Apollo Hospital New Delhi — Wrong operation

Address:

New Delhi, Delhi

Hello and thank you for visiting my
Web page. If you are visiting this web
Page, i imagine you are thinking of going to apollo hospital for medical treatment. I am not going to advise you on whether or
Not you should go. This web page is
Purely for informational purposes. The
Hospital has thousands of patients per year.
My experience may or may not be typical. However, i can assure you that this
Information is 100 percent accurate and i have the documentation to support
Everything that is said here. After reading my experience, you can decide if
You wish to go or not. Yes the name of
The web site is called avoid apollo hospital.
That is because if i could turn back the hands of time that is what i
Wish i would have done. In a nutshell
They ruined my life. Here is my story:

I have
Degenerative disc disease and had an artificial disc replacement back in 2007. The surgery took care of my disc pain but it
Made my facet pain much worse. For
Several years i was on pain management, including medications, steroid
Injections, and rhizotomy. Some relief
Was gained from these but not enough. I
Was told by several doctors that a fusion was an option for me. They could just bypass the artificial disc
And stop the painful motion. Apparently
This is very a very common occurrence with this procedure. So much so in fact that a lot of surgeons won’t
Even do this procedure any more. A
Fusion is considered the gold standard. It
Has been performed for years with great success. Unfortunately, my insurance company here in
The u.S. Would not cover the procedure. At this point having the procedure overseas
Was the only option for me. There was a
Story on 60 minutes several years ago that covered this. They showed western people going to thailand and india for medical treatments. Most of them seemed happy with the care so i
Decided to explore this option. I wrote
Server hospitals in india and thailand and researched them. Also, i was looking at the visa requirements
Etc. At this point india seemed like a better option for me. First, english is widely spoken. Second, you
Can stay in the country for up to six months with a tourist visa. Third the cost was less expensive than in thailand.
It seemed ideal to me. I wrote
Several hospitals and decided on apollo hospital in new delhi.
The head of neurosurgery at the hospital dr. Rajendra prasad evaluated
My condition and agreed with the doctors in the u.S. That the best procedure would be a
Lumbar fusion with instrumentation. I
Was quoted a price of $8000-$11000 u.S. Dollars. It was all set. I would get my plane ticket and visa and head
To new delhi for the surgery.

I arrived in new delhi at 1am after an extremely long flight. Somebody from the hospital was supposed to be
At the airport with a sign to drive me. Nobody
Was there. This was a sign from god. They left me stranded outside the airport in
The 100 degree indian heat. After waiting for two hours, i decided to
Take a taxi to the hospital. At the
Hospital they could not provide answers as to why nobody was there at the
Airport. They checked me in the hospital
Where i got a few hours of sleep. The
Next morning dr. Rajendra prasad met with me and he ordered x-rays-ct-scan, and
An mri. This was standard before any
Operation. After the films were completed,
He met with me for a physical examination.
He was concerned that the pain might not be coming from the facet joints. He thought the pain generator might be the si
Joint. They are very close together and
Sometimes it is difficult to tell. In
The past that was a concern of mine as well.
However, i specifically asked 2 of my doctors if the pain was generated
From the si joint. They both told me no. It was from the facets. There were probably 6 or so injections into
This joint over the years and they were positive. The next morning he wanted to give me an
Injection to diagnosis what the pain generator was. He gave me an injection and asked me how i
Felt. I told him that i felt pretty good. However, my pain is very minimal in the
Morning so it is hard to tell. After a
Night of rest not putting any pressure on the joint, it does not bother me that
Much. They discharged me that day and he
Told me that he would evaluate my condition.
After a week or so he asked me how i was doing. I told him that my condition had not changed. He asked again if i could come in the
Hospital for an injection. Another injection was done in the morning. Again, he asked me how i felt. Once again, i told him i feel pretty good. However, the pain is very minimal in the
Morning so it is hard to tell. Keep in
Mind they are charging me one thousand dollars for each injection. That is twice what i pay in the u.S.
Also, he is just using a temporary numbing medicine. It only lasts a few hours. In the u.S. They use a steroid that gives the
Patient up to six months of pain relief.
Again, dr. Rejendra prasad said he would evaluate my condition. A couple of weeks passed and he asked me how
I was feeling. Again, i told him that i
Was the same. He then asked me if i ever
Had rhizotomy. I told him yes. About once a year i would have both sides
Done. He told me that we could get long
Lasting pain relief and tells exactly where the pain generator was. He gave me a rhizotomy on my left side in my
Si joint. This time they charged me $3500
For the rhizotomy. That is twice what i
Pay in the us for both sides. Again, dr. Rejendra prasad said he would
Evaluate me. A couple of weeks later he
Asked me how i was doing. I told him
That i experienced zero pain relief from the rhizotmy. He stated that maybe he could turn up the
Intensity on the machine because the first time it was’t set so high. At that point i declined. If i would have known how much they where
Going to charge me for the rhiztomy, i would’t have had the first one. I am sure they don’t charge nationals
Anywhere near $3500 for a rhizotomy. Again,
Dr. Rejendra prasad said he would evaluate my situation. A few weeks pass and i sent him an email. A few days later his
Secretary sends me a text message stating that my lumbar fusion was scheduled
For next wednesday. At this point
I thought that he came to the conclusion that the other doctors had that the
Lumbar fusion was the procedure i needed.
I felt a little bad because i already spent over $6000 to diagnosis what
I already knew. Anyway, i was going to
Have the procedure i needed for pain relief.
That made me happy. I met with
Him on monday two days before the surgery to finalize everything. He told me that he was not going to do the
Lumbar fusion that he wanted to do an si fixation instead. He told me that he was 95 percent sure that
The pain generator was coming from the si joints. I didn't’t understand why but he was the
Expert and i trusted him. That wednesday i arrived at the hospital and had the
Surgery in the afternoon. Basically they
Placed two screws in each si joint. I
Stayed at the hospital a couple of days.
This time my bill was almost $10, 000.


