Claude D. Gelinas MD

Gelinas did my fusion 10 years ago. My life was changed forever. Unremitting pain. He ordered 6 physical therapy sessions in his own facility post op. When that did not help, I asked for water, or pool therapy. He told me there was none in Albuquerque and wouldn't order more PT. The pain was beyond description, unabated by even the strongest narcotic for over three years. He told me he didn't want to see me again unless he was "going to cut" me again. My internist finally got me pool therapy at the very hospital where Gelinas did the surgery. Of course surgical results can vary, but it stands to reason that this man, who had his first DWI at age 21, could well be impaired during surgery. I met a scrub nurse who worked with him and who told me she would never let him touch her. She said he worked too fast, and raced from patient to patient, having more than one "open" at a time. When I was hospitalized for the surgery, it was a time of transition for hospitals. The nursing care was very poor. When I asked him about it and asked for his help, he told me I was not in a country club. His arrogance and lack of interest in his patients is noted in other reviews.
He is exceedingly well trained so may have surgeries that are technically sound. But a good education is not enough to make a good doctor. I am the child of a doctor, the wife of a doctor, so do not bash doctors. But, use your heads. Three arrests for DWI mean he was not caught perhaps hundreds of other times. A doctor who is an addict is usually also abusing drugs. When I mention that he was my surgeon to my doctors, there is dead silence. Be very very careful. Leave the state if necessary. No one should have to live as I am living.

i had my surgery about 8-10 years ago. i remember the hospital care to be terrible in albuquerque. if i had known, i would have gone elsewhere. as far as the surgery, i was told i couldn't be completely "fixed" by any of the surgeons that examined my records and mri's. i was told by all of them, i'd end up with permanent nerve damage in my legs. when i asked around, dr. gelinas was referred to the most, for the situation I was in. he visted me in the hospital several times. he supported my rehabilitation efforts. because it was workers compensation, i was STUCK with having to get everything done in New Mexico. I think this alone destroyed my chances of fully healing, when getting injured in the second poorest state in the nation. CA, AZ, CO and TX had great facilities, but would not accept the NM rates through workers comp. i found the claims adjusters for the state of new mexico to be TERRIBLE. TERRIBLE. they didn't want me to heal, they just wanted to medicate you and settle a claim. i had to fight for every treatment my doctor prescribed. in my case, i'd say the claims adjusters were the cause i couldn't rehabilitate properly. i did not have the out of pocket expenses to support my own full PT. the above person mentioned pool therapy. this can be very helpful, but it can also be very expensive. ask around though, because there are several aquatic therapy locations in albuquerque. as i write this, i still have nerve pain in my legs, but can walk again ok.

If you check the New Mexico court log he had a new MALPRATICE suit filed on April 15. I believe this is the 5th suit.I should also point out that now ALL of his partners have left him. He moved into a new building on Jefferson after being fired by Pres.

I can't say enough good things about Dr. Gelinas.  I went to him in 1997 after a car accident that broke my back in 3 places.  I had been taken to UNMH emergency right after the accident, and they told me there was nothing wrong according to my x-rays.  A week later, I knew they were wrong.  When Dr. Gelinas looked at my x-rays, he immediately saw the 3 compound fractures that UNMH had missed.  Previous to the accident, I had a fusion (several actually) from t-9 through l-4.  Dr. Gelinas was also able to see that my hardware from the previous fusion had broken and needed to be removed.  While removing the hardware, he discovered that my real pain was being caused by a non-union between l-3 and l-4 which didn't fuse properly.  I asked him what my options were, and he told me that I could have my back refused down to the sacrum.  He could do the surgery, but he was concerned that, if he did, I'd lose most of my mobility and eventually wind up in a wheelchair.  I was 24 at the time.  I asked him what I should do, and he told me to put off the surgery for as long as I possibly could and live my life to the fullest. 

 My previous surgeons, one of them "the best in the country" at Columbia pres in NY, had always told me that surgery was my only option, and that they were the only ones who could fix my back with their "revolutionary" techniques.  Little did I know then that my Columbia Pres surgeon needed me to be his guinea pig to do the front /back surgery that he alone had perfected.  During the 12 hour surgery, my lung collapsed and the surgery was never actually completed, but this doctor in NY never bothered to tell me any of the details.  It took me a year to get my lung back in shape.

