Complications
Complications are unintended and often undesirable outcomes that can occur during medical procedures or treatments. They can range from minor issues to more serious adverse events and may arise due to various factors such as underlying health conditions, surgical errors, or reactions to medications. Understanding complications is crucial for healthcare providers to anticipate risks, mitigate potential harms, and ensure patient safety.
Subscribe to the BlogNew Medicare CAC Meeting on Amniotic Reimbursement: No Surprises Here
I have been tracking the Medicare billing scams involving amniotic fluid for some time now. This week, Medicare held a critical CAC meeting. What the heck is that and why should you care? Let’s dig in. Medicare Billing for Amniotic injections Medicare doesn’t cover amniotic injections for arthritis, tendon/ligament issues, or spinal pain. Period. End…read more
Should Naturopaths Be Able to Perform Complex Spinal Procedures?
I’ve covered this issue a few times on this blog. We have naturopaths with limited medical training who are performing complex interventional spine and surgical procedures. As I have reviewed their practice acts, IMHO many are violating these acts, but the medical boards that could stop this are asleep at the wheel. Let’s dig in.…read more
That Second Knee Replacement Could Be a Problem…
The problem of a younger person getting a knee replacement has always been, what happens when the surgery needs to be redone? Meaning that most honest surgeons try to steer their patients to get a knee replacement surgery when they are as old as possible. Now new research adds weight to that decision-making process. Let’s…read more The Insurance Coverage Bioethics Dilemma
There a raging controversy among physicians since the advent of orthobiologics that I would like to explore. Should a doctor push a patient towards something that may work, but is a bad or “less good” option solely because there is insurance coverage? What ethical responsibility does the physician have to recommend all options and encourage…read more
SI Joint Fusion Complications? Why Are We Doing this to Patients?
One of the biggest issues I see is how easily interventional pain physicians have been lured in by quasi-spine surgeries that they know are bad for their patients. A case in point is SI fusion. Let’s dig into SI joint fusion complications through a case posted on LinkedIn. What Is the SI Joint? The acronym…read more
Is R3 Stem Cell Really an Award Winner?
R3 is a marketing company run by a defrocked orthopedic spine surgeon that has gained lots of attention for flaunting FDA regulations and claims about its private-labeled stem cell products that can’t be verified. Not to be dissuaded, they have now created a host of artificial awards and press releases or what I called the…read more
Why Did a Major University Sell Amniotic Fluid to a Fraudster?
This week’s blog on the Missouri woman who is being charged for fraud by selling Amniotic fluid brought up an interesting question. She bought this fluid from the University of Utah. Huh? Let’s dig in. The Missouri Case The feds this week brought criminal charges through a grand jury against a Missouri woman who was…read more
Medicare Begins Cracking Down on Amniotic Tissue Billing
Can you get a “stem cell” treatment covered by Medicare? For the past 1-2 years, a handful of amniotic tissue companies have been trying to convince physicians to bill Medicare for their products. The problem? This is illegal. Now a new statement by one Medicare region lays a stick of dynamite at the feet of…read more 
