Unfortunately, our experience with Dr. Mass was ex...
Unfortunately, our experience with Dr. Mass was extremely negative and bordering on malpractice. The story is quite involved . My 25 year old son was having strange psychiatric symptoms- issues with sensory systems, increased OCD - repetitive negative thoughts, increased anxiety. He was diagnosed with PANDAS at eight years old, since then he has always had a little anxiety and OCD like symptoms but at this point, it became severe. After researching many doctors we saw that Dr. Mass specialized in patients with PANDAS ( and Lyme disease). My son answered a very lengthy questionnaire on line and sent it to Dr. Mass. At the initial visit, Dr. Mass read the questionnaire while we sat there, he asked my son a few questions then told him he had Lyme disease and that it was possible that the spirochetes could be in his brain tissue as well. WHAT?? Lyme disease?? My son had not been bit by a tick nor did he have any of the typical Lyme symptoms. I know many people present atypically, but Lyme disease was not even a consideration by any of the other doctors who saw him. Long story-short. He treated him with injections of antibiotics followed by extremely large doses of oral antibiotics in addition to hundreds of dollars worth of supplements. After approximately 6 weeks ( $750 intital visit, $400 for several follow up visits and almost $1,000 in recommended supplements) I decided to discontinue treatment as I knew it was causing harm and I had always questioned the Lyme diagnosis. Dr. Mass had ordered an extensive blood panel and a brain MRI- all negative for any indication of Lyme disease. Not at any time during any of our visits did he perform a physical or neurological exam on my son.
Unfortunately, Dr. Mass had caused a lot of damage. My son was convinced he had "spirochetes in his brain" and suffered with depression and fear for the next 2 years. During this time he was evaluated by his GP-multiple times, a neurologist, psychiatrist, immunologist and other doctors. All concluding there was no evidence of Lyme disease. After finally finding an excellent therapist he finally began to get better and has made tremendous progress. It was found that the initial increase in psychiatric symptoms were triggered by a traumatic event. We did discuss this possibility with Dr. Mass who just dismissed it.
The message here is be very aware of this doctor. Others may have had positive experiences with him but they will never negate that damage that he caused my son.
