Farbstein Arnold N

My husband, Jim, needed to change podiatrists because a change in health insurance meant the one he had was no longer on our network. Jim had previously lost his left foot to a foot infection that was a complication of his diabetes, and Dr. Farbstein indicates in his profile that he specializes in diabetes foot care problems. Thus one would expect him to be particularly sensitive to the risk involved when a patient has such a problem, particularly one who has already lost one of his feet. This turned out not to be the case.
When Jim first saw Dr. Farbstein on December 24, Jim recognized that he would need an MRI, IV antibiotics, and some type of debridement, which we knew from his previous experiences with foot infections could be treated via outpatient services. Avoiding hospitalization was particularly important in Jim’s case because the last two times he was hospitalized, he ended up with MRSA, in addition to the original infection. Yet Dr. Farbstein refused to discuss these options, instead indicating the hospitalization was «more convenient» (I guess for him, but certainly not for us). On January 4, Jim’s regular doctor agreed with us that hospitalization shouldn’t be necessary, but said «it depends on the podiatrist,» which I interpreted as meaning that some podiatrists are willing to work with people to avoid unnecessary hospitalizations and some are not – that is, it was a matter of the temperament of the doctor.
Jim saw Dr. Farbstein two days later, and again ran into a blank wall trying to get any kind of option short of hospitalization in Memorial-​Hermann Greater Heights (the same place he’d picked up MRSA before). Finally because Jim realized his foot was getting worse, he called Dr. Farbstein’s office two days after seeing him and gave the go-​ahead for the hospital arrangements to be made. The office said the doctor was unavailable, but promised that someone would get back to him. No one did.
This was last Friday, so the next day he could even try was Monday. Jim called multiple times on Monday, only to be told in the afternoon that everyone was gone, but someone would get back to him the next day. He did finally hear that evening from the doctor himself, who said to call the office and they would make the arrangements.
Jim called the next day, and finally someone started doing something (note that this was two full business days after Jim’s original authorization to go ahead with hospitalization arrangements, and along with the intervening weekend days, four days, during which time the foot began to develop black skin, In our previous dealings with medical professionals, normally an office sets up a hospital admission in less than half a day, and never has it been more than a day).
The next thing Jim hears is that he can’t go into Memorial-​Hermann Greater Heights because it wasn’t on our insurance network – in fact there’s not a single hospital on our insurance plan that Dr. Farbstein has privileges at (wouldn’t this have been a good thing to look into when hospitalization was first mentioned?). But does the office refer Jim to a podiatrist at a hospital on the plan (something that has happened before when a similar problem came up with a professional not having privileges at a particular hospital)? No, he’s just told to «go to the emergency room at St. Joe’s or Methodist.» Boy, like we couldn’t have figured out for ourselves that he could always go to an emergency room – and then spend hours and hours waiting to be seen because he doesn’t seem sick and isn’t bleeding anywhere noticeable. As Jim said, «I guess he’s just dumping me because once I go there, he won’t have to deal with me.»
Jim spoke with the insurance company, and received a list of hospitals on our plan. He then on his own found a podiatrist who was both affiliated with the hospital and on our plan. He is now in the hospital and receiving treatment, no thanks to Dr. Farbstein’s practice. But because of the delay in getting IV antibiotics, a projected 4-​day hospital stay has now turned into a week, and the amount of surgery he will have to undergo is much greater. And overall his situation went from need-​to-​be-​attended-​to-​in-​the-​next-​few-​days to just short of critical, and he is at a much greater risk of losing his remaining foot.
In short, if you are a diabetic, especially one dealing with time-​sensitive problems such as infection, don’t go here. If you want someone to give you options rather than take a «my-​way-​or-​the-​highway» approach, don’t go here. And also don’t go here if you’re expecting people to do their job efficiently, even when they’re the ones saying time is of the essence, or to care about you as a patient and make sure that even if they can’t help you, they assist you in getting to someone who can.

I saw Dr. Farbstein in 2004, 10 years ago for plantar fascitis. He made some arch supports for me right there in his office. He said wear these with tennis shoes all the time. Other tips — ice, naproxen, rest — When I needed more arch supports I purchased them at Walgreens and built them up copying Dr. Farbstein’s model. After a year and a half I was totally pain-​free. It’s been 10 years and I’m still using my copied versioon of his original supports and I have no arch pain at all. I would recommend Dr. Farbstein to anyone! He really knows what he’s doing. I’m a first grade teacher and must be on my feet all day.

I went to Dr. Farbstein because I was having foot pain and swelling on the top of my foot. After waiting an hour and a half to be seen an x-​ray was taken and the dr briefly watched me walk. He told me the pain was due to my arches and gave me pre-​packaged shoe inserts. He didn’t seem remotely interested in considering other possible causes or customized treatment and instead wanted to rush through the appointment. After a few days of wearing the inserts my other foot started hurting like the initial pain I went in for. I then made the decision to go to another podiatrist for a second opinion and never looked back. My reasoning: Since switching docs I have had custom inserts made, cortisone shots to decrease the inflammation, and a MRI to receive an actual diagnosis. The result was surgery to fix the problem. I don’t know whether the issue would have been solved had I continued «treatment» with Dr. Farbstein but I’m glad I made the decision to go elsewhere.

Dr. Farbstein is a great podiatrist. He runs marathons and knows all about feet. He’s also very cute — looks like Jesus but without the sandals.

I actually went here after reading Kristin’s review. I figured better go with this one than a random one I dont know anything about!
Turns out that Dr. Farbstein is GREAT and really knowledgeable! He is actually a runner himself! I went to a podiatrist last year who wasnt even a runner and completely ruined my foot by giving me a cortisone shot! Dr. Farbstein took the time and listened to my problems, recommended me with lots of tips and stretches for the foot, x-​rayed, and custom made temporary orthotics to stick in my running shoes to see if my problem would go away.
Granted, those temporary orthotics are pretty pricey — Im not sure if Im that hardcore to get permanent orthotics made but it helped a bit. One complaint I have is that it was difficult to get a hold of him since he seems to travel a lot for his marathons but no biggie, just gotta keep calling until you can reach him or wait till he gets back in the office.