Another big “investigative journalism” piece

[callmeanesthesia]

Medical device that treats pain shocks, burns patients

Basically SCS harms millions of patients who weren’t told the risks (of getting their third stimulator) or only got a stimulator because the Dr was going to take away their opioids, which was “the only thing that worked.” I seriously smell secondary gain in the case that headlines the article. Overall it’s a heavily biased piece but just be aware of it before your patients ask you about it.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[NJPAIN]

Just saw the news piece. Here we go. I’m not one to generalize, BUT, I can just see that bearded, tattoo covered guy demanding his oxys.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SommeRiver]

POS article. Total BS.

 

[TheLoneWolf]

A hit piece. Now I sort of see why Trump calls the mainstream media an enemy of the public.

The first guy argues he was pushed into the procedure for fear of opiate discontinuation or reduction? He etched his bed rail with death bed. Nothing could potentially return him to an intact pain free state.

Also, interviewing multiple hostile patients who had failed multiple scs implants is a huge red flag.

FAKE NEWS

 

[BobBarker]

I wonder why they were ok naming every other physician but would not name Tim Deer. I think the list of physicians doing DRG implants in WV in 2015 was very small.

Falowski is paid a lot of money but he is doing something for ABT every other weekend it seems, so it isn’t like he isn’t working for it

 

[SommeRiver]

This is even worse than that recent NY Times piece (of zhit) about "spine injections." The one regarding Depo.

 

[Ducttape]

its not fake news at all.

some people will not benefit from stims, especially CRPS like patients "on lifelong disability" being "forced off" narcotics.

problem is, some doctors focus entirely on the $$$ and want to stim everyone, and some patients will have complications from their procedures, but the incidence is amplified due to the patient population and their expectations.

we don't get each individual case file, but after reading the article, very few of those cases seem to pass the sniff test for stim - or narcotics. and patients refuse to believe that there is nothing that will make the pain go away, that they have to learn management rather than relie on science for a cure.

Gofeld said he believes stimulators do work, but that many of the problems usually arise when doctors don’t choose appropriate candidates. And he thinks the stimulators are used too often in the U.S.

In Canada, where Gofeld now works, he said the surgeries are done only by those who specialize in the procedures. He said spinal-cord stimulators should be used when pain starts and not after failed back surgeries.

 

[hyperalgesia]

It may not be fake but it's certainly sensationalized. Why can't these articles can't just point out the facts in a balanced way?

Their agenda is to create a story from thin air with a victim and assailant.

 

[SSdoc33]

It may not be fake but it's certainly sensationalized. Why can't these articles can't just point out the facts in a balanced way?

Their agenda is to create a story from thin air with a victim and assailant.

no, their agenda is $$$.

 

[drusso]

Spinal-cord stimulators mean big business for device makers

"Like opioids, spinal-cord stimulators mask pain, but that's where the similarities end. The stimulators use electrical currents to block pain signals before they reach the brain. Pain medications, such as OxyContin and Percocet, instead change brain chemistry and are highly addictive."

 

[TheLoneWolf]

its not fake news at all.

some people will not benefit from stims, especially CRPS like patients "on lifelong disability" being "forced off" narcotics.

problem is, some doctors focus entirely on the $$$ and want to stim everyone, and some patients will have complications from their procedures, but the incidence is amplified due to the patient population and their expectations.

we don't get each individual case file, but after reading the article, very few of those cases seem to pass the sniff test for stim - or narcotics. and patients refuse to believe that there is nothing that will make the pain go away, that they have to learn management rather than relie on science for a cure.

This is fake news. I stand by the statement.

This is like an article covering the auto industry. Only the majority of those they interview are maimed and the loved ones of those killed in cars. Of course there may be kick backs, research and development, crazy ideas that are tested. Throw a token two lines about one guy who uses his car successfully to go to and from work so as not to seem biased. Bury in middle of the article.

Maybe mention the alternatives. This is salvage of prior failed treatments. May not work. But when you interview internist shysters who say scs is all placebo then it's a fluff piece.

The impression of reading this article are that the rich pain docs and neurosurgeons prey on the poor patients and coerce them into invasive untested and possibly faulty devices. Patients too victimized and too simple to understand that their fourth scs may fail after three prior implants.

BUNK

 

[DOctorJay]

Totally fake news.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN

 

[Biohazard685]

Absolutely no bias at all in this article.

 

[TheLoneWolf]

ASA sent this article link to all members this morning. Weird that the college gives us info from the AP rather then academic journals.

 

[Ducttape]

This is fake news. I stand by the statement.

This is like an article covering the auto industry. Only the majority of those they interview are maimed and the loved ones of those killed in cars. Of course there may be kick backs, research and development, crazy ideas that are tested. Throw a token two lines about one guy who uses his car successfully to go to and from work so as not to seem biased. Bury in middle of the article.

