Patients in Beachwood are frustrated after their pain management doctor has left without any notice.
Sherwood Lacroix of Willoughby has nerve damage in his leg and back after a surgery gone bad.
“My back is killing me,” he said. "My leg is killing me.”
For many years, he relied on Dr. Jerome Yokiel to prescribe him the right medication to ease his pain.
“One day I go in, and he's gone. There's no information,” said Lacroix.
He said he has been referred to someone else for his pain.
“I went to another doctor, and he was trying to help and cut my scrips (prescription) in half,” said Lacroix.
News 5 went to Dr. Yokiel's office in Beachwood to find out what was going on. The workers inside said the doctor is on medical leave, and his team will send out a letter later this week with more information.
Despite their frustration, Lacroix and his wife said they like Dr. Yokiel and his team.
“Everyone there was very nice. Very courteous to everybody, very nice there,” said Lacroix.
But, he's certainly not happy with the doctor right now.
“When you go in and 7 at night, the night before your scrips are due to be filled, and you're told there's no more prescriptions out of this office. Well what happened? There's no excuse for that.”
Dr. Yokiel's patients are now being told to see Dr. Adam Hedaya. Other options include Cleveland Clinic Pain Management or University Hospital's Pain Management Center.
While Dr. Adam Hedaya spoke positively of Dr. Yokiel and wished him a speedy recovery, said he has worked until midnight six days in a row to keep up with the influx of patients.
Dr. Hedaya gave the following statement on Dr. Yokiel's absence:
"Based on unforeseen circumstances, Dr. Yokiel has done everything he could to put in place resources to help his patients."
Correction: We initially showed a picture of a doctor not connected to this story. We have since removed the picture and apologize for the error.
