Boris Abayev, MD — Local services in New York

This man almost killed my mother. She went to Dr.Abayev twice to get pain relieving shots in her back and the first two times went well. Unfortunately, the third time almost cost her her life. She was having a lot of pain in her middle back on the right side. The goal was to give her an injection of plain saline and lidocaine into her muscle to relieve the tension and pain. We came in and spoke to the doctor and it was supposed to be a simple procedure. Most pain management doctors only give their patients injections under a machine to make sure that they're injecting only the muscles and not hitting any blood vessels or organs. He didn't have such a machine but seemed like he knew what he was doing, so me and her trusted him and he went ahead with the injection. He injected lidocaine into two spots that were causing her pain, about 1 inch from one another. Soon as he was done, she starts complaining that she's having trouble breathing. I tell her it's probably because the muscle is tense and is causing her pain. However over the next few hours, the pain just worsens and worsens, we call him half an hour after the injection and he says to give her a painkiller and says that the pain should get better. She takes 2 advils, however is still in extreme pain. Over the course of the evening she is having a really hard time breathing, can barely walk, and is in intense pain despite taking an advil. Again, we think that this is due to her muscle and give her a muscle relaxer. Still no relief, she was still in pain by nightfall and nothing seemed to be working. I tell her to take an Aleve and we'll go to the hospital in the morning to figure out what happened. She has trouble sleeping all night, she can't even lay down, and has trouble standing. In the morning, she goes with my dad to Columbus Medical and visits a physical therapist there. At this point she is absolutely exhausted, in excruciating pain, is having a lot of trouble breathing, and is pale. The doctor takes one look at her and says, you need to head straight to the hospital, I think that the needle punctured your lung. As they're packing to leave, my mom collapses. All the doctors and nurses are literally fighting to wake her up, her heart rate is through the roof (156 bpm) and spo2 is low. They put on an oxygen mask for her and it takes her 5 minutes to regain consciousness. At this point, the doctor calls an ambulance to get her into the emergency room ASAP. I get a call from my aunt saying that my mom is in the hospital, and that they're sending her for an xray because they're suspecting a collapsed lung. I'm in complete shock because this would have never crossed my mind. Who knew a needle could get through into her lung. My aunt tells me she collapsed in Columbus and called her as soon as she regained consciousness, telling my aunt to take care of her kids because she thinks she's dying. I grab my jacket and my little sister and head to the hospital. I get to the hospital in complete shock that my worse nightmare is coming true. I am even more shocked to see that Dr.Abayev, is there too. My mom called him to tell him the news and he came over. He then proceeds to start ARGUING with the doctors that are trying to save her life. He claims that they don't know what they're doing, that they didn't know how much the lung collapsed (we showed him the xray where it is quite obvious that there is barely any lung mass left on top). He also claims that they don't know her spo2 levels, which was literally displayed on the monitor along with her high heart rate reaching up to 150. He proceeds arguing and claims that they shouldn't operate on her, and to let her be because the lung will heal itself. He even has the audacity to look at the head pulmonary specialist in the hospital and tell him he's wrong. We end up telling him to leave and go ahead with the surgery. During the procedure, doctors find out that she was bleeding internally and sucked out more than 1.5 liter of blood. Without the surgery, she would have died. STAY AWAY FROM...

The front desk employee is HORRIBLE and the office is falling apart and dirty. It was my first visit to this doctor after reading the reviews. I made sure they were in-network so i wouldnt encounter any issues. I took half a day off from work and made the commute from Long Island. There was no parking so i had to pay for a garage. Upon arriving there, the front desk employee was extremely rude. I gave her my insurance card and ID and she told me i had to pay out of pocket for my visit because i had a deductible. I've been to many doctors and specialists (neurologists, rheumatologists, physical therapists, etc) and everyone has taken my insurance and they billed my insurance and my insurance covered it. This admin said i would not see the doctor unless i paid out of pocket. I called my insurance and they said she was wrong and i even put them on the phone with her. She called the insurance on her end and they said they couldnt find me in the system with my date of birth. She was adament that i was not insured despite the insurance rep on my phone telling her that my date of birth was correct in the system. They finally found me (no apologies) and then she asked them about my deductible. She started to shout at me and tell me i had to pay out of pocket for the visit and that's what the person on the phone that she was speaking to was also saying. Then she decided to tell the patients waiting in the lobby in her language what was going on. I understood her saying "no insurance." Then she told the lady on the phone that i didnt want to pay for the visit which was $350.00. Its not that i didnt want to pay, but doctor's will charge whatever they want to charge, but they have a contract with insurance companies and the insurance company will pay what is the right cost for the office visit. After leaving without seeing the doctor, in pain, i called my insurance and let them know what had happened. They said the doctor's office was wrong and that the most they can charge is $200 for an office visit. I have filed a complaint with the state department of health. The administrator should be fired and should never talk about any patient to...

In January 2017, I was diagnosed with severe degenerative spinal disease. I am only 33 years old, and I've undergone 3 major spinal surgeries since January 2017. This disease has dramatically changed the quality of my life. I've loss careers, social life, peace, traveling, and suffered many financial hardships due to this disease, and the unsatisfactory care from surgeons, specialists and doctors didn't make my life any better. All previous Pain Management doctors have been pumping me with a plethora of pills, ranging from Hydromorphone, Percocets, Gabapentin, Naproxen, Muscle relaxers, steroid injections, and etc. All of these pills didn't cure me, they actually made things a bit worse. Dr. Boris is the FIRST Pain Management doctor Ive seen that spoke life into me. He advised me to stop taking those hard opiods, and steroid injections, and push me in the direction of changing my DIET. He is FIRST doctor to advise me to watch this informative documentary about the importance of food, as well as its cautions. He is the FIRST doctor to give me NON-STEROID injections, and to my surprise, these injections has lowered my pain level, and is NOT triggering other harmful side effects. I am a new patient of doctor Boris, and he has already CHANGED MY LIFE! I have a Colorectal Surgeon, 3 Pain Management Doctors, a Neurologist, Spinal Surgeon, Gastric Sleeve Surgeon, Physical Therapist, and Primary Care Doctor, and Dr. Boris stands out DRAMATICALLY! I refer Dr. Boris, because not only is he a great Doctor, but he actually CARES about his patients and doesn't view me as just a NUMBER, but a warmblooded HUMAN BEING...