[trkdoc714]

Rein,

When I first read your post, I thought you were trying to clear the air of the Stenum gossip. It's become clear you only intent is to muddy up the water further. It's a good thing you have great writing skills because you failed horribly at your research.

I've posted some responses to your bullet points. Maybe you should do more (better) research before you disgard past Stenum patients opinions. These are first hand cases. You took your "facts" on Dr. B off of the first page of his site. That's kind of like using Cliff Notes isn't it?

I'd like to see a response to Mark's questions.

-The surgeons who practice at Stenum have extensive experience, with as many as 2000 ADR procedures to the credit of the primary surgeon.

The primary surgeon has done over 2,500 as of 12/08.

-Full costs for ADR are clearly posted and are not negotiable.

Transparency is a good thing.

-Stenum is not nonprofit.

I noticed that Stenum's prices are substantially lower than other clinics. If they make a profit at those prices, does that mean that a higher price at a different clinic would be classified as price gouging?

-Stenum representatives travel to the US to freely analyze and dispense reviews of medical histories.

This practice is convenient for the patient. It also gives the surgeon a chance to give a physical exam (intead of just looking at films) for an accurate diagnosis. They don't charge 250 Euros for this service. It was free.

-Stenum does not perform ADR in the US.

I didn't realise Dr. B was licensed in the US. If so, why would a patient travel to Germany for his services?

-Stenum does have a history of bad disc placements and serious complications arising from ADR surgeries in the past.

Name them. I've "heard" of 2, one of which wrote a book on his near death experience from surgery. It was blamed on Stenum and not the subsequent unnecessary revision surgery in the US 3 months later. The other surgeon in your comparitive has been documented as implanting ADRs in an inverted position because he thought it would provide a better angle. Additionally, read the posts in the forums and pay particular attention to the patients that, post surgically, are having problems. My guess is your count will be a shocker since you display bias against Stenum.

-Some patients after 2006 have reported successful, complication-free procedures.

"Some"? Please reread comment on bias above.

-At least one of Dr. Bertagnoli’s patients reported a bad outcome on this board.

At least one? Please do some real research. Read the painful journeys of some of the ProDisc patients. I'm not saying Dr. B is a bad surgeon but I get the impression his mistakes get glossed over more so than other surgeons.

-Dr. B performed over 3000 ADR placements by December 2008

Good! I wonder though, does this mean it's a race with other surgeons? When is the competition over and what is first prize?

-Dr. B is the most experienced ADR surgeon in the world and has never had an infection complication.

He states on his site he has never had greater than a level 2 infection. You'll have to search his site for that information.

-Dr. B is the only ADR surgeon who has peer-reviewed analysis of the results of his work.

Who are his peers? Are they also heavily invested in Synthes/ ProDisc?

Bob