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Old 06-05-2013, 09:10 PM
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Lillyth Lillyth is offline
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Default AHA! Dr. Pimenta, AIMIS, Nuvasive, Oh My!

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...
__________________
Multiple traumas to spine starting age 13.
1st American to have 6 ADR's in one surgery. C3-4 - C/7, & L5-S1 - L3-4.
Surgery w/ Dr. Clavel, 3/18/13, M6.
Before surgery: severe spinal stenosis C5/C6 (cord "flattened" per stateside doc), + for Hoffman's & Babinsky's.
At time of surgery: 5 yrs MAX before ending up in wheelchair.
Clavel found L5-S1 partially fused. Had to cut it apart to put in M6.
Please excuse brevity - SEVERE carpel tunnel.
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Old 06-05-2013, 09:59 PM
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Harrison Harrison is offline
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Bebe, well said. Good work too.

Where there is money to be made, people will conspire.

I've experienced this personally with Stenum. And with their tentacles, Dr. Clavel, as we discussed a few weeks ago. Any progress on that end to disentangle Clavel from Stenum? Or is he still receiving patients from Jim Rider and Stenum marketing sites?

Please update your fan club on your recovery, people were asking about you!
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Reborn June 25th, 2004, L5-S1 ADR Charite in Boston
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Old 06-06-2013, 03:10 AM
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Lillyth Lillyth is offline
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Thank you. *takes bow*

The funny thing is that this was less than ten minutes of reading to figure this all out. I picked up the book and told myself I would read it for 10 or 15 minutes, then pick up the book I need to read for the book club I am hosting at the end of the month, and read that for 10 or 15.

As I said, I was planning on updating my thread today, but I thought this information was more important. Dr. Clavel etc., was going to be my next project after my update.

Sadly, I have been asked by a family member to write up an invitation to a family get together for what may be the last time we ever see her. She has multiple brain tumors and has been pronounced "terminal". Of course, I sent her links to places I think might help, but I don't know if that is possible at this point. I refuse to "succumb to [her] "reality"" and plan on fighting with everything I can muster and encourage her to do so as well. I offered to help her research alternatives and cures (thank God she is open to such things), but what she has asked of me is this. Of course, there is no way I can refuse. I am honored she asked me to do this for her, but I will say it is one of those things that NO writer ever hopes to be asked to do.

I will be focusing on that, and once it is done, I will come back to update. I am alive and well, even if I *did* have to break out the mag citrate tonight. LOL!

I will update as soon as I can.

(Oh, and, on a side note: all the extra time spent in the can today trying to get the stupid mag citrate to work yielded some other "WTF?" moments from the "book", which I will share at some point too. I'm sure they will be reminiscent of a certain C+C Music Factory song. I'm sure you know the one...)
__________________
Multiple traumas to spine starting age 13.
1st American to have 6 ADR's in one surgery. C3-4 - C/7, & L5-S1 - L3-4.
Surgery w/ Dr. Clavel, 3/18/13, M6.
Before surgery: severe spinal stenosis C5/C6 (cord "flattened" per stateside doc), + for Hoffman's & Babinsky's.
At time of surgery: 5 yrs MAX before ending up in wheelchair.
Clavel found L5-S1 partially fused. Had to cut it apart to put in M6.
Please excuse brevity - SEVERE carpel tunnel.
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Old 06-06-2013, 08:17 AM
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TPatti TPatti is offline
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After Dr. Pimenta had not gotten back to me Claire had Dr. Smith look at my info-he recommended a Nuvasive xl tdr at L4/L5 and possible at L3/L4 and nothing done at S1/L5. For those of you that have seen my images, there is no way I do not need intervention at S1/L5. XL TDR cannot be placed at S1/L5, and is actually difficult to place at L4/L5, it is really intended for levels L3/L4 and higher and that is why it is implanted with a lateral approach. I agree that Lillyth is on to something. I must give credit to Dr. Cappuccino who is local to me and has agreed to be my follow up doctor of record for either Dr. Clavel or Dr. Bierstedt. Dr. Cappuccino is an AIMIS doc and often surgical partners with Dr. Pimenta. He has agreed that I need three levels of intervention, he has not used the M6 and told me that he would follow up with me using a M6 experienced doctor or he could perform a hybrid surgery using the Kineflex disc that he is most familiar with, my facet joints are too worn at L4/L5 for a "hard" disc. Also interesting is that Dr. Cappuccino is in in a lawsuit with Nuvasive because they have not paid him promised funds upon FDA approval: http://www.phillipslytle.com/include...tho_Weekly.pdf
Dr. Cappuccino did not recommend Nuvasive?
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*12/10: PT & chiro
*4/11 to 11/11: 5 sessions prolo and 3 prolo w/ PRP
*12/28/11 ESI L L4/L5 - 1/13/12 ESI R L4/L5 - 1/24/12 L SI joint capsule - 3/8/12 TPI - 3/23/12 L L5/S1 - 4/11/12 ESI caudal - 5/23/12 TPI - 7/10/12 Facet inj L3/L4, L4/L5, L5/S1
*9/12/12: 30 - DRX9000
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*7/16/2013: 3 level M6(S1-L3) w/ Dr. Bierstedt
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Old 06-06-2013, 01:10 PM
NJ Gene NJ Gene is offline
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Lillyth,

