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Spine Fusion-o-mania: Is there a Low back Surgery Success Rate Anymore?

This past decade has seen an unprecedented explosion in spine fusions. In the meantime, from a clinician’s perspective, the low back surgery success rate has plummeted. This is because, like many things in medicine, this trend has been driven more by the high rates of insurance reimbursement for fusion than medical necessity. Take a gander at…read more

We Need Another Nasty High Dose/Long Acting Narcotic Like a Hole in the Head

The FDA just approved the latest ultra-high dose narcotic. The pill will pack huge amounts of the painkiller hydrocodone in a single pill. We need this drug like we need gaping holes in our collective heads. Let me explain. This weekend I kept seeing the same commercial. A dour looking elderly woman can’t play with…read more

Knee Replacement Complications: Are Your Cells Getting Hammered?

Known Knee Replacement Complications Knee replacement complications have been featured in many clinical studies lately. I’ve blogged before about a huge increase in heart attacks in the ensuing weeks after a knee replacement. At least one large European registry has seen a significant increase in cancer rates in patients with a knee replacement-possibly due to…read more

Knee Stem Cell Injections: Is Convenience Winning Out Over Science?

There’s a trend in knee stem cell injections where the doctor uses a drill to take bone marrow from just below the knee instead of the iliac crest (back of the hip). The reasons stated for doing this are that this area is convenient to access. In addition, since in this technique the stem cells aren’t concentrated, but just…read more

Yet Another Study Shows Inferior Bone Properties of Adipose MSCs: The Tail Continues to Wag the Dog

Can fat stem cells help bone inside a bad arthritic knee?  Fat stem cells have exploded in use this past several years, with now hundreds of clinics around the US where you can find these procedures being used to treat arthritis. While fat stem cells have some amazing anti-inflammatory properties that have been shown to be…read more

Cholesterol Lowering Drugs Barely Help and Don’t Clear Arteries

Most Americans believe that their cholesterol lowering drugs are the modern fountain of youth. They also conceptualize that these drugs clear out their clogged arteries. We became critics of these drugs when we saw them harm stem cells growing in culture in our patients. So do cholesterol drugs clear arteries? Are they any good? Can…read more

The War on the Declaration of Helsinki

The Declaration of Helsinki is the International guidepost for research ethics that has been adopted by the World Medical Association. Its Wikipedia page says it all:  “It is widely regarded as the cornerstone document of human research ethics.” So why are some American academics attacking this critical human document? Because there are parts of it that challenge the several hundred…read more

What Triathlon Knee Pain? Middle Aged Triathlete Athlete Completes Kona Iron Man after Regenexx Procedures

Can an injection of your own stuff stare down triathlon knee pain and make it blink? The Regenexx procedure using stem cells to treat knee arthritis has had a long history with triathletes and the Iron man race. This time it’s a middle aged guy trying to stay in the race despite 2 prior failed arthroscopic…read more