When Dr. Gelinas read this mans surgery report, he couldn't believe that the doc never mentioned the complications, such as my lung collapsing and the type of hardware he had used.  Nor was the fact mentioned that the surgery was never actually completed.  Or that they had run out of donor bone and lost the 4 units of blood that I had donated for my own surgery.

To make a long story longer, Dr. Gelinas put my long term welfare above any consideration of the substantial amount of money he would make if he just did the fusion.  I'm estimating that he could have made an easy $250k just by doing my fusion.  But, he felt it was not in my best interests and talked me out of it.  Having had so many surgeries, I can tell you how unusual that is for a surgeon to say.  In my experience, that alone makes him an extraordinary man.  Because of his willingness to put my welfare above his profit, his lack of arrogance, his compassion, and his amazing sense of humor -not to mention his extraordinary talent as a surgeon- Dr. Gelinas is in a class of his own.  Thanks to his honesty, I am still able to walk, and I force myself to hike, lift weights, do yoga, swim and get massages as often as I can.  I understand that I am responsible for my health and continued well being, no matter how much it hurts.  No doctor, no matter how good, can do more than give us a chance (through surgery) to reclaim our health.  After that, we are responsible for diet, excercise and taking care of ourselves.

As for his DWI's, I say this.  First of all, the law was the result of a knee jerk reaction to get the pressure off of politicians by enforcing a "no tolerance" attitude towards drinking and driving.  I know of many responsible people who have suffered due to a glass of wine they had while out to dinner.  The blood alcohol level is irrelevant if the officer feels someone is impaired.  i just had a friend's life ruined because she blew a .04 after having half a glass of wine.  The problem is that, the people they need to get off the roads are completely immune to this new witch hunt.  people with 10 DWI's who kill others don't care about anything but getting drunk. They will continue to do so.  It's the people who have a drink or two with dinner who are getting their lives ruined.  Others who really should be punishede get off because of who they are or who they know.  On this note, I have to give kudos to Dr. Gelinas for having the intergrity to take his lumps without stooping to ask for political favors to which he had access.  Most people lack that kind of integrity, and I'm impressed beyond words that he has that kind of moral character.

A back surgeon can only give patients the opportunity to  improve their lives through diet and excercise.  They can not cure anyone who is not willing to take personal responsibility for their health.  Many days I feel the pain is unbearable and I just want to stay in bed.  Years of experience, however, have taught me that the only way to overcome that pain is through consistantly pushing myself to become stronger.  I pray that you all find something that works for you so that you may live your lives to the fullest!

I had decompression and fusion of L2 to L5 in 2005 by Dr. Gelinas. The surgery was done very competently, and I healed well. My symptoms of leg pain, followed by numbness, resolved, and I am usually free of all symptoms. I have a great deal of respect for him as a surgeon, and believe that he is honest about diagnoses and treatment plans.



I am aware of published personal issues that he has, but that is not relevant to me. Seven years after my surgery, my wife has the same diagnoses, and same symptoms, in L4 and L5. I have recommended that she use Dr. Gelinas. I have full confidence in his surgical judgement and skill.



I know an excellent surgeon in Santa Fe, who was fired from his hospital position. The firing had nothing to do with his skill, and everything to do with in-house politics.

He is a HACK and is being sued by 5 people. He ruined my life. Don't go near him. He has a known record for DWI and suspected narcotic addiction problems...but that is grapevine. I am not the only victim of this evil, sick man either.

nice little review there pasternaki. you almost sound like a real patient.

Dr. GELINAS did my best friends surgery and she has had to have 4 more since then. I went to him and had my surgery done and 7 yrs later i still have nerve damage and now having to go back for a second surgery. Obviously there are more negative to positves. I would get another opinion especially since he has ben fired from one of the major hospitals

Dr. Gelinas is VERY bad news. 3 DWIs, 7 malpractice suits, he operated on my spine with I fell and broke a vertebrae on the sidewalk curb. 3 weeks after my surgery, I had to be opened up again because a screw came out. He replaced it. This screw is now trying to push out through my skin. I almost went into the 2nd surgery with a blood clot. If it wasn't for my wonderful husband pointing out my swollen foot and ankle, well I don't think the outcome would have been very good.

