Anyone had cervical ADR done in Ontario? IMPORTANT
 

Hi all,

I am a transplant from another forum, and am glad to see some familiar faces here. :)

I am in a battle with our Provincial Medical system to get out of country surgery, and would sincerely appreciate any contact/information about ADR surgery in Ontario, especially cervical ADR.

I have to prove that it is done in Ontario, especially multi-level. I have spoken to a doctor about it, and his staff verbally confirmed that he does it, but refuse to take the time to write a letter to that effect. I can understand their position since I am not a patient, but I need to confirm this asap.

Does anyone have a list of doctors who do both cervical and lumbar? I have the names of some who do either/or but not both. Drs. Gurr, Duggal, Rampersand and Yee are who I have right now.

Any and all information is greatly appreciated.

Katie... welcome to the forum. Sorry, but I don't know anyone with c-adr in your area. Will Ontario, California do?

Only if I get some sun and warm temperatures ;-) Sorry I forgot to be more specific...I'm in Ontario, Canada. ....with lots of snow and -20 :D

Katie,

Welcome to the forum. I'm not familiar with the Canadian health care system. Do you have something kind of national medical association that you can contact for this information? I'm guessing you've already googled Canada and ADR. How about contacting the manufacturer to find out who buys the implants in your area.

If your doctor does multi-level but can't be bothered to write a letter, try contacting the hospital in which he operates and ask them if other doctors also perform that surgery.

Just a couple of suggestions, Good luck, Dale

Dale, you are brilliant! Thank you ever so much. That is such an obvious solution, and it evaded me for such a long time. I'll blame it on the meds :D

I will contact both the manufacturer and the hospital where he works. Thanks again.

Welcome to the forum here. I sure hope that you get your appeal resolved with the government. I can imagine how anxiety producing this process is.

Terry Newton

I spoke to a doctor in San Diego yesterday about potential reimbursement for a Prestige surgery someone needs. He said that Medtronic has staff that is specifically tasked with helping doctors with insurance issues and he offered to contact them on the patient's behalf. I know that Synthes and other manufacturers have similar set-ups. In addition to you contacting the manufacturer, I would think that the surgeon who would like to get the surgery reimbursed would have an even better chance of getting the needed help.

Good luck... all the best,

Mark

Does anyone have the contact information for the respective reps here in Canada? I am not sure which disc this particular doctor is using, but there are only three or four approved here, including Maverick.

I'll start digging on the net as well. Thanks.

Canadian info
 

Hi Katie,
I live in Alberta. I tried to find out about getting reimbursement for out-of-country surgery for c-spine. I was told I had to have a doctor's letter concurring that the surgery I was going away for was appropriate and not available in Canada.

I was told to get a consult from another doctor, anywhere in Canada. It's called an independent medical exam (IME). I researched my options and found Dr. Neal Duggal, who has co-written papers with Dr. B. who I was planning to go to. For that reason I thoughht he'd probably be responsive. I even got my own family doc to contact Dr. Duggal and he called her and said he'd do an IME on me. So I tried for a year and a half to get through his nurse, and finally gave up. She was extremely difficult to deal with.

I gave up, after my cheque was stale-dated. I have put off the surgery, but I'm thinking that if I do go to Dr. B. I might ask HIM to request that Dr. Duggal see me and get my IME that way.

Don't know if that helps, but I'm pretty sure that you need to go through a doc, not a medical device manufacturer. There's a person who used to be on the forums who lives in Ontario who might be able to help you. Mark helped her get lumbar ADR about 6 or 7 years ago. He or I can probably put you in touch with her if you'd like.

Good luck!

Thanks so much fortitudine. I am familiar with Dr. Duggal's office, and actually tried to contact him just a bit ago. You are right on all counts ;-)

I need to have confirmation that the surgery IS done in Ontario, just not available...if that makes any sense. In my case, there is no one who does both lumbar and cervical, so I am assuming I fit the criteria. I have proven that there is a billing number, that multi-level surgery has been done before (over 130, according to the Access to Information agency), etc. And the referring doctor has to be in Ontario; elsewhere in Canada is of no consequence. And the Appeal board wants more proof than from the above source, even if it is a different branch of the same government department (the Health board).

My problem is like yours, I cannot get in to see anyone within a year. The one fellow (neurologist) I did have an appointment with has done almost nothing; no follow up appointment or referral to an NS, etc. I am tearing my hair out. I do feel that I have built a good case for my upcoming appeal though, but I won't know until I get there.

Dr. Duggal is probably the most published NS in the country, and the only one doing multi-level cervical ADR, from what I can find.

I don't know your circumstances, but there is a doctor in Vancouver who started doing ADR about a year and a half ago, and I can give you his contact number if you like. He is restricting his patients to BC and Alberta right now, but his staff is incredibly nice, one of the very few in that category :D and he is highly regarded as well. He trained under Dr. B also, I think.

This has been very helpful, thanks. If you do remember the other lady who went through similar struggles, please pass it on. Every detail helps with the battle. My appeal is coming up very quickly, and I need all the ammunition I can get.

I wish you the best as well.

Have you tried contacting Dr Duggal directly via email or phone? I have his direct email, found on a medical journal site that asked for feedback to an article. If you put in there that he did agree to do the IME, but you have had problems contacting him, then you might have more success.

Perhaps you have tried that already and she has intervened? Tough getting past the 'moat' some days, hey ;)

Check your PM
 

Hi Katie,

For some reason, I don't think I am getting email notification of PMs from iSpine. So I am writing this to let you know I sent you a pm with contact info ofr other Candians.

Thanks! I didn't know I had any PMs...off to do a bit of reading ;-)