Question
Is there any way to check the safety and effectiveness of treatment offered at a particular clinic?

I have a friend who has had severe back and leg pain for several years. Her doctor (MD) has diagnosed her with bone spurs. She gets an epidural every couple of weeks, with some relief but not a lot.

I have been seeing ads for the local office of a national chain of clinics that treats various conditions (including pinched nerve bulging/herniated disc, scoliosis, spinal stenosis, arthritis of the spine, sciatica and other chronic conditions)with what they call "minimally invasive laser surgery".

At each clinic they have a team of people including MDs, DOs, DC,
nurse practitioners and physical therapists. In their TV ads, they claim you can resume normal activities in a matter of days, as opposed to long recovery time for "traditional open back surgery". I have checked the credentials of the MDs at the local clinic here in town. Of about a dozen doctors, only 3 are licensed in our state.

I would recommend this place to my friend if I thought it would help. How can I find out if their treatments actually measure up to their claims>

Thanks

Jo

Answer
Jo, there isn't much of a way of telling if these people are living up to their credentials, however it would be worth a phone call for your friend to check and see if her insurance is accepted. It never hurts to have a consultation and probably won't charge much for a consultation. That way they can tell her what is available. It seems to me to have an epidural every couple of weeks even every month or two seems to be awfully frequent. And keep in mind that the epidurals are not always completely safe, especially when they're done so frequently. There's always a chance that a small nerve can be damaged, and a person can have chronic pain from an epidural. It just seems to me that she's having too many epidurals and apparently they're not lasting long enough. I would strongly suggest that your friend at least call for a consultation appt. She doesn't have to have anything performed that day, just talk to a doctor and see what's available to her.