[FUZZDOG]

hey Don..Sue....we meet again...
Don I sincerely wish you luck. My surgeon indicated that the insurance carriers are not swayed by the lower cost aspect. They are counting on "attrition" removing you from their policy coverage...or in other words that you will go away. The main reason folks "go away" is due to our disabled condition (usually)..we will not be able to continue to work. We then get fired or go out on disability leave ..if we are lucky enough to have fmla coverage our job is protected for 12 weeks. After 12 weeks we are terminated, we lose out insurance coverage unless we can afford cobra...which we can't cause we are not working. As we all know it can take 12 weeks to see a top notch specialist.
We are no longer the insurance companies problem or expense..problem solved. Stinks?
Yes! Reality? Unfortunate yes!
Cigna told my Doc that reduced pain, reduced recovery time, lower cost with ADR...and I quote
"DOES NOT MATTER"...

As far as the trials as sue mentioned most are for single level only and as my doc indicated those trial candidates are "cherry picked"...sounds like you too have alot of things going on that may make you a less than ideal trial candidate since they want no bad outcomes, ideally, so they control the factors they are able to. I guess it makes sense from the manufacturer standpoint.
Please do not think I am trying to discourage you...keep up the good fight for all that follow behind you. Like you said since you have counterparts in the UK maybe it will have some bearing on your hr policy. There is a high level corp executive in my department that was declined for cervical ADR and he meets the fda criteria exactly. He was also declined but has had contact with our HR in attempt to get them to intervene on his behalf. Should be interesting to see if the outcome is different based on his position....I am just a lowly peon.
Best of luck on the continued quest and please keep posting as many are interested in the outcome for you.
Colleen