[Cirobi]

I was going to reply yesterday and even had a post typed up but decided to think on it some more rather than emotionally react as I'm very apt to do.

Overall I agree with sahuaro's reaction because I don't think the article was very tastefully done. With as widely spread a problem this is, they use Dr. Regan's name profusely as if to slander him. There are plenty of other doctors tied in with various medical companies including my own according to other articles that have been found and posted as FYI material. Unfortunately Dr. Regan was used as the example in this article.

I believe that the overall idea of the article was to urge patients to take more care in their own health care processes. This is an action that many of us are and have been attempting to do as we go through our back pain adventures. All too often patients don't take the time to actively participate in their own health and instead just throw it in the hands of an imperfect stranger. I phrased it that way because our doctors aren't superheros. Yes, they are specialized and trained in their artforms/sciences but they are human and they do make mistakes from time to time. I think this can go not only for back patients but for other orthopedic patients.

After my initial reads of that article, I thought only on the side sahuaro points out, but after some thought time... I do sympathize to an extent with the article. We just have to be careful and not assume we can be 100% cured with a single procedure. It's possible but not probable in most cases. I also think that in most cases, our doctors are trying to do their best for us, but they are not immune to mistakes either. Seeing as how humans are imperfect beings to begin with, no matter how much one attempts to be ethical there are always stumbling blocks one can trip over. While this is not an acceptable excuse by any means, it is a fact of life that has to be faced.

Now, the FDA... an organization that's supposed to be for our protection... that is a completely different issue and not one I wish to vent about at the moment. The more I find out about certain things involving the government, the more angry I get so I'm going to avoid thinking about it at the moment since I have a bunch of things to get back to for work!

~Sara