First Cervical Disc Replacement Surgery with ProDisc-C
The very first ProDisc-C surgery was performed last week since the FDA approved the device in December 2007.
Lumbar Artificial Disc Replacement Not Covered In People Over 60
Medicare has decided it will not pay for lumbar artificial disc replacements in people over 60 years of age. The reasoning for the CMS' (The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) decision is the lack of data on using such devices in the 60+ population, according to Scott Boden, MD, a Spine-health.com Medical Advisor.
Osteopaths are Physicians
With the recent press bashing of Paris Hilton's psychiatrist, an osteopathic physician, the American Osteopathic Association felt the need to issue a press release defending the medical training of osteopathic physicians. Seems that anything in the press associated with Paris has a downside these days.
Bottom line: Osteopathic physicians are real doctors and may specialize in any area and provide any treatments - including surgery - that medical doctors do.
The Health Care Crisis
The uninsured population of the United States has perplexed our country and our leaders for several decades now. Many have termed this our national health care crisis, but it is not nearly as much a health care crisis as a health insurance crises. As medicine has gotten more technical and expensive, the affordability and availability of insurance has gone down. Health insurance affects our society in many different ways including cost shifting, job decisions, and actual availability of health care.
This Kind of Reporting is No Help to Back Pain Patients
Kudos to Gary Schwitzer for humorously discrediting a recent article that needs to be discredited - "Chronic Back Pain Breakthroughs: end back pain agony" in the July issue of Reader's Digest.
