Was wondering about you the other day Mariaa. Good to see your post.
Was reading article today I think from NY Times(tore article from paper and pretty sure from the print it was Times, but can't tell for sure now if it was) about Medicare Aid and the Charite and in it they stated "Prodisc-1 from Synthes, a Swiss Company, is expected to receive final approval by Septemeber." For what its worth, hopefully for those waiting its sooner.
Article was critical of the study used to compare the Charite to fusion, saying it was comparing to a spinal fusion that is no longer state ofthe art and was only showing the Charite to be equivalent, not an improvement. Further stated, the data did not provide information on how well the disc would perform over two decades or more.
Other thing found interesting are some stats on insurance companies approving Charite surgery presently. Says about 60 insurers according to J & J, but only 2 are nationwide. About 25 percent of the regional coverage comes from worker's compensation companies. Our firm is likely going to be taking one WC carrier to a hearing shortly, we'll see where that goes.
Good luck and hope you can get moving on getting your problems resolved once and for all!!
Bill
Take care, and
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Spinal Cord Stimulator Implant 6/11/03; Discetomy 12/89; L3-S1(3 level) ADR, August 7th, 2004 by Bertagnoli in Vienna, Austria.
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