Dr. Stephen H. Knudson

Dr. Knudson is an absolutely inept medical doctor. He received his MD at the University of Iowa in 1965, and is woefully undereducated about contemporary medical practices and opinions. In fact, Dr. Knudson essentially retired from medicine back in 2000, but was re-​board certified in just 2012 in Family Practice, and currently works out of the Charles Drew Community Health Center in West Dayton (aggressive, miserable staff) and also works at the Alpha Choice Urgent Care clinic in Centerville (255 N. Main Street). Clearly, he was once a quite admirable and skilled doctor, engaging in Pediatric medicine and surgery as well as Family Practice – and also practiced Emergency Medicine in Saudi Arabia. When I first read his profile, I was incredibly excited to meet someone who not only sounded like an interesting doctor, but also an engaging individual. Conversely, the person I met was sarcastic, dismissive, unreasonable, confused, completely clueless, and outwardly antagonistic when questioned, especially when it came to any psychiatric medication, which he literally knows nothing about, and clearly considers Behavioral Health «other/​not as serious as other conditions» in the world of medicine. Well, he met the wrong woman.
It shocks me that after so many years in the field, he would still have such a lack of knowledge regarding extremely well-​known medications (even if they are not «in [my] field,» which was the excuse he used again and again. I would also expect, at the very least, him to have some class of bedside manner; conversely, he has none, and is actually downright rude when challenged by the «lowly» patient (even one who works in the field and genuinely cares). After reading a short paragraph about my medications from a random book (I had to explain to him what one of my medications is, even though it has existed since 1952), he decided he was capable of dramatically and DANGEROUSLY altering my dosage by 50mg (what?!)…without telling me. That would literally entail COLD TURKEY WITHDRAWAL FROM AN MAOI. I have been on this medication with great success for several years, and it was prescribed to me at one of the very best hospitals and psychiatrists in the United States. When I arrived at the pharmacy to pick up my medication, it turned out he decided it was «not appropriate» and only wrote the prescription for the severely lowered dosage… with NO REFILLS. The pharmacist found this SO dangerous, in fact, that he loaned me extra medication, just so I would not start to painfully (in myriad ways) detox), as decreasing so rapidly can cause seizure, psychosis, and even death. Dr. Knudson REFUSED to speak to me on the phone and called the pharmacist back merely to tell him he «WOULD NEVER» change his mind «no matter what.“In fact, his policy is not to speak to ANY patients on the phone, but have his medical assistant do so. She is more of a gatekeeper (seriously: mad attitude right there), and was not helpful or compassionate in any way, though I was obviously frightened.
Dr. Knudson has NO stable prescribing method, but chooses what he will or won’t do Fortunately, I got in touch with a great, thoughtful, and intelligent doctor who could help me – but ONLY because I work in behavioral health. I shudder to think what would have happened if I didn’t! It is 100% obvious that Dr. Knudson is totally inept and, yes, dangerous. He clearly should NEVER have been re-​certified, and I hope the Ohio Board of Medicine takes the complaints against him seriously, as people’s lives and well-​being are literally on the line.