Dr. John Mulliken, MD

Dr. Mulliken has been treating my son for cleft lip/palate since he was an infant. My son is now 18 years old. Dr. Mulliken has changed my son’s life forever for the better. Dr. Mulliken is the creator of modern cleft surgery - the gold standard that other physicians follow.. We routinely traveled a thousand miles to Boston for my son’s care. Our gratitude to Dr. Mulliken and his caring team is immeasurable.

Talented? Yes. But no bedside manner and left my scarred beyond my hemangioma. After being treated as an infant, went for a follow up as a teenager. He brought in a student without asking my permission, proceeded to tell me about possible future revisions, telling me bluntly "if I had a bum lip that was drooping I would fix it too." He continued to talk about possible procedures in crude terms stating "no if we do that it will look weird/worse." I felt like a guinea pig not a patient. As a teenage girl already feeling self conscious, who had survived bullying due to this condition, my eyes watered. He told me to go see a psychologist if I was so bothered and maybe I had mental problems. I complained as an adult to Boston Children's hospital patient services, but I received no apology. I hope younger doctors working with children suffering from vascular birth defects have a much more compassionate and respectful manner. Children are people too. careless words can be just as damaging.

Dr. Mulliken is a true hero. His work is second to none and I feel so blessed to have him caring for my son.

Dr. Mulliken worked on my son once as an infant for a cleft lip repair and 20 years later as a young adult for a revision following jaw surgery. He continues to be wonderfully talented and an excellent resource to young residents.

Dr. Mulliken is a compassionate, skilled and brilliant surgeon who was able to remove our daughters very large strawberry hemangioma from the top of her head. We had seen numerous surgeons and specialists who were supposedly experts on this type of hemangioma. He did her surgery when she was 2 1/2 years old and now as a 23 year old woman, you would never know she has this large hemangioma on her head. Thank you Dr. Mulliken.