I find your story very interesting. I suggested to some that the only reason they should consider AIMIS (American Institute for Minimally Invasive Surgery) was if they were comfortable with (and knew) the doctor they were using. I advised some potential patients not to go there if they wanted the M6, because they were most likely being done by inexperienced U.S. surgeons. I told them that one exception was Dr. Pimenta, since he uses the M6 in Brazil. Based on what you've told me, I believe I was wrong about this as well.

In my opinion, this is even more reason to stay away from AIMIS. I maintain that the only reason to ever consider AIMIS is if you know your surgeon well, know what procedure you will be getting done, and know that it really will cost you less money to be operated on there versus in the U.S. I truly believe my surgeon from NYC who said that AIMIS is a place where U.S. surgeons go to perform risky operations (for which they get paid cash) and are shielded from U.S. malpractice as well as FDA rules.

Gene
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Car Accident 2002 - Small Herniated Disc C3/C4
1998 Larger Herniation and Cervical Fusion C3/C4
2005 Herniation C4/C5 - 40 epidural steroid injections from Oct 2005, - Oct, 2007
2008 - Foraminotomy at C6/C7 on left side
Feb, 2010 - Cervical Fusion C4/C5
Dec, 2010 - Lumbar Fusion L3/L5
2013 - Bulge on C5/C6; herniation C6/C7 right side
Mar 26, 2013 - Foraminotomy at C6/C7 on right side
May 5, 2015 - ADR with Dr Blumenthal of TBI for C5/C6 using Mobi-C
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Old 06-06-2013, 08:31 PM
newleaseonlife newleaseonlife is offline
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I'll try to provide as much information as I can for people here. I'll stare upfront that I am on neither AIMIS's or NuVasive's payroll. All I can post is from my own experience.

AIMIS is not owned or a subsidiary of NuVasive. When AIMIS was first started it was by a small group of surgeons who used NuVasive products here in the USA. NuVasive is a preferred supplier, but all surgeons are free to use any and all devices that the patient needs or wants. Not all the surgeons use NuVasive products.

I think it like when you go to the Dr. and you have to see if they are in your PPO group. The insurance companies get a break on the price versus and pass that on to their subscriber. Otherwise you have to pay more to see a surgeon who is not in your network.

From what I can gather, having preferred suppliers is a common and acceptable practice in Europe. Others, myself included, have wondered if Spinal Kinetics is not a preferred supplier of ADR devices for Ritter-Lang/Stenum hospital because they are promoted so heavily on their website.

Nate was a paid consultant for NuVasive. I don't know if he still is or not. He started that foundation and wrote that book a few years ago. He is NOT a paid consultant for AIMIS. Claire, at one time, asked if he would be willing to give a testimonial about his surgical experience. He doesn't even do that now because they both felt that it would be a conflict of interest.

I don't know why Dr. Pimenta would write a forward for him. I have not read the book, so I can't answer anything about it.

Dr. Pimenta is for some unknown reason either not receiving emails or providing consultations. They had been in contact for awhile and then his office stopped responding. Claire was furious about this, and repeatedly tried to contact him. She had been booking surgeries, making travel arrangements, and consultations for him with the expectation that he would follow through. She was understandably upset. After a couple months of waiting, she decided to send out the MRIs that were waiting on Dr. Pimenta's review to other AIMIS surgeons and continued trying to contact his office. I believe she communicated the delay to the patients and told them that she was sending their files to Dr. X for review, but would continue to try to contact Dr. Pimenta.

I do not know if the communication issue has been resolved or about his continued business with AIMIS. I do know that as of a couple months ago, they are currently NOT scheduling him any surgeries or sending him any MRIs. This is all the information I have on the subject.

I don't believe this to be a bait and switch as the patients were informed of the delay and offered an alternative. The patient is totally free to say, "No thanks," and take their MRIs to another surgeon.

