to sell. I think she might be correct.

I was never asked to sign any information stating permission or given any paperwork letting me know that he was colleting data but fail to see any other reason why I should have to disclose information related to my menstrual cycle, my breasts, depression, if I am a widow or divorced, or if I have issues with my body image such as weight gain or loss, just to name a few inapropriate questions, unless that information is being collected for the purpose of selling to a third party.

Oh and I would really like to know just why and how Dr. Noah Klein, Oxford Number AS022 feels he needs to know whether or not I use my seatbelt. Hmmm???!!? (Thanks Doc for the photocopy of my file.)

I turned in the paper work however leaving the medical/personal questionairre blank. I was called into the back of the reception area and told I had to fill out the form completely or "You should find another doctor!" When I stated that these questions have nothing to do with eye care and that I would like the chance to discuss this with the doctor I was told, "He is a MEDICAL DOCTOR, are you? What do you know about medicine or the need for these questions?"

This kind of answer is intimidation. Notice how the receptionist did not answer my concerns. She tried to bully me, yes, answer my concerns, no! Every patient needs to understand that they have the right to speak about any concern regarding anything about the doctors office, forms and personal care and any decent doctor will have no problem with this.

Only because I had taken precious time out of my busy day did I take the forms back BUT I filled in NONE to all the questions.

The receptionist wrote a nasty note on my chart, then made a point to tell me she wrote a note about me and attached it to my file and then knocked on the doctor's door, told the current patient seeing the doctor to leave the examination room and to close the door.

When I went into the room, I was not greeted with a hello. I was not told where to sit. I was told,"One minute."

Although I wrote all over my forms that I was there to get tested for Glaucoma and that there was a family history of it I was asked why I was there. I explained that I wanted to get tested for Glaucoma.

I was not asked, but rather grilled as to why? I was now being made to justify why I wanted a test. When I didn't have an answer for this doctor, he pushed. I told him on the forms and verbally I had recently had a few headaches and my eyes were tearing. He looked at the forms and saw that on one page I filled out that information and on another I did not, and only wrote NONE, NONE, NONE in a row.

He ended my appointment and told me I should find another doctor. "You are entitled to run your life as you wish and I am entitled to run my practice as I wish." I told him I didn't wish to fill out paperwork that would remain in my file with such personal information without first discussing it. This was not ok with him. "I have a staff and procedures and you cannot discuss anything with me without first filling out all my forms. Go find another doctor."

So it appears that Dr. Noah Klein, Oxford number AS022 thinks that patients need to justify health information to him but he doesn't need to explain why he needs to know if my breasts leak, my periods are on schedule, if I am a widow or divorced AND disclosure of this information is a requirement to be an EYE PATIENT of his.

If you are ever confronted with similar medical questionairres that are unrelated to the direct medical care you are seeking, are informed by any of that doctor's staff that your appointment is conditional upon discloser of such information I urge you to walk out. In addition, make sure to inform your insurance company and state medical board of the practices of that doctor.

So here is my recommendation to any women in the New York City area who might be looking for an Optomologist: DO NOT EVER GO TO SEE DR. NOAH KLEIN OF 51 EAST 25TH STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10010.

Always remember that you do not work for the doctor, the doctor works for you!

Want to see what others have said about this doctor? Check out the screenshots from the survey results I took at healthgrades.com below.