Spine-Pain

Sick Around the World Documentary

A Frontline documentary compares America’s health care system to others around the world.

T.R. Reid is a veteran foreign correspondent for The Washington Post, a commentator for National Public Radio and the author of nine books, including three in Japanese. He is currently working on his 10th book, titled We’re Number 37!, in which he compares America’s health care system to others around the world. It is scheduled to be published by Penguin Press in early 2009.

How did you choose the five countries featured in this report?

Two of our choices, Britain and Japan, were pretty obvious. I had lived in both countries, I had doctors there and knew the systems. I could speak the language, sort of, in both places.

Beyond that, we were looking for examples of each of the established models of health care systems. The U.K. uses the Beveridge model; Taiwan has chosen the Canadian-style National Health Insurance [NHI] model; Germany, Japan and Switzerland use the Bismarck model. We went to three Bismarck countries on the theory that these private-sector systems are more relevant to America than a British-style National Health Service.

I got interested in Taiwan because Taiwan’s Health Ministry did what our film does; it traveled the world studying health care systems. In the end, Taiwan chose the Canadian model. We went to Switzerland because it is a ferociously free-market economy with politically powerful insurance and drug companies. But still, the Swiss managed to revamp their system, making it cheaper and fairer. We thought that might inspire Americans to believe that change is possible here, too.

The following is a link to view the online Sick Around the World Documentary video

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/

view/main.html

The video runs approximately an hour.

I found this documentary well done informative and insightful.

I feel the video is well worth watching.

Spine: Indications for Lumbar Fusions

UW Medicine Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine
28 min 35 sec - Jul 8, 2007

This video is one of a series of excerpts of a regional symposium discussing indications and surgical treatment for spine conditions. The … all » presenters outline indications, limitations and potential of fusion surgery, as well as review recent developments in the field.

googleplayer.swf?docid=4036068355330664408

Last year, on the television program ‘Mystery Diagnosis’ was a case of a woman who went for years without a diagnosis for her debilitating chronic pain. Finally, a neurologist in L.A. diagnosed her with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS).

I found the episode very informative.

The following is a link to view this television episode on the blinkx.tv web site.

Discovery Health’s “Mystery Diagnosis”: RSD (Part 1 of 2)
  
Discovery Health’s “Mystery Diagnosis”: RSD (Part 1 of 2)

Cynthia Toussaint of For Grace discusses her life with RSD. Originally aired on Discovery Health in October 2005 (currently still running)

http://www.blinkx.com/burl?blinkxreferrer=getJSOpenLink&v=JD-cHvPpoAlRBPCPHSMaeA

In the DVD titled “The Fight Against Pain” it was mentioned Army Regional Anesthesia and Pain Management Initiative.

I found the following which explains the initiative.

ARAPMI staff are focused on finding and implementing the most effective methods of relieving acute pain from combat trauma. Their comprehensive approach makes use of many pain relief techniques, from traditional opioids to continuous nerve blocks and multimodal drug therapy.

The groundbreaking efforts of Buckenmaier and his team, which are funded through the John P. Murtha Neuroscience and Pain Institute, have not gone unnoticed. The group’s work in general, and Buckenmaier in particular, have been recognized by several high-profile media outlets, including WIRED magazine, NPR and an ABC News special report, for which Buckenmaier was interviewed.

http://www.arapmi.org/news1.html

http://www.arapmi.org/

http://www.hjf.org/research/arapmi_web.html

I watched “The Fight Against Pain” DVD 

Description

This special program compiles episodes from WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH PETER JENNINGS, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, and NIGHTLINE to explore the issues surrounding the phenomenon of pain. Discussing the marketplace’s perennial search for the next miracle drug, the show touches upon alternative cures for pain, such as breathing and relaxation techniques, that can replace the need for surgery. It also explains the oft-misunderstood role of the pain specialist and the ways that regular doctors might be ill-equipped to handle pain. And it covers pain control by means of innovative treatments, including those for children, making this an invaluable resource for understanding and managing one’s own pain or that of a loved one.

In the DVD, it was mentions the Richard Paey case, an elderly woman’s difficulty receiving narcotic pain medication for her chronic spinal pain, DEA cases regarding doctors prescribing narcotic pain medication, opinions from pain manangement doctors, medical Marijuna, an Army Regional Anesthesia and Pain Management Initiative… 

I found the DVD informative.

I recommend everyone with chronic pain to watch this DVD.