The AIMIS surgeons are almost all US based with active surgical practices. They fly over to Cyprus to perform surgeries. None of the surgeons live in Cyprus. The cost of their flight is NOT paid by NuVasive. It is built into the cost of the surgical package that the patient pays for. It also comes out of the money that is paid by the surgeon to be involved in AIMIS.

Some surgeons, like Dr. Smith, fly over multiple times a year. Others maybe once or twice a year.

Yes, the surgeries like all other surgeries performed out of the USA, are non-FDA approved.
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02/2010- Car accident resulting in C4/C5 & L5/S1 bulging and extruding discs.

06/2012- Successful ADR surgery for C4/C5 disc in Cyprus using PCM by NuVasive. Performed by Dr. Mark Peterson through the help of AIMIS.

09/2012- Successful Disctectomy of L5/S1also performed by Dr. Mark Peterson.
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Old 06-07-2013, 02:05 AM
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Lillyth Lillyth is offline
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Good breakdown Gene! I would agree. If you trust your American based surgeon who is part of AIMIS, go for it.

As for the rest, the book is NOT Nate's, which is one of the problems I have with it. (It was placed in my hands "Here is a copy of HIS book." It is a nearly 200 page commercial for XLIF, of which, Nate wrote about 20 pages.

Neither myself nor anyone else I talked to (and it's not just one or two people) were told by Claire there was a delay in contacting Dr. Pimenta. I was personally told that he would not look at the films as he would not be there in March, which is when I wanted the surgery. This, after being told how lucky I was that Dr. Pimenta was going to be there JUST when I wanted to have surgery. Then it was US doc after US doc that I was sent info on. I explained that due to the complexity of my own PERSONAL case, I was not really comfortable with a US doc who had not done that many levels before. Damn good thing too, considering (I WILL update with that info on my thread soon, I promise - suffice to say, I doubt anyone other than Dr. Clavel *could* have handled my case, for reasons I will again post about soon. Info my husband did not relay to me until recently. Suffice to say, I nearly ended up in a wheelchair.)

I was not saying that Nate had anything to do with AIMIS, other than having his surgery there, which I believe to be public knowledge. (As to his experiences there, which he told me about on the phone, in confidence, I have no business repeating that without his permission). He is a paid consultant for NuVasive, which, as I mentioned before, I have no problem with.

As for Ritter-Lang, don't get me started on them. They promote all sorts of , including that they can get you to Dr. Clavel, even though he has publicly broken with them. They still continue to say he does surgery for them, which he does not.

IMO, the M6 is the best device on the market so far, period. Again, my opinion. Which is why all the major Euro docs use it. I flat out asked Dr. Clavel if he got compensation from them for using the disc and he said no. He had NO financial ties to ANY of the disc makers. Which to me, speaks volumes.

If, as Claire says, Dr. Pimenta is not responding to communications from AIMIS, then why is his information still on their website? I JUST checked, right this second, and they still list him as a surgeon. "Trouble, oh we got trouble, Right here in River City! With a capital "T" That rhymes with "P" " Which stands for Poppycock! If he is out of the equation and non responsive to their communications, he needs to be off their website, period.

None of the patients I spoke to were told there was ANY delay in contacting Dr. Pimenta. We were simply given a list of surgeons who were going to be there at the time we wanted to have to surgery, even though we SPECIFICALLY asked for Dr. Pimenta. I was not told until later at all their surgeons were scheduled through September and that none of them were Dr. Pimenta. This was after a month of communication with Claire (who, again, I ADORED!)

I don't care whose fault it is, but if Dr. Pimenta is no longer affiliated with AIMIS, they need to take him off their website, PERIOD. And months of not responding to communication to me would signal the need to remove him, otherwise they are flat out LYING to the public.

I was very clear that I wanted Dr. Pimenta only. After a month of communication she told me they had scheduled all of their doctors for the following year. At NO time did she tell me there was a delay in getting to him. She only passed on info about American doctors. I just went back and re-read our communications.

That is the very definition of a "bait and switch". If that is not what they intended to do, then they need to clean that up, and very publicly, right away. Because I am not the only potential patient who was left feeling like they dangled the carrot of Dr. Pimenta only to switch it out with an American surgeon, all the while selling a vacation package as the main selling point.

Personally speaking, I didn't go for a vacation. I went to be fixed.

As I said, personally, I liked Claire very much. You are free to share everything I just said with her if it will help AIMIS to do the right thing PUBLICLY.

Claire did also say I was free to get the M6. But it would cost an extra 6k per level. Also, it would have been put in by an American doctor with NO experience with an M6.

Dr. Coe told me he would be happy to drive down the road to Spinal Kinetics, have them teach him how to put one in a cadaver, and then do all five of mine (fusion at L5-S1). You are going to learn how to put one device in a cadaver, then put FIVE in me, on your first try?!?!?!

