Ellingson Thomas MD

Dr. Ellingson is quite possible one of the worst doctors I’ve ever been to. I was visiting family in MS and thought I had refills on my insulin. I did not. A quick Google search of for a local internal medicine specialist led me to Dr. Ellingson. The person I initially spoke with on the phone late one afternoon was very kind, understood the position I was in, and scheduled me an appointment for the very next day. Yay! Or so I thought.
I arrived about 45 minutes early because I knew as a new patient there would be a mountain of paperwork to fill out (I was correct). I write quickly and carry around a list of all my medications so it can just be copied (makes things much easier). Needless to say, it didn’t take me long at all to have everything completed.
I then had time to look around the waiting room and I noticed signs posted everywhere about not prescribing pain pills. And there were more signs that had something to do with Xanax… I can’t even recall now exactly what that one was about. I want to say he doesn’t prescribe that either. There was also a sign stating that the doctor refused to call in ANY medications or refills and that an appointment was always necessary. It became very clear to me that he was one of *those* doctors. The kind who thinks Tylenol and Ibuprofen can cure any type of pain. The kind who thinks no one needs Xanax. Yes, I agree that many, many people abuse these medications. But there are also many, many people who genuinely need these medications and I happen to be one of them. Granted, I wasn’t there to see him about that, I have my own pain management doctor in Florida and my own psychiatrist in Florida who better understand my conditions. The point is, I don’t like those particular doctors who think those types of medications are utterly and completely unnecessary for every single patient. I didn’t let it bother me though because I just needed a prescription for my insulin. I was pretty sure he wasn’t going to deny a diabetic her insulin.
it was finally my time to go back (after waiting about 30 minutes) and the staff who I dealt with were all nice enough. I can’t say anything bad about any of them, but they didn’t go out of their way to be especially nice. They just did their job… no if, ands, or buts about it. No real niceties or pleasantries were exchanged.
When Dr. Ellignson finally came in the room, he began asking me immediately about my Xanax and Percocet usage. Ok… not what I was there for, but I played along. I explained my conditions, how often I took each, and why. He then proceeded to lecture me on why both of these medications were horrible for me and why I needed to come off of them immediately and never take them again. Ummm… ok. Yes, I’m already aware they are addictive substances. Yes, I’m already aware Percocet is a narcotic and Xanax is a controlled substance. No, I do not abuse them. Yes, I take them exactly as prescribed. Yes, I work with my doctors in FL closely and see both my pain management doctor and my psychiatrist every single month. Jeeeeez! Then he FINALLY gets to the real reason I’m there… my diabetes and my insulin. He talked to me about it for all of about 30 seconds before he asks me why I moved from MS. I was honest and told him I couldn’t stand the state (ok, all you MS people can hate on me now, but I’m not going to lie about it… I endured 24 years of my life there and that was more than enough for me). Well, he was none to happy at all when I told him that. Even though he’s not from Mississippi himself, he’s from somewhere up north, he then gave me about a 20 minute lecture on how wonderful MS is. The man actually spent more time talking about the great state of MS than he did about the MEDICAL CONDITION I WAS THERE FOR!!! I was seriously like WTF, dude?! I could tell my poor husband was biting his tongue almost in half to try to keep from saying anything to him. We just wanted to get my damned insulin. Finally he stopped spouting off about MS, told me my prescription would be called in, and told me to go to the check-​out window and leave the pharmacy number with the front office person.
Sigh… if only it ended there.
They did call in my insulin. When I went to the pharmacy to pick it up, they didn’t call in the needles. Yes, I told them I needed the needles too. By this point, it was after 5pm and their office had closed.
The next morning I called the office and explained the situation. They actually wanted me to come back in and have another appointment with the doctor just to get the needles. WHAT?! I had to explain to her that I was JUST THERE the day before and he called in my insulin and how the hell was I suppose to inject the insulin without the needles. After being put on hold countless times, she finally said I could come to the office and pick up a written prescription. So I did. The end.
I was writing more, but ran out of characters.