Keep this post circulating around the forums. There are several new people in desperate need of information about CRPS and RSD. They need some hope, and maybe some direction. ginnie

Second the motion. That, and you've got some all-too-poignant good stuff on the for-profit insurance side of the equation. So thanks!

But now, as to the the motivations of the "interventionist pain management" community [read: guys who went into anesthesiology because that figured they weren't going to "match" in surgery, only to discover they didn't like working under the egos of surgeons but needed to keep up a procedure-heavy practice in order to maintain the lifestyle to which they sought to become accustomed - and besides that way they could control their own hours] please check out the attached "Perspective," written by my pain management doc, Steven H. Richeimer, MD, Are We Lemmings Going Off a Cliff? The Case Against the “Interventional” Pain Medicine Label, Pain Medicine 2010; 11: 3–5. (And for once the file is actually small enough to attach on the forum.)

And to give you a sense as to whether it "touched a nerve," check out the volume of traffic that followed it, as listed in PubMed:

Taylor DR., Reply to Dr. Richeimer's "are we lemmings going off a cliff?" Pain Med. 2010 Nov;11(11):1745. doi: 10.1111/j.1526-4637.2010.00974.x. No abstract available. PMID: 21044266 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Gallagher RM, Response to Donald R. Taylor on "are we lemmings going off a cliff?" Pain Med. 2010 Nov;11(11):1746. doi: 10.1111/j.1526-4637.2010.00989.x. No abstract available. PMID: 21044267 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Caraway DL, Kloth D, Hirsch JA, Deer TE, Datta S, Helm S, In response to: Are we lemmings going off a cliff? The case against the "interventional" pain medicine label, Pain Med. 2010 Aug;11(8):1303-4; author reply 1305. No abstract available. PMID: 20704679 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Enjoy!

Mike

PS No endorsement by Dr. Richeimer of any of my foregoing screeds should be assumed, either as expressed or implied.

PPS That said, in reading the article, perhaps it will be clear why I've chosen to remain Dr. Richeimer's patient for the last 9+ years.

Attached Files

Are We Lemmings Going Off a Cliff[Q] - The Case Against the ‘Interventional’ Pain Medicine Label.pdf (87.3 KB, 283 views)