In the words of a certain clown: "Homey don't play dat!"
__________________
Multiple traumas to spine starting age 13.
1st American to have 6 ADR's in one surgery. C3-4 - C/7, & L5-S1 - L3-4.
Surgery w/ Dr. Clavel, 3/18/13, M6.
Before surgery: severe spinal stenosis C5/C6 (cord "flattened" per stateside doc), + for Hoffman's & Babinsky's.
At time of surgery: 5 yrs MAX before ending up in wheelchair.
Clavel found L5-S1 partially fused. Had to cut it apart to put in M6.
Please excuse brevity - SEVERE carpel tunnel.

Last edited by Lillyth; 06-07-2013 at 03:14 AM. Reason: re-wording
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Old 06-07-2013, 11:10 AM
newleaseonlife newleaseonlife is offline
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I am headed out of town so not the best time to write a post.

I have not read the book (or whatever you want to call it). I don't own a copy and have not seen the cover, even. I do know that the XLIF is a surgery that NuVasive developed. I was not considering an XLIF surgery, so I have never bothered to read up on the surgery itself.

I think I read somewhere back when I was researching discs that Dr. Pimenta was head of development for the XLIF surgery. I'd need to google that, but if true, that would explain why Dr. Pimenta would have written the forward. If the book is an advertisement for the XLIF procedure, and it is published by NuVasive for potential patients considering an XLIF that uses NuVasive technologies then I don't see an issue. Again, I don't know anything about the book/advertisement/collection of papers.

I am glad that Dr. Clavel was able to rescue your spine and get you back to moving around and feeling better.

As for Dr. Pimenta still appearing on the AIMIS website, I have no clue. I will ask for some clarification on that. I agree, if he isn't participating then he needs to be removed.

The only thing I can think of (purely my own speculation here, I have ZERO proof) is that if Dr. Pimenta is paid up on his membership dues (or whatever it is called) they are contractually bound to display him on their website. If they don't, he can sue them for breech of contract. Even though he isn't holding up his end of the bargain. If AIMIS is involved with taking him to court, they still have to follow the law until a judge says otherwise. Purely my two cents, and I don't know if they are even considering such action.
He is displayed near the bottom of the list, but maybe they could feature him even less prominently.

As for scheduling surgeons and stuff, I don't know how that all works. If, however, Dr. Pimenta said he was willing to travel, and then rescheduled, and then delayed, and finally cancelled his trip, that could explain the pattern in the emails. Again, I'm not privvy to all the details and emails. It is solely my inferrance.

There are more points that need addressing, but I hear the car being packed, so I must go...
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02/2010- Car accident resulting in C4/C5 & L5/S1 bulging and extruding discs.

06/2012- Successful ADR surgery for C4/C5 disc in Cyprus using PCM by NuVasive. Performed by Dr. Mark Peterson through the help of AIMIS.

09/2012- Successful Disctectomy of L5/S1also performed by Dr. Mark Peterson.
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Old 06-09-2013, 07:41 PM
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Lillyth Lillyth is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by newleaseonlife View Post
I am headed out of town so not the best time to write a post.

I have not read the book (or whatever you want to call it). I don't own a copy and have not seen the cover, even. I do know that the XLIF is a surgery that NuVasive developed. I was not considering an XLIF surgery, so I have never bothered to read up on the surgery itself.

I think I read somewhere back when I was researching discs that Dr. Pimenta was head of development for the XLIF surgery. I'd need to google that, but if true, that would explain why Dr. Pimenta would have written the forward. If the book is an advertisement for the XLIF procedure, and it is published by NuVasive for potential patients considering an XLIF that uses NuVasive technologies then I don't see an issue. Again, I don't know anything about the book/advertisement/collection of papers.

I am glad that Dr. Clavel was able to rescue your spine and get you back to moving around and feeling better.

As for Dr. Pimenta still appearing on the AIMIS website, I have no clue. I will ask for some clarification on that. I agree, if he isn't participating then he needs to be removed.

The only thing I can think of (purely my own speculation here, I have ZERO proof) is that if Dr. Pimenta is paid up on his membership dues (or whatever it is called) they are contractually bound to display him on their website. If they don't, he can sue them for breech of contract. Even though he isn't holding up his end of the bargain. If AIMIS is involved with taking him to court, they still have to follow the law until a judge says otherwise. Purely my two cents, and I don't know if they are even considering such action.
He is displayed near the bottom of the list, but maybe they could feature him even less prominently.

