Dr. Richard T. Fong, MD

I regret the day I walked into Richard Fong MD’s office for my pre-​op appointment, prior to having hip replacement surgery.
Dr. Fong replaced my left hip in 2008, and did such a poor job that I am in continual discomfort, over a year-​and-​a-​half later. I had my other hip replaced three months ago by a highly skilled Kaiser doctor in Oakland and that hip barely hurt at all only two months after my surgery. And the scar, oh the scar… A first year med student could probably have done a better job…
I also wonder if Kaiser San Rafael’smight be a bit too focused on cost cutting… Oakland and SF both send physical therapists and home health nurses to patients’ homes for post-​op treatment for several weeks after the surgery. Kaiser San Rafael does not do this.
Since my surgery, as I’ve told people of my travails, other stories of Dr. Fong have come out of the woodwork:
1) My roommate during my Fong surgery, who also had a hip replacement is unhappy with Fong’s work, and her hip still bothers her. Also, she was slightly overweight and he was incredibly rude to her about this — on her six week follow-​up, he said «well, I see you haven’t lost any weight yet!»
2) I met a woman who told me that Fong botched her emergency shoulder surgery and the surgery to «fix» the first surgery. Finally, she went to a different Kaiser facility and a different doctor fixed it properly and she is fine now.
3) Another woman I know had either knee or shoulder replacement (I forget which) and it still bothers her after a couple of years
4) When my son had orthopedic surgery at UCSF on a broken leg and ankle (with a phenomenal doctor), one of the nurses told me about a friend of hers who went to Fong. He refused to operate on her unless she lost 50 pounds. The nurse’s friend went to a different Kaiser facility and was able to get surgery without the insults. And she’s probably better off in any event, since Fong didn’t do her operation.
If you’re considering having Fong as surgeon, I suggest that you explore other options.