My mom had a visit with this neurologist and she was alone. He treated her absolutely horrible she came home in tears he told her she has dementia without any testing then said and their gonna pull your license from you as well! How do you diagnose someone like this with no compassion she said he wouldn't even make eye contact with her she then asked about the pain in her neck and he said your not here to talk about that.! My mom is 80 years old and was treated horrible.! read more

Dr. Birnbaum was rude from the beginning of the appointment to the end. He was dismissive and arrogant. I have had a health issue since I was a child, and have been diagnosed with my medical condition, a diagnosis supported by several other doctors. He dismissed my medical issue and went about asking questions about my mental health for most of the appointment, something I don't have a problem with (again confirmed by other doctors). He tried very hard to ferret out some psychological issue for my health problems. When that failed he continued to dismiss my condition and decided I just needed to take yoga. He obviously didn't believe in my medical condition or try to understand it. For someone having to deal with a medical condition that affects my life, this is extremely painful and degrading. He did spend a decent amount of time with me, but most of that time was devoted to asking questions that weren't relevant. For the few questions that were relevant he usually cut me off when I was answering if what I was saying didn't fit into what he thought or believed. He, then, summarized everything on his tape recorder, which was a complete waste of time since he obviously disbelieved everything I said and hardly offered any advice. The advice he did give was completely inane and not something one would ever follow up on. If you are looking for a thoughtful, compassionate doctor who seeks to listen and understand and really help his patients, do not go to him! read more

BEWARE !!!!!!! This Doctor is horrible !!! I will never let him touch me or even look at me ever again !!!! He doesn't listen to the patient , he can care less . His diagnosis was incorrect and made me feel crazy ! I recommend finding another neurologist if you even hear his name . I do not know how this man is even practicing medicine !!!! read more

Dr. Birnbaum will never touch me again. I have never been so rudely treated by a doctor. I was scheduled for a nerve conduction test , which I showed up for on time. When the doctor came in he barely spoke to me. He explained NOTHING to me concerning the test, and when it began he used settings so high I was crying. I have had this test performed before and it was no where near as painful. He stopped the test half way through, claiming he had enough information. He was getting ready to leave without saying a word to me, so I asked him what he found. He very reluctantly told me, then slammed the door in my face as I was putting chairs back into the room. I left the office in tears. read more

Such a awsome intelligent doctor, who really listens to the patient. We love Dr. Birnbaum & his staff.

My wife was sent to see Dr. Birnbaum by her insurance even though other doctors thought she needed to see a neurosurgeon. She told me that he was rude and dismissive, and that he told her that she didn't have any neurological problems. Her sister was with her and confirmed this to me. She complained of pain in the neck radiating to the arms, and numbness in the arms. She had an MRI scan that showed severe narrowing of the neural foramina at C5-C6 (to say nothing of the abnormalities in her lumbar spine which I will overlook for brevity and which he ignored) She says that he told her that "the people who did the MRI scan didn't know what they were talking about", that she had "old-age arthritis" (presumably he was talking about degenerative spondylosis, which eventually causes nerve root compressions when it narrows the neural foramina more than 75%.) He also ignored the fact that another neurologist had evaluated her and found neurological abnormalities and that several other doctors had said she needed to see a neurosurgeon. She complained to her insurance and they have set up a grievance process (a formal meeting of some sort) but I don't think this will help. Her insurance is a type that profits from denying services to patients (a Medi-Cal managed care company.) I'm sure numerous other patients have had similar experiences with him, judging from the other two reviews of him on this site(one of which is three years old.) If he had been rude but accurate, that might be forgiven, and if he were polite but inaccurate, that might almost be forgiven-- but to be both rude and wrong is unforgivable and calls for significant actions to correct his problems. read more

My insurance sent me Dr.Birnbaum because I need to see a Neurosurgeon for my meningioma a tumor in the meninges Dr .Birbaum was very rude and unprofessional he told me that he didn't think I need to see a neurosurgeon because I'm ok and I don't have anything !!! I suffer from migrane almost everyday I really need to see a neurosurgeon but he think I don't need that option . I really think he has a personality issues because he's not normal. I read more

