I have had this wonderful MD and human being as my oncologist for 21 years. He is compassionate, kind and knowledgeable. I would highly recommend him to everyone. He chose a chemo regiment for me 21 years ago that has allowed me to live an amazing life. His staff goes above and beyond for anything you need. read more

My family and I have been through a nightmare because of this doctor's negligence, and it cost us everything. He made a fatal mistake by stopping my 47-year-old aunt's medication simply because she said she was tired. Two weeks ago, we lost her. To make matters worse, this doctor has no compassion. While my aunt was fighting for her life and we were trying to process the disaster, he came into the room and told us she was progressively dying. He said this directly, with no empathy or care, and was even scrolling on his phone while we were asking him questions. He barely shows up to the hospital unless we specifically request it. When we tried to get answers, all he could say was "no data, no data." It's clear that he cares more about his reputation and paperwork than his patients' lives. If you or a loved one has kidney cancer, please stay away. He will not provide the care you need, and you may lose your life or the life of someone you love. This doctor should not be allowed to practice. read more

Dr. Alter treated my mother for Cancer and after hearing one inappropriate joke about pain I transferred her to the care of another doctor at Sloan Kettering. She was 80, and he wanted her to undergo chemo. I knew she wouldn't last long with chemo treatments and the doctor at Sloan Kettering did not believe chemo was a viable treatment for her as well.\. Doctors receive kick backs for chemo I've heard. read more

Dr. Alter made a dangerous and unacceptable mistake by reducing my family member's cancer medication, which caused her cancer to grow. There was zero explanation or proper communication about this reckless decision. She has kidney cancer, and the most effective type of therapy is immunotherapy. He decided to say that immunotherapy is a failure where it was not a failure; he reduced the medication, causing it to grow, and stopped all her medication afterward. He had a chance to put her back on immunotherapy, which was working and proven to be super effective on her type of cancer, but decided not to, causing a fatal mistake to my family member. If you value your life and health, RUN from this doctor and find someone competent who actually cares about their patients. Trusting this oncologist could be a deadly mistake. P.S he gets nervous and scrolls on his phone when you talk to him and ask questions. MY family Member is DECEASED BECAUSE OF DR ATLER fatal mistake and incompetence! read more

I can make this very brief. Tells inappropriate jokes to patients; leaves patient waiting 3 days in the hospital before going to speak with him; convinces patients to do trials because he gets paid for them. PATIENT DECEASED. read more

I have been seeing Dr Alter for over 10 years now. Back then, the Cancer Center was a small group so quite a few of the oncology doctors were treating patients with blood clotting disorders. Originally I saw Dr. Harper who told me to just take an aspirin daily but I knew that was not enough. My PCP recommended I see Dr. Alter and I am so glad I switched. After having a DVT and a near-fatal PE, he agree with me. Even after I had difficulties with coumadin, he knew exactly what my next course of treatment should be and fought my insurance company to get coverage for it. Despite the fact he is now over an hour away from me, I still make the trek into Hackensack to see him for my regular checkups. Yes, I can see a doctor closer to me but I trust him and he knows me. He also keeps on top of of the latest research and medications, which is key for me. As another reviewer complained about awful bedside manners, I don't get it. Alter is a cancer survivor himself. If anything, I find him to be compassionate and empathetic. He takes his time with patients. If he is running late, he explains to me that he had an emergency or had to spend extra time with a patient. I get it. With me, he answers all of my questions--trust me, I come with many as I am a researcher myself--and gives me his honest opinions. He has never been condescending to me and treats me like a human being, unlike many other doctors I have seen who have serious God complexes and feel that they know my body better than I do. Alter is not like that. He listens and believes what I say. I'm finding that a rarity this days among specialists. As for the delay the other reviewer mentioned, did you ever think Alter may not have been on call? He is allowed days off you know. The guy works hard enough as it is. Heck, the only reason why I know that he is a cancer survivor is that he was working while undergoing treatment and looked horrible. If that is not dedication, I do not know what is. As for the "inappropriate behavior," everyone deals with death and dying differently. I worked in hospice for well over a year and found that many in the field do develop a morbid sense of humor. It comes with the territory as a survival mechanism. Also, as for the phone bit, I asked him once about that. He has a lot of patients and many of them are in critical condition. Those texts he is reading and replying to usually involve them. It's his way of keeping on top of his patients' care. To give the guy the benefit of the doubt, the smile was probably due to him getting good news about the patient. If anything, it is your right as a patient to say something like "put the phone down and pay attention" or "could you please not joke like that as it bothers me." I have no qualms about doing that with any doctor. read more

I would not recommend if you're trying to avoid a family member suffering intense pain

We are the son and wife of a deceased patient diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma who was under Dr. Robert Alter's care. While we have no reason to believe the doctor did not provide the required standard of care, we can say with certainty that his bedside manner is absolutely abhorrent. Dr. Alter showed complete indifference toward his patient, lacked sensitivity, and moreover behaved in an entirely tasteless manner. He made inappropriate jokes, appeared to always be in a hurry, abruptly cut appointments short, and during these short visits often pulled out and played on his cell phone without warning, appearing to ignore us. While there are too many incidences to list, below are the most egregious, ending with the biggest offense at the end of the patient's life: After a routine blood test, the patient was sent home. Later that night, another doctor named Dr. Guttierez, whom we never met, called after looking at the results and left a message that we were unable to understand. Dr. Guttierez soon called back to make sure that we got his urgent message and explained that the patient should immediately go to the emergency room due to kidney failure. It was not until 24 hours later that Dr. Alter himself -- the doctor who's supposed to be caring for the patient -- finally called to relay the same message. If not for Dr. Guttierez, Dr. Alter's phone call would have been too late. The least forgivable behavior came on the day of the patient's final visit to Dr. Alter. Already suffering from liver failure, the patient was extremely weak, his arms were shaking uncontrollably, and he was experiencing extreme nausea. He was sitting helplessly on the patient chair like a child, looking down at the floor with the understanding that he was about to be given a death sentence. Dr. Alter walked in and first made a joke about how, with the patient's belly swollen from retaining water due to poor kidney function, the patient looked "4 months pregnant." Then he told us we had a few options. One is to do nothing, in which case "within a week..." and he made a throat-cutting gesture and a sound with his mouth, suggesting in an incredibly callous way that the patient will die. Another option was hospice. In the midst of our discussion of next steps, Dr. Alter suddenly picked up his cell phone and began reading something on it and typing with a slight smile on his face, evidently enjoying a personal text conversation. He didn't even say, "Excuse me," or anything. He just picked it up while we were talking to him. So we stopped talking until he was ready to hear us again. Dr. Alter's behavior does not amuse anyone but himself, and his silly jokes are of no comfort to the gravely ill, only an unwelcome annoyance. read more