Pulaski

Others don't post private information, such as where they studied, on the public forums, and I'm not about to. I am having second thoughts about even PMing you with the information as you only appear interested in ridiculing something that you don't agree with.
I was using "Big Pharma" as a euphemism (and I recognise not entirely appropriately) for the massive US medical industry (hospitals, drug companies, "device" manufacturers, etc.) that seems mostly driven to sustain and expand itself with ever more and more treatments and procedures.
Well apparently the cure was worse than the condition.

Pulaski

Didn't the scope of HIPAA expire back on December 12th?

DebzinUS

Agreed. A research article published last year reports that tonsillectomy for sleep apnea in children resulted in death or permanent neurologic injury in 86 out of 111 cases (77%) (Cote, Posner, Domino, 2013). That's one cure I wouldn't risk for my child.


Here's the abstract:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23842193

Uncle_Bob

Thats right i don't agree with the fact that sleep apnea should just be dismissed as everyone snores in their sleep
Do you honestly think that American health insurance would pay out so much for this girls surgery if they didnt think it was necessary?
Do you think the life insurance companies would refuse to sell life insurance to people with sleep apnea if it its merely just something everyone does in their sleep?

Your ignorance is not uncommon but completely surprising from someone who claims to have a decent medical education.

Pulaski

I saw that one coming!
Yes, that's my problem! That they "think" it was necessary.
Yes, they typically follow medical advice on such things. If only health insurers took the same approach (excluding such "smoke and mirror" conditions).

Uncle_Bob

Hosiptal policy could also be a factor

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...00688-0061.pdf

Uncle_Bob

So stopping breathing for long periods of time and oxygen to your brain dropping to dangerously low levels is fine and dandy with you?

maybe you need someone with sleep apnea to fall asleep at the wheel and hit you head on in order for you to change your mind

Pulaski

Well it hasn't killed you, at least not so far. ..... Unlike Jahi's extensive surgery.

Jan Alaska

What is known is that Jahi also had diabetes insipidus, was overweight (200lbs has been mentioned) and was suffering from sleep apnea.

As for insurance paying the mother has 4 children with 4 different surnames, not saying she wasn't working or wasnt insured but it does make one wonder about how much insurance she did have. One thing is for sure no insurance company pays out on dead people and since Jahi was pronounced dead on 12th Dec the insurance coverage would have stopped then.

Uncle_Bob

Yes thankfully i am alive and am able to bring about awareness and educate people on sleep apnea, even to people that have been to medical school apparently

Anytime you go under the knife you risk death. I don't think jahi got as far as the extensive $50,000 UPPP surgery. I don't like calling it routine, but it seems it was complications from the more common tonsillectomy that was the issue here.

Pulaski

A former boss of mine has/ had it, so I do know a bit more about it than I've let on so far, and his experiences have shaped and reinforced my opinion. He went through several rounds of exploratory procedures at a sleep clinic, followed by the provision of some equipment to help him breath at night, then some more, different equipment, which was supposed to work better. It didn't.

Unless he is experiencing specific problems, associated with nasal congestion, he reportedly doesn't use any of the equipment, but between the nocturnal visits to the sleep clinic and the equipment I suspect there is $20k of medical bills picked up by his insurer, that has resulted in him being given some expensive equipment that he doesn't use!

Uncle_Bob

Well i would have hoped you based you opinions on more that the specific case of one person. At least your boss is employed. Some suffers are so fatigued that they often end up unable to perform their job and end up unemployed.

The problem with sleep apnea and insurance is people abuse it by having a sleep study and then a titration to the tune of $6000-$7000. They get diagnosed, can end up trying different equipment costing thousands from and then wimp out because they can't be bothered to make the adjustment to dial in their therapy.

Then they look to make some money on the deal by selling the machine and equipment on craigslist for several hundred dollars.

There is also a problem with the money grabbing doctors who run the sleep centers. They are happy to sell you a sleep study & titration and diagnose sleep apnea. They are often in bed with a DME who sell you the machine and all the equipment and then you basically get shown the door. The followup support and care is none existent, hence the tendency for people to wimp out.

But on the other hand there are people who have claimed the therapy has given them their life back. So money well spent. They should never be denied because of the few that fail.

Dorothy

What does the mother having 4 children with 4 surnames have to do with her insurance? I have 3 children born with 3 different surnames. Does that somehow make a difference to anything?

Casual Observer

When one understands the point he was trying to make without using politically incorrect language then statistically yes it does. It means the rest of us are paying for other peoples feckless behavior. Some people are ok with that others are not.

scrubbedexpat099

It fits a profile.