I only went to this Dr because a neurosurgeon I saw referred me, and because other neurologists in town wouldnt see me without a referral, despite that I have PPO insurance, thanks to the lovely dr shortage here. It took 2 months after the referral for them to even call me to set up an appointment. I saw the bad reviews before going in but I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. This was a waste of time and money. Now I'm going to need to get a new referral from my Primary Care Physician. He told me just by looking at me that I do not have carpal tunnel or cubital tunnel, despite the fact that I've had nerve conduction studies by multiple neurologists in town who have diagnosed me with such, and I've also seen multiple orthopedic surgeons who agree with the diagnosis. I came to see Dr. Birnbaum for different neurological symtpoms I've been having and he was just refuting what's been established for many years without doing any testing, and that's not even what I was seeing him for, I was seeing him for neuropathy in my feet. He then told me my symptoms are from anxiety and started telling me that my mother, whom I've havent had contact with since 2006 and I dont know if she has health conditions,has bipolar disorder, when he has never met her, and that I probably have bipolar too. I have no symptoms of bipolar or any other mental illness, and he, as a neurologist,is beyond his realm of what he can diagnose. On the medical information form it asked about health conditions siblings have and I put hypoglycemia and vericose veins, conditions they have been diagnosed with, and he asked what does that even mean, and was acting like they couldn't possibly have those conditions, when he hasn't met them. Save your time and money, and do NOT go to this doctor, he is EXTREMELY incompetent! He made the whole appointment last an hour, by repeating everything in his tape recorder. I really should have left after a half hour, but I was trying to be polite. If your dr refers you to this dr, BEG for a different referral! The original wait time they gave me to see him was a whopping 5 months, then they suddenly called me yesterday and asked could I come today. So if you do decide to try this dr, which I highly recommend against, you may have a ridiculous wait time to get in. read more

Dr Alan Birnbaum is the most pathetic example of a professional and caring doctor that I have ever experienced. After reviewing his experience and credentials, I was expecting to receive exception care. I could not have been more wrong! I was referred to the doctor for some nerve issues in my legs. While he spent quite a bit of time (40 minutes) dictating my medical history, about 15 minutes into our conversation he had already "decided" that my leg issues were vascular related and not numerological in nature. I told him that my vascular surgeon said that everything was fine in my legs, from a vascular standpoint, and I needed to see a neurologist. He did order an MRI of my lower back, as requested by my PCP. I went back to see Birnbaum after the MRI was performed to discuss the results. Before our discussion began, he had to read the MRI report. It was obvious that he had not even taken the time to read the report when it was sent to him. After reading the report, he didn't even tell me what the findings of the MRI were. All he said was there was nothing significant enough for him to do anything or to refer me to a neurosurgeon for follow-on treatment. He told me that I should go back to my vascular surgeon and have them figure out what the problem was with my legs. I saw my vascular surgeon the following week and they tested and evaluated the blood flow in my legs and confirmed my vascular system was fine. I saw my PCP the following week and discussed how dissatisfied I was with Birnbaum and requested a referral to a new neurologist. When I saw the new neurologist, he had already read my MRI report and immediately performed a nerve conduction test. He said that the nerve conduction test confirmed his suspicions that nerves leading out of my spine at L5 and S1 were being pinched and were not functioning. Because of this, signals were not being sent to my thighs and calves properly so the leg muscles were not acting properly. So, based on the this, I can only conclude one of two things ... either Dr Birnbaum has terrible diagnostic skills; or, worse yet, he just doesn't care enough to treat patients when they come in for medical help. Either way, if you need to see a neurologist, I would strongly recommend that you find another doctor who will actually be willing to help you resolve your issues. I would also like to note that when I asked the office staff to give me a copy of my MRI report, they refused to do so. They told me to go back to the imaging center and to get a copy of the report from them. This isn't what I would classify as good customer service. read more