Complaint Review: Dr. Rudolph Bertagnoli - Select State/Province

I am sorry that this person had a bad outcome. Tim Vicnairs statistics are correct with a 90%  success rate. THat means he has a 10% failure rate. Unfortunately you fell into the 10%. When that happens to you it is 100%. Nothing is medicine is 100% or guaranteed. I am a physician and 3 level disc replacement in 2/2006 and i was doing well for about 6 years and now having other issues related to the back but not the discs. I was bedbound prior to the ADR. Within a year and a half, i was working with a personal trainer and lifting 300+pounds consistently.

I am grateful that DR B gave me a good 5-6 years of a somewhat normal life. Now, i am guessing scar tissue is compressing the nerves and i am having wasting of muscles in my right leg but 3 surgeons including Dr B have told me no surgery. Your post borders on being libelous, I am sorry that you were in the 10% but you knew and accepted that risk going into it. I accepted the same risk. Good luck and hope you feel better.Mike T

I am sorry this report is fishy???????????  I have heard nothing but great things about Dr Bertagnoli.....  Some people are just NOT realistic.

This Dr is great and if one idiot out of over 10,000 complain so be it........................

I highly recommend Prof. Dr. Bertagnoli to anyone considering back surgery.  He has given me my life back, as he has to so many other patients with whom I have spoken.   I was spending most of my time on ice packs on the floor, living on pain pills before Prof. Dr. Bertagnoli performed 360 motion preservation surgery on me on July 7, 2013; a surgery not offered in the United States.

 I was a complicated case:  I had spondylolisthesis of  L4 over L5, with a ¼ spread & L5 was unstable.  In addition, I had scoliosis at L2-L3 and L3-L4 and my right pelvis had rotated up and forward to compensate for these conditions.  Now I am 3 ½ years out of surgery and I live a pain-free, and very active life.  I work, travel, golf, and dance.

I am living proof as to what I have now heard three United States spine surgeons say, “Prof. Dr. Bertagnoli is a back surgeon genius.” I am eternally grateful to Prof. Dr. Bertagnoli for his integrity and expertise.

I am also very thankful to Tim Vicknair who’s professional background coupled with his patience, care, and detailed explanation of what to expect and the directions on the right steps to take for a successful recovery helped me in make one of the most important decisions in my life. Fortunate are those who are able to have Prof. Dr. Bertagnoli as a spine surgeon. 

A very grateful and happy patient,

Magic  Passo

i want people to know that I'm not involved in this. I have been researching this doctor for four years. In that time I have heard of 4 people claiming damage. 2 are aparantly fake as they only posted once on back pain forums n don't respond to emails. This lady may in fact still be in pain I think I know her story. But bear in mind she says she is broke n can't afford anything. On Adrsupport.org, she claims she is lucky that her father owns the company she works for n can still work in bed for her father. She wants a refund. Dr Bertagnoli would fix her for free if she flew to Germany as he did not make a mistake he will not n can not fly to USA to help her. Obviously she was in pain to begin with. I don't wish this pain on anyone but she has caused me great pain in sleepless nights. I only found one other lady complain about dr b and upon talking to her she said that she was in car accident n hurt lower back n sacrum. She had the same pain post op n pre op. She confided that she is in way less pain n that dr b told her that this operation may not help her at all since her sacrum was damaged!

i don't wish misfortune or pain on anyone. We all take a chance when looking for these operations. But plz people if I were to be ruined by a gross neglect intentional mistake I would include my address n phone number. I'm pretty sure from my research which include many phone calls to actual patients that this dr is the best choice when seeking this type of surgery. Dr B tells you up front that it's a dangerous operation n doesn't always relieve pain. Also I heard of a man have his insert pop out n the dr b flu to us to replace cause no one else could do it n man could not fly.

i believe this lady whom is complaining is I pain. But I doubt much of her other claims, such as she is broke n cant afford to fly to Germany. I also believe her subsided disc is probably not the cause of the pain but I don't know. I just can't imagine a person with no pain flying to Germany n spending fifty k just for the fun of this operation. I feel bad she is in pain but I doubt she feels bad I have sleepless nights because of her brief description of what this dr did that was negligent. With her thousands of post she doesn't get specific especially when it comes to pre op pain. She has contradicted herself often especially with spending her life savings. I know my parents are dirt poor n are paying for me to go get this operation. She says she works from bed n is lucky her dad has a successful business that she can work from home n in bed???

anyways like I said people this dr b is suppose to be the best he taught everyone in USA this operation, he head the fda trials n performed all the surgeries in one trial with 99 complete satisfaction. That's why the USA sucks because people sue doctors if they fail to perform a miracle . This is all my educated opinion n if I'm wrong God forgive me. Good luck n don't worry. And to anyone in pain I pray to Jesus for the relief of your pain.

just one more thing if you go to Germany for an operation you can't sue the doctor from the USA.

I was a patient of Prof Bertagnoli, having surgery in July 2013. Three levels were replaced in my neck. I have my life back and feel grateful that I was able to have this surgery than a three level fusion. I had so much nerve damage and weakness that it has taken two years to get my strength back. I am still working on building up the muscles that were lost from having insidious nerve compression that didn't become painful for eighteen months to two year.

I am sure there are some that have not done well for various reasons, but the same would be true with fusion. And for many there is no alternative than to chose your treatment and expect the best. There are always risks with any surgery, sorry yours didn't go well.

I met several Americans while I was there and post-op was very happy with the results.

I don't think he or his staff are a scam, and I would be careful with accusations.

On Wednesday, 25 September 2013, a person named Jamie from Carrollton Texas reported on a failed treatment he received from Dr. Bertagnoli.  In this complaint he mentioned that he "spoked with countless people this doctor promised and destroyed".

I have looked everywhere on the internet to find proof of this - and could not.  As I am planning to follow the route of Dr. Bertagnoli, obviously I would like to investigate this in order to safeguard myself and my health. If someone put allegations like this on a website of this kind, surely they must be able to include names and proof - not just "countless people"!

Justify this complaint with other substantialted proof and names.