Maybe mention the alternatives. This is salvage of prior failed treatments. May not work. But when you interview internist shysters who say scs is all placebo then it's a fluff piece.

The impression of reading this article are that the rich pain docs and neurosurgeons prey on the poor patients and coerce them into invasive untested and possibly faulty devices. Patients too victimized and too simple to understand that their fourth scs may fail after three prior implants.

BUNK

you didn't read the full article, did you?


from the article:

Stimulators are considered a treatment of “last resort” by insurance companies, as well as Medicare and Medicaid. That means doctors must follow a protocol before insurance will pay for the device and implantation.

Physicians must show that conservative treatments failed to help, and patients also undergo psychological assessments to evaluate the likelihood of success. They then typically undergo a trial period lasting three days to a week with thin electrodes inserted under the skin. If patients say they got relief from the external transmitter sending electrical pulses to the contacts near their spines, they have surgery to implant a permanent stimulator.

Medical device manufacturers have cited multiple industry-funded studies showing the effectiveness of spinal-cord stimulation in the treatment of chronic pain. Experts say treatment is considered successful if pain is reduced by at least half, but not every patient experiences that much pain reduction.

A 2016 study looking at different stimulation systems found “significant evidence” that they were “a safe, clinical and cost-effective treatment for many chronic pain conditions.”

While manufacturers and top FDA officials tout stimulators as a weapon in the battle against opioids, neurosurgeons like Steven Falowski are the front-line evangelists.

“Chronic pain is one of the largest health-care burdens we have in the U.S. It’s more than heart disease, cancer and diabetes combined,” Falowski said in an interview.

He referred AP to Corby, as one of his surgical patients who was helped by a spinal-cord stimulator.

Corby got the device more than two years ago and says that, after some initial adjustments, he hasn’t had any further problems. He says he wouldn’t trade the stimulator for opioids.

“I was actually buying them on the street ... a little like a druggie because I couldn’t get them anymore” from his pain doctor, Corby said.

fwiw, bias is different than fake news. and imo this is more balanced and fair than it could have possibly been.

 

[lobelsteve]

Had my first SCS cancel after hearing about the article. Had a kypho slide right into her spot this afternoon.
Will get patient in office to represent the truth and motivations behind what is being said. I already have response letters from Nevro and BS.
Anyone have NANS or ASIPP letters yet? What about Abbott or Medtronic?

 

[drusso]

Had my first SCS cancel after hearing about the article. Had a kypho slide right into her spot this afternoon.
Will get patient in office to represent the truth and motivations behind what is being said. I already have response letters from Nevro and BS.
Anyone have NANS or ASIPP letters yet? What about Abbott or Medtronic?

Wait until your Kypho patients read this...

Medscape: Medscape Access

"The work suggests "that factors aside from instillation of polymethylmethacrylate [bone cement] might have accounted for the observed clinical improvement after vertebroplasty; for example, the effect of local anesthesia, expectations of pain relief (placebo effect), [and] natural healing of the fracture," according to the researchers."

 

[lobelsteve]

Wait until your Kypho patients read this...

Medscape: Medscape Access

"The work suggests "that factors aside from instillation of polymethylmethacrylate [bone cement] might have accounted for the observed clinical improvement after vertebroplasty; for example, the effect of local anesthesia, expectations of pain relief (placebo effect), [and] natural healing of the fracture," according to the researchers."

So 2009

 

[Biohazard685]

you didn't read the full article, did you?


from the article:






fwiw, bias is different than fake news. and imo this is more balanced and fair than it could have possibly been.

The fact that they spent a year doing research and had absolutely no words about Tim Deer makes me wonder the competency of this team. This has Dunning Kruger effect all over it.

 

[244913]

Follow the money- look into who's behind this. Big Pharma? Competing device companies...

 

[lobelsteve]

It is a part of a series attacking FDA and device industry. Insulin pump article out today. Look for hip replacement soon.

 

[emd123]

Follow the money- look into who's behind this. Big Pharma? Competing device companies...

My guess would be the folks involved in Medicare and private insurance companies. They're the ones who don't want to pay for this stuff.

 

[Orin]

At least it's not a pain pump am I right?

It's medical journalism. Non-opioid analgesics are big, and SCS is a big cost driver with significant risk, magnified by confident but poorly trained providers motivated by various factors but likely involving money or prestige.

I suspect they likely know of and about Dr Deer but opted not to name him directly due to local/national politics.

 

[Ronin1]

International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) Reporting on SCS Complication Rate & Reporting

 

[SeniorWrangler]

There's a pattern with many pain procedures where a promising and useful procedure gets offered to more and more patients who are less and less ideal candidates for it, so that an analysis of procedure patients shows many with limited benefits and the usual rate of complications.