Boris Rubinstein MD

“I trusted Boris Rubinstein with my life because of who he was to my family. My mother grew up with him in Mexico. My father was his colleague and longtime friend. I had known him since I was a child. I believed that someone so deeply embedded in my family’s life would treat me with even better care, after all, I always liked him and by 1999 had known him for 30 years. That belief turned out to be the most damaging mistake I have ever made. What I did not consider were all the personal relationships. By the time I became his patient, his wife and sister - once close to my mother - were no longer on good terms with her. From the start, the boundaries that are supposed to protect patients simply did not exist. I entered what I came to realize to have been a profoundly inappropriate and harmful dynamic that lasted for two decades. Over almost 20 years, I was put on medication combinations that were far beyond anything I ever imagined could be considered appropriate. I was kept on extremely high doses of a benzodiazepine typically used short‑term, along with more than 40 other psychiatric medications over the years - sometimes as many as seven at once. I repeatedly asked about long-term safety and was consistently reassured. For year after year, I was miserable simply believing the drugs weren’t helping, not ever considering what I know now being drug-free – that the medications themselves had played a major role in the suffering I was living through. Only much later did I come to understand how serious the risks were and how false those reassurances had been. I am still living with the consequences today. Because of his friendship with my parents, I was never billed. At the time, I thought this reflected generosity. In fact, I never asked for any “professional courtesy”, Boris simply didn’t bill me. It became clear that this situation kept me tied to his care in ways I didn’t recognize then. I later learned that the APA considers professional courtesy unethical. The most shocking events occurred after I ended treatment. After I ended my relationship with him, private emails I had written to him as a former patient - expressing anger, distress, and pain over the care I received - were shared with my elderly parents, who were both in their eighties and had no role whatsoever in my medical care. Watching them become frightened and deeply unsettled by communications that should have remained confidential was one of the most upsetting experiences of my life. Behind my back he talked with them about my supposed state of mind and that what I shared about Boris online could lead to serious legal consequences if not removed. Not once did Boris reach out to me before doing such a thing. The damage to me by going to Boris has been devastating: to my health (emotional and physical), my finances, my trust in mental health professionals, and my family relationships. I moved forward with formal complaints because my experience crossed lines I never thought I would encounter in psychiatric care. Boris presents himself as warm, attentive, caring and trustworthy. The way he responded when I confronted him was completely different from the image he presents. What I encountered during that conversation bore no resemblance to the warm, attentive persona he shows the world. Walking into his office is the greatest regret of my life, and the harm I suffered there is something I will carry forever. What is here only touches the surface of what I experienced from this man. I will be telling my complete story in another forum.”

“My experience with this provider was so far outside normal professional conduct that I felt compelled to document the entire course of events afterward. I created a full video record because what occurred was not something I could simply leave unrecorded. The boundary violations I witnessed were unlike anything I could ever imagine from a licensed professional. His choices during and after treatment had ramifications that made it clear I was not dealing with someone capable of maintaining professional standards. I won’t go into every detail here, but the complete record exists. Anyone who wants to understand why I felt the need to document the course of events will be able to find it.”

“Dr. Rubinstein helped me and my son when four other psychiatrists could not. He specializes in complex cases (my son has autism spectrum disorder complicated by a number of factors). And the results have been truly miraculous. My son, who was angry and violent prior to treatment, has become the true person he always was inside: loving, funny, smart and affectionate. Dr. Rubinstein achieved it through a very planned and methodical approach using medication. He is warm, thoughtful, compassionate and incredibly smart. We owe him a great debt of gratitude. He's the best of the best, honestly. I'd never consider going to anyone else. Should you see a counselor separately, too? Absolutely. Psychiatrists prescribe meds and offer some wisdom and guidance, of course, but they are not meant to be a substitute for a trained counselor. The two of them work hand in hand.”

“My son has an autism spectrum disability. Over the years he received treatment and services from numerous providers. Ultimately, he has done very well, attending mainstream schools for high school and college, even studying abroad in Israel, where he recently spent one summer at a Yeshiva and another at Hebrew University. My son used no functional language until he was nearly five years old, and his disability continued presenting as quite severe for some years afterward. In terms of his development, my son has exceeded all expectations. He made such impressive gains, but not until we left Dobbs Ferry and his treatment was no longer directed or influenced by Dr. Rubinstein. My impression of Dr. Rubinstein from our family’s experience is that he has some very outdated views of how disability should be managed, along with low expectations for those who live with disability. I don’t think the doctor was particularly concerned about outcomes for my son. Neither did he seem to care if my son was experiencing unnecessary discomfort or pain. Dr. Rubinstein pressed us to medicate my son with a variety of psychotropic medications, none of which were helpful. My son reacted badly to these drugs. One caused behavioral disinhibition, making my son do impulsive things he did not do when not on that drug. On another medication prescribed by Dr. Rubinstein, my son experienced severe head-jerking tics as the drug cleared out of his body every evening. It was such a relief to my son when he was taken off that drug. Dr. Rubinstein’s proposed remedy in that situation was not to take him off the drug but to add another one, the atypical anti-psychotic Risperdal. I don’t know why Dr. Rubinstein was so heavy-handed with the prescriptions for a child not exhibiting unmanageable behaviors (nobody else who saw my son suggested any need for meds). I’m glad my husband and I sought second opinions. As for the drug that caused the head-jerking, a pediatric neurologist told us my son should avoid not only that medication, but everything in that family of medications. We experienced an additional complication due to the doctor’s social connection with my mother-in-law; they were long-time friends who had attended high school together in Mexico City. While the expectation of the family was that my son would receive “extra special” attention and better care due to this social connection, in reality it created problems. I was always feeling the push to go along and agree with this doctor so as not to rock-the-boat with my in-laws, even when Dr. Rubinstein’s advice was not working for my son. I also remember hearing from Dr. Rubinstein that I needed to “try harder” to gain my mother-in-law’s approval – this at a time when I was in his office and was supposed to be getting advice on managing the care of my child with a disability. I replied that I always treated her with respect and expected the same from her. I found his comment off-putting as well as off topic. The entire family worried about my son’s prognosis, of course. Some in the older generation seemed to respond to the stress with attempts to hijack the decision-making role away from my husband and me. That caused strife in the family. Unfortunately, where Dr. Rubinstein needed to reassure the grandparents while reinforcing appropriate family boundaries, the doctor seemed to do the opposite. Nobody in the family benefited. My son is now a young adult. He is emotionally resilient, adventurous, confident, and happy. Navigating the process of obtaining services for my son for his disability was a challenge, and there were setbacks along the way. Dr. Rubinstein seemed to cause a disproportionate number of the setbacks for my son while also increasing stress and strife for our entire family. I do not recommend this doctor, Boris Rubinstein, MD. In my experience his medical advice is as flawed as his judgement in general. - My son has read and approved this review for posting online -”