I am a runner who had a recurring knee injury and sought the help of a sports medicine doctor.
I called Lewis Maharam, a sports medicine doctor recommended by the NY ING Marathon website. I was told by the receptionist, Jissinia, that orthotics were included in the cost of the appointment and since I was on a limited budget, I could pay in two payments with the first half upon the first appointment.
When I came in for the appointment, Lewis Maharam did an examination, gave me what were supposed to be custom orthotics, told me what was wrong with my knee, and said that I would need physical therapy. When I asked him questions pertinent to my recovery, such as what stretches should I do, he refused to tell me and instead said that I would need to ask the physical therapist practice he recommended to me (which conveniently happened to be located in the same office space). When I told him what if I can't afford to see the physical therapist (which he said I would need to see 2X a week for 6 weeks), he matter of factly stated that I then would not be able to run the marathon.
When it came time to pay, I suddenly was hit with an additional charge $105 for the orthotics (these were supposed to be included!) and was also informed that second half of payment would be due in 2 weeks! Usually, 2 payments means second payment in the next billing cycle (the following month) unless otherwise stated. I was never told how quickly second payment would be due until after I had the appointment!
As for physical therapy, I found out it costs $90 per session. $90 x 12 = $1,080. Since paying for the appointment itself was a hardship, this was completely out of the question.
I have since discovered that my injury is a typical runner's injury easily solved by proper stretching and proper orthotics. This Lewis Maharam is running a racket with this physical therapy outfit. He also has his very rude secretary mislead people on the phone as to the actual cost of his appointments.
Also, the orthotics were so bad that instead of having relief to my left knee pain, which is what I came in for, I now had excruciating pain in both knees, to the extent that I was hobbling to get up and down my apartment staircase.
When I called back to discuss the problem with the orthotics and also with the misleading billing and the charge for the orthotics, Jissinia, the rude receptionist, denied having told me that orthotics were included, claimed that I stated in the office that I loved the orthotics, which is completely false something out of left field, and refused to work out any sort of resolution.
Lewis Maharam is a rip-off artist. Under the guise of the NYC marathon, he gets people into his practice with his misleading sales pitch and then slaps them with unannounced charges, tries to get them into a physical therapy program which he must be getting a cut of, and most of all, is totally incompetent in his practice.
Don't see this guy and if you have, and have had problems with him like me, please report him! This guy deserves to lose his business license! He is completely unscrupulous and tries to take advantage of people, especially people who don't have insurance and are on a limited income.
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