Family speaks out about controversial medical procedurePublished: 2009-03-26 10:13:02Author: By Bob LaMendola | South Florida Sun-SentinelHe's 33, a father to three, a bit heavy, with diabetes and sore legs.
And now he lies unresponsive in a hospital, his brain damaged in a
controversial outpatient procedure that critics say is often done
needlessly and billed excessively.
Lauderdale Lakessecurity-firm manager Dale Whyte had a cardiac arrest during
"manipulation under anesthesia," his family and records say, a
procedure in which doctors and chiropractors sedate patients and
vigorously flex the body to treat pain and stiffness.
Supporters of MUA say most patients improve dramatically. But many
medical officials say some practitioners and surgery centers view it as
a profit center, performing it far too often and at times on high-risk
patients, and billing insurers as much as $50,000 for an hour of
therapy over three days.
While no one tracks MUA deaths and complications, medical groups have
linked the procedure to strokes and to damage in blood vessels, the
spine and nerves in some patients. Critics also say MUA has been done
on patients with obesity, high blood pressure and other conditions that
raise their risk for heart attacks and bad reactions to anesthesia.
"It's absolutely unconscionable. They are doing it on almost anyone. It
has really just become a method of billing for income," said Charles A.
Bender, former president of the New Jersey chiropractic board and a
critic of MUA.
At least four dozen outpatient centers in South Florida and 145 in the
state perform MUA, and the number is growing. Some appeal for patients
by putting them up in hotels and sending chauffeurs to pick them up for
the procedure.
Even the leading supporter of MUA, Robert C. Gordon, a former Miramar
chiropractor who travels the nation teaching the procedure, estimated
that 20 percent to 40 percent of cases are unnecessary, overbilled or
done wrong.
"There are a lot of people out there abusing this procedure," Gordon
said. "Those of us who do this right are terribly, terribly upset with
this. They make it hard for the rest of us."
Full story here.