 ***this post is edited by moderator *** *** web addresses not allowed*** Please read our Terms of Use

yeah jacque...but you dont write any better than you do surgery...yep, you're busted there hotshot! that "jb" fella in the post above got it right on the money. after lots of looking into your's and gelinas's practice we've found a few nurses who've blown the whistle. where gelinas got the idea you could get away with doing his surgeries we dont know. but you can expect to hear more about it soon there buddy!

He is out of business. His license has been suspended. He's apparently in deep stuff along with his sidekick. He's being sued on multiple fronts.

dr andrew paterson is the surgeon who spent a year rebuilding my spine after gelinas destroyed my spine. dr. paterson is a godsend and very talented. he said gelinas made some serious mistakes and i ended up undergoing 2 extensive revision surgeries and a year of rehabilitation, 4 months of which i was in the hospital. get this...his p.a. blamed the need for the revisions/redo surgery on me!

i love this...google "CLAUDE D. GELINAS MD", read what you find, including all the stuff at the NM Medical Board and all the NM Court Logs and arrest reports, along with the hundreds of patients reviews, including those of us who will spend the rest of their lives with damage caused by this guy... AND THEN we can talk about "...someone with an agenda". the guy has been stopped and thank god for that!

give it up pasternaki. hell, he's being shown for what he his. how can you defend a guy who has been suspended by the nm medical board and has "multiple" lawsuits pending. i guess all those patients of his are just making it up and are just out to get him and YOU are the one who is right. ok...tell us....why was he suspended pasternaki? mistake? conspiracy against him by all those greedy special interests? lawsuits (a whole mess of them that have cleared medical review which means they are valid) out the ying yang from all the crazies? what about it pasternaki? i am sick to death of you so called "medical professionals" who, when things go wrong, look down your damn noses at your patients and blame them for your incompetence. well sport, this time the facts are stark and glaring for you and your boss. kinda hard to say "the sky is any other color than blue". you and ol' claude are gonna be busy in the courtroom for a while huh, sport? its comforting to know since every second you and claude spend in the courtroom is a second you wont be able to spend hurting any more patients!

drama? the lady who goes to gelinas because she's trying to deal with increasing disk related pain and ends up with a half assed fusion that will need more surgery and leave her with lifelong pain...guess thats drama, huh? same goes for all the others who are in similar or worse straits because of gelinas and his sidekick paternaki. and there are lots...lots more patients with worse issues directly related to their irresponsibility and appalling disregard for some patients and their families. yeah, you must be right. its drama...so just because gelinas got arrested a few times for dwi and beating up his wife in public a few years ago and has recently been suspended and barred from practicing medicine or having anything to do with patients (much of which has to do with his many self-described mental health issues - there is freely downloadable documentation written by dr. gelinas himself as well as documents produced following an investigation by the board, available on the nm medical board's website and in the nm court records...publicly accessible by anybody who wants to look- in addition to the many malpractice lawsuits and patients whose lives have been drastically affected and in some cases ruined by his and pasternaki's incompetence....all covered by the convenient umbrella you so casually describe as "drama". sure. thats all it is! i am so glad you cleared this up for me dr. g! just give it a year or two and it will all be great and you'll see how may quacks that the mighty duo of gelinas and pasternaki were dealing with. because according to you and all the dr. g defenders out there, anyone who dissents from your way of thinking, well, we're all just bad patients and quacks.
tell you what....lets meet here in .... oh, say 18 months or so and we'll compare notes, ok? then we'll see what "drama" really is. how's that sound there dr. g? i think, based on what you have lining up against you and all the nice letters you are sending the nm medical board .... well, i think the quack is the guy you see in the mirror everyday when you are getting that yogurt facial at your wife's day spa in the morning and the only "drama" i can see is what will play out in the courhouse when the judge takes away your ability to touch, therefore harm any other trusting soul. drama? really?