Peer Nominations and the Process Behind Top Doctors

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Your list carries someone as a top orthopedic surgeon working at Montefiore Hospital in Bronx, NYC which ranks among the worst hospitals ( rank 20 ) in the whole nation. Can someone explain this anomaly please.

Shashi Prasad of NY 7:15AM March 03, 2012

US News does not seem to differentiate between a top doctor and the ONLY doctor in some areas. There may be only one doctor in an area but that does not mean they are good.

Concerned citizen of NV 5:48PM February 24, 2012

Castle Connolly and US New put patients at risk with this extremely flawed and fraudulent rating system. Jihad Kaouk of Cleveland Clinic ranked in the top 1% of urologists by US News, has multiple lawsuits filed against him for severe and devastating permanent surgical injuries, many life threatening, to many patients. He is NOT board certified and did not meet the minimum qualifications for a medical license in Iowa. Although he is at Cleveland Clinic which is ranked #2 (another questionable ranking) with radical prostatectomies "published positive outcomes" for all-comers of 88%, Jihad Kaouk stated to CMS investigators his positive outcomes were "ONE THIRD." Mr Connolly, would you allow Jihad Kaouk to do your surgery? You put your readers at great risk with such flawed information.

Injured By Jihad Kaouk of OH 12:10PM February 21, 2012

Are you sure this is not related to advertising? My doctor, who every local doctor seems to despise for his tendency to rush patients to complex surgery is listed. I have seen 5 local surgeons and when I mention this one spine surgeon, based in Northern Virginia, they all roll their eyes and kind of shake their head. Definitely would not be nominating this one.

Nick Jacobs of MD 7:35AM February 07, 2012

Why should only doctors recommend other doctors????
As a patient just completing radiation therapy - I would say Bob Werner, MD
UPMC Cancer Center St Clair Hospital Pittsburgh pa IS THE BEST RADIATION OCOLOGIST IN THE AREA.
He not only has the expertise, but he treats his patients with a respect and caring that a lot of doctors have not learned. He also considers the patient, and does not have them wait to see him unless there is an emergency.

Angela Abruzzino of PA 11:03AM January 13, 2012

Connolly Castle ratings are dangerously flawed since prospective patients trust they are accurate. Many patients of Jihad Kaouk of the Cleveland Clinic suffer multiple permanent disabling surgical injuries. Jihad Kaouk is NOT board certified. He was unable to obtain a medical license in Iowa. The Iowa state medical board stated Jihad Kaouk "did not meet our eligibility requirements" A CMS investigation led to a letter of admonishment to the Cleveland Clinic CEO, Mr Cosgrove, ""WE HAVE DETERMINED THAT THE DEFICIENCIES CITED ARE SIGNIFICANT AND LIMIT YOUR HOSPITAL'S CAPACITY TO RENDER ADEQUATE CARE AND ENSURE THE HEALTH AND SAFETY OF YOUR PATIENTS." It is preposterous that US News and Castle Connolly rank Jihad Kaouk in top 1% and Cleveland Clinic #2. Google "Kaouk Injuries" for more information. Do not trust these ratings.

CCFDoc1 of OH 8:23AM January 11, 2012

Pleased to be included. I think patients would appreciate knowing the date of publication, otherwise the data might be construed as old and out of date

Dennis Novak of NJ 9:49PM January 10, 2012

Indeed. Doctors and hospitals do not report negative and devastating outcomes. ONLY PATIENTS REPORT NEGATIVE OUTCOMES. Patient outcomes are not part of Castle Connolly ratings. As in the example below, many doctors ranked high on this list have very negative and devastating outcomes reported by patients. Ranked high on Castle Connolly list is Jihad Kaouk. Ratings by patients at Doctorsdig.com, ratemds.com, and vitals.com tell the true story.

CCFDoc1 of OH 7:33PM November 29, 2011

Who would nominate Dr Yakub Puthawala as a good dr? Hes one of the worst. I was a patient there at RI Hosp and hes very unprofessional, gets med. tools stuck in the patients, makes jokes about leaving foreign objects in the patients, hes disgusting. Check ratemds.com if you need to see more complaints about who youre nominating as a top doc. Hes one of the worst around.

DF of RI 1:21PM November 28, 2011

Without honest comments describing negative patient outcomes, and comments describing the flawed method of assigning false rankings, patients would assume falsely the accuracy of Castle Connolly rankings. US News should be commended for allowing patient outcomes to be described by patients (and doctors) in this blog, but they should be reprimanded for not making patient outcomes a factor in their rankings. I, and many other patients, have been permanently injured, some with life threatening injuries, by Jihad Kaouk. He is not board certified as he represented. His represented number of surgeries of 2000 was debunked as only 400 in court documents. His devastating outcomes are described in complaints filed with the Cuyahoga County Court, in Cleveland Plain Dealer articles and blogs, and in rankings found at DoctorDigs, Vitals, and RateMDs. Cleveland Clinic also highly ranked in US News Hospital Rankings was cited for serious safety violations including informed consent and patient’s rights violations including unreported operating room fires and injuries to patients. Patients would be greatly misinformed by US News without comments on this blog.

Injured By Jihad Kaouk of OH 8:21AM November 16, 2011