Guest guest Posted January 2, 2004 Report Share Posted January 2, 2004 Happy New Year Fellow Scolies. I'm fairly new to this group so I hope this is O.K. to post. I was just wondering if any of you have read the article on the front page of the NY Times this past Wednesday about spinal fusions. I am not sure that it applies to us, but still...Basically, the article said that a quarter million spinal fusions were done last year and that there is little evidence that in most of those cases, that a spinal fusion was more effective than a less invasive laminectomy would have been. However, Medicare pays four times as much for a fusion than a lamenectomy! Also, the companies that make the hardware have been known to offer large kickbacks and consulting fees to surgeons who are using their hardware. The url is: http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/31/business/31BACK.html? pagewanted=1 (You have to subscribe to the NY Times service, tho, to read the article.) So, my question is, does this apply to us? Can our revisions surgeries be less extensive, or is this for other spinal patients? At any rate, I still found this illuminating. Hope this helps. Robin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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