I had hoped to use my time today to post an update on my progress, but I found out some information about Dr. Pimenta that I think is more important for everyone here to know than how I am doing today. In fact, I think the sharing of this information is urgent.
When I was considering going with AIMIS, while I was visiting my local AIMIS doc (Dr. Coe) his wife Marlene (whom I ADORED, BTW - very sweet woman) and I got to talking. She found out that I was a Mixed Martial Artist (MMA), and that my goal was to be able to compete again. (I promise this has EVERYTHING to do with Dr. Pimenta, just be patient.) She told me that Dr. Coe had performed surgery on Nate "Rock" Quarry, who was a UFC fighter, who ended up being able to fight again after surgery. She said she would give him a call and tell him about me because she would imagine he would want to talk to me given our mutual love of MMA. She then gave me a copy of "his book" The Better Way Back, which I thought was totally sweet at the time to give me the book free of charge.
I spoke to Nate about a week later. He was just about the sweetest, most supportive person you could want to talk to. He wanted to make sure I got a copy of the book, and I said yes I had, but since I was in the middle of a move, I had misplaced it. So, long story short, I never read "his" book. (I can't recall if he called it that, he might not have, so I want to be clear that I don't recall if Nate referred to it as that or not - but my AIMIS affiliates DID.) I have also been in email contact with Nate since the surgery - again, very sweet, very supportive.
I have had enough people say to me, "You should write a book about what you went through." that it has been on my mind to do so for quite some time. Galvanized by Grover's comment that I read last night, I dug out "Nate's book" to get an idea of what another person had written about their experience.
That is the first time I ever actually really LOOKED at the cover. "The Better Way Back from chronic back and leg pain". There is a heartwarming picture of Nate with his daughter Ciera (he mentions her by name in the book, so I figure it's okay to do so here) on his back getting a piggy back ride from daddy, which, as those of us with lumbar issues know, NOT possible with back pain - especially with a ten year old. Then I looked down. The bottom of the cover reads "12 Remarkable XLIF Patient Stories With Nate "Rock" Quarry, Professional UFC Fighter". That is when I notice that ALL the blurbs and quotes on the cover are SOLELY about XLIF.
For those of you who don't know, XLIF stands for eXtreme Lateral Interbody Fusion. Now, let me be clear, I don't have anything against the procedure other than the fact that in general, I am anti-fusion unless that is the only option. It states right on the "Disclaimer" page that Nate is a paid spokesperson for Nuvasive, the company that makes XLIF. Even that, in and unto itself, I am not opposed to. If Spinal Kinetics called me tomorrow and offered me money to be a spokesperson for the M6 I would JUMP at the chance. Mostly because I believe in the product, but also because there is no way I could afford to travel the country on my own to tout the wonders of the M6, which I would happily do, BTW. I have no problem with a person being a paid spokesperson.
Then I turned the page and there was the Forward written by none other than... You guessed it! Dr. Luiz Pimenta! Okay. That in and until itself, no big deal. I had been contemplating having Dr. Clavel write the forward to my book if/when that gets off the ground and published. So here I am thinking "Oh, how nice of Dr. Pimenta to lend his name to this book and the procedure. I'm glad to know that one of the top docs thinks highly enough of it to endorse it." Then I get to the very bottom of the forward. "
*Dr. Pimenta is a paid consultant of NuVasive, Inc."
Why am I bringing this all up when I have no problem with Nate being paid by the company? Well, I'll tell you. I have heard from too large a number of people on the boards that they had the same experience I did with AIMIS. All of these conversations were in private and went something like this: "Did you ever get Dr. Pimenta to review your films?" "No." "Me either." 'They told me he was going to look at them, and that he was available for the surgery around the time I was going." "Me too." "But then the films were forwarded on to American doctors." "Mine too." You get the idea, I don't think I have to keep repeating "me too". Essentially, every single one of us had the same experience. We all inquired about Dr. Pimenta looking at our films. We were told "lucky us!", he "just happened" to be coming to AIMIS right when we were looking at having surgery. Then our films were forwarded on to American docs who were "experts" in the field.
Now here comes where Lilly got the AHA! moment and did the math. First, every single one of these doctors were "experts" in XLIF. The "device manufacturers" AIMIS had the "deal" with were NuVasive. I didn't realize until I started reading the book last night that XLIF was NuVasive too. I knew the cervical disc that AIMIS used was NuVasive, but not that ALL the devices they used were. I kept asking AIMIS about the M6 "Why are you so stuck on THAT device?" Dr. Coe asked me. I hear they offer it now, but all of these things lead me to believe that AIMIS is pretty much just a NuVasive operation. Dr. Coe also mentioned something to me about his Business Class ticket to Cyprus being 8k. So either he paid out of his own pocket (which is always a possibility), or NuVasive paid for it, or he is churning out so many surgeries in the three or four days he is there that it can justify the 8k (OR, even worse, he is writing it off on his taxes and letting the taxpayers pay for it).
I remember reading somewhere on the forum that one of the things to look for in a doc is someone who has NO financial ties to any makers of any implants. Personally, I consider it the "Mark of Cain" myself. Use the device because it is the best, not because you get paid to do so, IMO.
On another side note, there are 19 pages of Nate's story, in a book I was told was "his book". So I feel like AIMIS was misrepresented to me from start to finish. The people were very sweet, but that is not the point. I was lead to believe that Dr. Pimenta was there "all the time" and that the American docs that went ALSO went "all the time". Instead, they get two American doctors a month, each for three or four days at a time, which, to my mind, is not near enough practice for multi-level patients.
I also do not like that Dr. Pimenta seems to have been "bought" by NuVasive and AIMIS is using his name to lure in unsuspecting patients who think they will be getting his care, only to have the old "bait and switch" pulled on them.
In short, Dr. Pimenta, in my mind, can no longer be on the list of financially impartial doctors that we have been posting. AIMIS is (or has been) engaged in what I believe to be unethical business practices, and Nate Quarry is a really nice guy who really only wrote 20 pages of a 177 page book which is really just a 177 page commercial for XLIF, and not about chronic back pain at all, even though it was pushed to me as "his story about his battle with back pain and getting back into the ring once again."
Take of all this what you will, but for better or worse, there it all is in black and white.
I thought everyone here deserved to know.
Also, I would like to personally, formally, and publicly take back any endorsement or recommendation I have EVER made about either Dr. Pimenta or AIMIS in light of this new information. If you have had a good experience with either Dr. Pimenta or AIMIS, I am not knocking that. I simply have ethical concerns about the way their company is run.
They are also, I JUST realized this JUST this second as I am typing this, getting around the FDA's ban on speaking directly to patients. They don't. They pay other people to do it. So, technically, they aren't breaking the law. Verrrrrrrrrrrrrry clever...
