Dear Patients, Another short but not so sweet blog for you to, I hope, act upon ASAP. Medicare (coverage for the elderly and/or the disabled) in addition to forbidding the use of sedation for patients undergoing injections, is now forbidding the epidural use of Depo-medrol, our longest lasting corticosteroid. The recommended replacement, Decadron, typically has… Read more »
Author: admin
Don’t Forget to Grab Your Boots
Dear Patients, This is going to be the shortest piece I’ll ever write. Here goes. I didn’t take my own advice about grippers on my outdoor boots and shoes. This week was really our first “hard snow” weeks. It’s Michigan, it’s November, so it’s freezing. Thinking I’d be ahead of the game, I grabbed my… Read more »
Winter Prepping
Dear Patients, With all of the unfortunate changes we face as doctors and patients in chronic pain management, it is easy to forget about what we CAN control. Winter is fast approaching, so it behooves us to review some very basic but nonetheless critical self-help maneuvers. So, without further ado, here they are: Boot/Shoe Traction… Read more »
Opioids For Chronic Pain
Dear Patients, I’ve been practicing pain management since 1994, and as is the case with all of us who have spent many years in the same occupation, I’ve learned a few absolutes. Here are three of them: Opioids are still the primary analgesic/painkiller available to us, and most of the time, they either help some… Read more »
Call to Action to Secure Patient Access to Care
On June 10, 2021, a new proposed Medicare LCD (Local Coverage Determination) policy aimed at limiting patient access to interventional pain procedures was set in motion. This proposed nationwide Medicare policy contains many tedious preauthorization requirements that will detrimentally affect the patient’s ability to access pain care. At a minimum, in order to be scheduled… Read more »