As for scheduling surgeons and stuff, I don't know how that all works. If, however, Dr. Pimenta said he was willing to travel, and then rescheduled, and then delayed, and finally cancelled his trip, that could explain the pattern in the emails. Again, I'm not privvy to all the details and emails. It is solely my inferrance.

There are more points that need addressing, but I hear the car being packed, so I must go...
You are correct. Dr. Pimenta pioneered XLIF.

Also, I agree, if it is an advertisement, so be it. But then don't market it as "Nate's book".

There is also more in the book what sets off warning bells. The own CEO of Nuvasive put off surgery for YEARS until Dr. Pimenta sat him down at a function an told him he needed to act. Now I would see if there had been some mention of him being afraid of surgery, and "oh the irony with him being the CEO" and all that, but there was NOTHING. Just "I'm too busy." Yet the way this particular procedure is sold is "you will be up and walking the next day" and is touted for its superior recovery time. I was even told some basketball guy had his done and hopped on the plane the next day! (Those of us who have had lumbar, I'm sure, are like - on a plane the next way, WTF?!) So why, if this technology is soooooooooooooo superior, did he not just get the damn thing put in and talk to the investors like that?! "Look? Isn't it great? I had surgery two weeks ago!" Something like that.

It also turns out that the "sometimes" Dr. Pimenta operates in San Diego (or wherever down South) was a ONE TIME dispensation for him to operate on said CEO.

I see your point about the contract, and had actually thought about that. But, again, if that is the case, people like me who are asking SPECIFICALLY for him need to be told he is unavailable, not shoved a bunch of doctors who wouldn't know what to do with a triple if it hit them in the face, let alone in MY case, which was TWO triples!

Like I said, the only reason I even THOUGHT about this all is BECAUSE I had been contacted by so many people asking me if they had the same experience of asking for Dr. Pimenta, only to be blown off and sent a bunch of American doctors. Enough people, hat it was already on my mind as a possible unethical business practice. When you stop being able to count the people (other than yourself) on one hand, it is time to start thinking something may be a pattern. Especially in our community, which is so small.

I also find it very interesting that in every single story, the doctor uses THE EXACT SAME WORDS about the procedure, and the patient also almost always says the exact same thing. How many times have you EVER said "Okay Doctor. Thank you for being honest. But I trust you completely."???? Ever? I would be shocked if I got more than one yes to that. Though I DID trust Dr. Clavel completely, I never once said that. Like I said, one person? Maybe. But nearly EVERYONE in the book? Come on!

I have more. But I'd rather do better things with my time right now.

Google The Better Way Back. They will send you a free copy. I would be curious to see how many of you pick out what I picked out. But then, I am a writer and an actress, so plot holes and such literally smack me in the face.

Like the surfer chick. I want someone to get a copy of that book and tell me what is wrong with her story. And yes, I am serious. Someone please get it. There is something SOOOOOOOOOO glaringly wrong when I brought it up to my husband he couldn't believe what I told him!

Like I said, the books are free. It's an easy dumbed down read. There are a few cases in there that are heartbreaking, but so far, only a few. The rest smell rotten to me. Could just be the way the book was written too though.
__________________
Multiple traumas to spine starting age 13.
1st American to have 6 ADR's in one surgery. C3-4 - C/7, & L5-S1 - L3-4.
Surgery w/ Dr. Clavel, 3/18/13, M6.
Before surgery: severe spinal stenosis C5/C6 (cord "flattened" per stateside doc), + for Hoffman's & Babinsky's.
At time of surgery: 5 yrs MAX before ending up in wheelchair.
Clavel found L5-S1 partially fused. Had to cut it apart to put in M6.
Please excuse brevity - SEVERE carpel tunnel.
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Old 06-09-2013, 07:43 PM
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Lillyth Lillyth is offline
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Oh, and please remember. I know you had a GREAT experience, and I am not knocking that, or you. I just have some concerns overall about the company NuVasive in VERY specific, and some about AIMIS as well.

Oh, and I think I forgot the comment about the law suit with Dr. Cappuchino. Veeeeeeeeeery interesting...
__________________
Multiple traumas to spine starting age 13.
1st American to have 6 ADR's in one surgery. C3-4 - C/7, & L5-S1 - L3-4.
Surgery w/ Dr. Clavel, 3/18/13, M6.
Before surgery: severe spinal stenosis C5/C6 (cord "flattened" per stateside doc), + for Hoffman's & Babinsky's.
At time of surgery: 5 yrs MAX before ending up in wheelchair.
Clavel found L5-S1 partially fused. Had to cut it apart to put in M6.
Please excuse brevity - SEVERE carpel tunnel.
Reply With Quote
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