Clarification of Answer by
bobbie7-ga
on
19 Dec 2005 07:02 PST
The impact of spinal disorders and its associated degenerative
diseases is staggering.
?The annual cost of spinal disorders in the United States ranges from
$25 to $100 billion ? on a par with the cost of natural disasters. An
estimated 50% of workers disabled by low back pain for 6 months and
75% of workers disabled for a year do not return to productive work.?
?Dr. Nabil Ebraheim, chairman of orthopaedic surgery at MCO, describes
the problem: ?Back pain can be some of the worst pain you?ll ever
feel, and it can affect you more than just physically. The challenge
of performing what were once simple tasks, become emotionally
frustrating as well as a physically painful experience.?
Medical College of Ohio, Department of Orthopaedics
http://www.meduohio.edu/depts/ortho/pdf/ortho_brochure.pdf
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Social, Psychological Problems Have Negative Impact on Back Surgery,
Researchers Say
?Researchers performed snapshot evaluations of more than 3,400
patients before and after back surgery. They presented their results
at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
in Washington, D.C.?
?James Slover, MD, and colleagues from Dartmouth Medical College found
that factors such as a low education level, depression, smoking,
frequent headaches, and a workers' compensation claim had a profound
impact on patients' functional abilities. These were far more powerful
than the influences of medical illnesses such heart disease or
rheumatoid arthritis.?
Psychology Plays Huge Role
?Patients and doctors should be aware that such common psychological
and social factors play a "huge role" in how patients fare before and
after back surgery, notes co-author William A. Abdu, MD. ? After back
surgery, people don't return to normal and still have the
psychological and social problems they had before back surgery, he
says.?
WebMD Medical News: Feb. 25, 2005
http://www.webmd.com/content/article/101/106112
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Medical Malpractice
Implications of Rising Premiums on Access to Health Care
The recent rising cost of medical malpractice insurance premiums in
many states has reportedly influenced some physicians to move or close
practices, reduce high-risk services, or alter their practices to
preclude potential lawsuits (known as defensive medicine practices).
See page 27
Figure 2: Rates of Medicare-Covered Spinal Surgeries in Five States with Reported
Problems Have Recently Increased
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d03836.pdf
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?About 540,000 traditional surgical procedures are performed each year
in the United States to treat herniated and ruptured discs at a cost
of about $30,000 each or $16 billion. These procedures entail a
sizeable incision, a 2-3 hour surgery, between one to four days in the
hospital, general anesthesia which has a risk of its own, substantial
bleeding, two or more weeks of considerable post-operative pain, and a
two to four month recuperation period. Also, lower back pain caused
by a diseased or damaged lumbar disc is the largest single cause of
absences from work in the United States, and is a huge cost to the
workmen?s compensation insurance industry.?
?The traditional surgical procedure to treat a degenerated disc is
called ?fusion? procedure. If you have a ?fusion? procedure, you can
no longer bend over to tie your shoelaces. A ?fusion? procedure
entails a hospital stay of three to five days, considerable
post-operative pain, the risk of general anesthesia and a two to four
month or longer recuperation period, usually accompanied by physical
therapy and other forms of rehabilitation. The cost of the 400,000
surgical fusion procedures performed to treat degenerated discs in
the United States each year is about $60,000 each or $24 billion
annually.?
Donner Corp. International: Trimedyne Inc.
http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:MFAYC5MdcF4J:www.trimedyne.com/DonnerAnlys6Mar021.doc+worldwide+health+inusrers+OR+insurance+companies+spend+on+back+therapy+billion+year&hl=en
Download here:
http://www.trimedyne.com/DonnerAnlys6Mar021.doc
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Risks
As with any surgery, there is always the risk of excessive bleeding,
infection, and allergic reaction to anesthesia. Risks specifically
associated with orthopedic surgery include inflammation at the site
where foreign material (pins, prosthesis) is introduced into the body,
infection as the result of surgery, and damage to nerves or to the
spinal cord.
Source: Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine
http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/ency/orthopedic_surgery.jsp
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?Perioperative DVT can result from minimal venous endothelial injury.
The rate of postoperative DVT in patients who do not receive effective
prophylaxis is 70% after nonelective hip surgery, 48% percent after
elective orthopedic surgery, and 12% after elective general surgery.
Approximately one fifth of the cases of postoperative DVT cause a
clinically apparent PE, and approximately one third of these are
fatal. Even when prophylactic heparin is used, 5-10% of postoperative
orthopedic patients develop PE. Nearly half of all deaths in
orthopedic surgery patients are due to PE.?
eMedicine
http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic2785.htm
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Each year, our bad backs cost the country lost work time and medical
expenses combined about $100 billion. Of that $100 billion, $25
billion goes to medical bills. The rest goes to lost work time and
productivity, and over the counter back care medications and products.
http://www.spinecenter.com/Publications/Better%20Back/chap1.html
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Medical Liability Insurance Premiums are Skyrocketing
?It is clear that the increasing number of multi-million dollar jury
awards is driving up the costs of medical liability insurance and
insurance companies are now paying out approximately $1.40 for every
premium dollar collected. Obviously, this is not sustainable, and this
trend is therefore forcing insurance companies, which must set their
rates based on anticipated future losses, to steeply increase doctors?
medical liability premiums to ensure adequate reserves to pay future
judgments. As a result, over the past several years, physicians across
the country have faced double, and sometimes triple, digit rate
increases. Alliance members, including high-risk specialists like
neurosurgeons, orthopaedic surgeons and emergency physicians, have
been disproportionately affected by these premium increases.?
?According to a national survey of neurosurgeons, between 2000 and
2002 the national average premium increase was 63%, from $44,493 to
$72,682. In some states, neurosurgeons are now paying medical
liability insurance premiums in excess of $300,000 per year.?
?Utah orthopaedic surgeons have seen medical liability rate increases
of 60% since last year and in Texas they are rising by more than 50
percent. In Pennsylvania, a survey conducted in June 2002 revealed
rate increases as high as 59 percent. In other areas of the country,
orthopaedic surgeons are finding that their premiums have risen by
over 100 percent, even if they have never had a claim filed against
them.?
American Association of Neurological Súrgenos
http://www.neurosurgeon.org/advocacy/wc/mlr/AllianceTestimonyHouseEnergeyCommerce2-03.pdf
I hope this helps.
Best regards,
Bobbie7