After a couple
Of weeks, i decided to go to thailand for 10 days for a little vacation. While i was there, i met with the head of
Neurosurgery at a large hospital. I
Brought my ct-scan and mri on computer disc.
He loaded them on his computer and apparently the disc labeled ct-scan
Was blank and the one labeled mri had my ct-scan on it. Anyway i told him my condition and history
And he said “why don’t you just have a lumbar fusion”. I told him that i just had si fixation done
And he said “what” and laughed.

I returned to india and met with dr. Rejendra prasad one
More time before returning to the u.S.
He asked me how i was feeling and i told him that there was no change. The surgery he gave me was useless. He then stated if i had the lumbar fusion i
Would be pain free but there is a chance that it could damage other discs. He also said give it 6 months or so to see
How i feel. Before returning to the u.S., i wanted my ct-scan and mri from the
Hospital. They stated that they could
Not find them and would have to send them to me once they found them.

I was home in
The u.S. About a month and i still have not
Received my images from the hospital. I
Sent them several emails but they did not respond. Dr. Rejendra prasad wrote me to ask me how i
Was doing. I told him that there was no
Change that the surgery was useless. He
Said give it time. After six months, i
Wrote him begging for help. I could not
Tolerate the pain any more and would he please help me. He wrote back and said sure he would help me. He suggested the lumbar fusion i originally
Went there for. He was sure that would
Do the trick. You are more than welcome
To come back and have this procedure and please bring $12000 with you. Keep in mind that i already paid them over $16000
And that i had no more money. He then
Wrote me back stating that he would do the operation for free. However, i needed to prove to him that is
What is needed. I managed to have my
Medical file presented to a conference in south america with neurosurgeons from europe and south america.
They agreed that a lumbar fusion was needed. I sent dr. Rejendra prasad the email with the
Evidence. He didn't’t write back. I wrote the hospital several times. Also, they didn’t write back. When i was considering the hospital, i must
Have sent them 10 emails and they always responded within 24 hours. However, now that they have my life savings,
They won’t respond at all. Here is the
Recap:

They charged
Me twice what they quoted me.

They gave me
The wrong procedure.

They lost all
Of my films and won’t replace them or give me a refund.

They won’t
Respond to any of my emails.

Dr. Rejendra
Prasad won’t keep his promise

I am in
Extreme pain and going to apollo hospital in new delhi india was my one and only chance at relief. My life savings is gone and my life is ruined. I still need this operation but do not have
The means to get it. In my opinion dr. Rejendra
Prasad is either an incompetent doctor or he is a thief. If your are a foreign patient aplolla hospital will take advantage of you and try to
Get as much money from you as possible. As i stated in the beginning, i am not
Telling you what to do, only telling you my story. I wish i would have known about an experience
Like mine before i went. It would have
Changed my mind and went to thailand. Please
Write me if you have any questions or comments. [protected]@hotmail.Com