Guest guest Posted May 30, 2002 Report Share Posted May 30, 2002 Ms. Deaver, I read your story on Hartsoe and Miracle Mountain found at http://www.journalnow.com/wsj/news/health/MGBZBQZBO1D.html. Thank you for what you have done so far, but I would encourage you to look a little farther. While Dr. Collett is correct in saying that parents of brain-injured children are in a desperate situation and that there are people out there who are willing to take advantage of them, what he failed to tell you was that everything--everything--available now to these kids from *traditional* medicine has absolutely no benefit. Nothing available now addresses the root source of the problem like Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. Everything else only addresses the symptoms. What the Colletts offer is Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Physical Therapy--none of which has been proven beneficial through randomized, double-blind controlled studies. In fact, Physical Therapy (the most widely prescribed of the 3) has been proven through a double-blind controlled study to be of absolutely no benefit. See the attached pdf file. The other thing Collett didn't tell you is that until his " study " , no cp children ever showed benefit from any placebo in any double-blind controlled cp study (also attached), i.e., what Collett failed to explain to you (or confess) is that his study had no placebo--his placebo was actually Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. That's why the " control " group improved. Nonetheless, as a result of the courageous stand taken by Hartsoe and others, parents have united and are continuing to unite to seek healing for their children even when the doctors credentialed with expertise (pediatric neurologists) say such healing is impossible. As a result: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hello, In the best interest of brain-injured children, a new listserv has been formed to help parents and advocates access 3rd-party reimbursement of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT). mailto:medicaid-subscribe New subscribers will automatically receive a pdf file explaining how the US federal Medicaid law for children specifically applies to HBOT. New subscribers also receive a pdf of the Georgia court decision overturning Georgia Medicaid's denial of HBOT. Since federal law is applicable in all 50 US states, this court decision could be used as a model for other states. In addition, many countries around the world base their healthcare decisions on what happens in the United States. Since this listserv began on September 21, 2001, five states have indicated they will change their policy decisions on Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for brain-injured children: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Texas, and Florida. Additionally, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Missouri have reimbursed Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for brain-injured children. Let's keep this list growing. The off-label use of Hyperbaric oxygen has been proven to improve recovery in brain-injury. There are reports that over 90% of all brain-injured children who receive HBOT receive improvement. However, it is currently not accepted by pediatric neurology as a standard treatment of care for our children. Because of this nonacceptance parents are forced to pay for hyperbaric oxygen out of pocket. Many parents have already taken out 2nd and 3rd mortgages to pay for this incredibly safe, noninvasive, life-changing, permanent therapy. The goal of the listserv is to change this status. Once Medicaid reimburses HBOT and universal improvements occur, the insurance companies will quickly follow suit. At the same time, this will hopefully create renewed interest for pediatric neurologists as surely they will be curious as to how 90+% of every brain-injured child can improve from HBOT when most have said such improvement is impossible. The vast majority of care administered to patients in pediatric neurology is relief from some sort of seizure disorder. Consequently children are prescribed anti-convulsants, the vast majority of which have never been subjected to randomized, double-blind controlled studies where children were the subjects in the study--which means these drugs are not FDA approved and are prescribed off-label for pediatric use. As parents we are asking for this same standard--the off-label use of HBOT, a treatment modality that has been proven to improve recovery from brain-injury. HBOT permanently and safely *repairs* the source of the problem where typically prescribed treatments (Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Physical Therapy) might briefly alleviate symptoms but never address or repair the core problem. Unfortunately, at this time, the Pediatric Neurology community typically reacts emotionally rather than rationally to the science supporting hyperbaric oxygen for brain-injury. Most will not even discuss the issue. Because they hold credentials of perceived expertise, these palliative-care physicians have been allowed to dismiss HBOT out of hand. This is frustrating for care administrators and parents as we all seek to help our children. It is hoped and anticipated that the forum will help bridge this gap. Please join us. If this issue has not reached your office yet, it soon will. Knowledge and informed decision-making can avoid the adversarial stance taken in Georgia and truly help these children maximize their full potential. Your list membership guarantees free access to a library (medicaid/files/) of 50 downloadable pdf files relating to the efficacy of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy. Take advantage of it. Since improvement and even recovery from stroke, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimers, Parkinson's, and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) has also been demonstrated with hyperbaric oxygen, it's quite possible that the full potential of HBOT can obviously save millions of heartaches and billions--if not trillions--of dollars. While each US state is free to administer their Medicaid program according to however they want, each state must comply with the federal Medicaid law for children--which specifically stipulates that a treatment like HBOT must be paid for by state Medicaid plans--whether it is " covered by the state plan or not " . Through this forum we as parents, caregivers, advocates, physicians, journalists, therapists, and administrators will be able to exchange information, tips, and advice on how to access HBOT for our children. This is called freedom of assembly and freedom of speech as guaranteed by the first amendment in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States of America. Together we can make a difference. Separately we may never make a difference. Please participate in this discussion and worthy pursuit. Again, in addition to invaluable conversation, education, and encouragement, list members can also download 50+ pdf files that can be used to successfully put together a request for Medicaid reimbursement through their own state agencies. There is also documentation from the several states mentioned that already reimburse HBOT for brain-injury. These files are available for download from medicaid/files/ . mailto:medicaid-subscribe ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Freels 2948 Windfield Circle Tucker, GA 30084-6714 USA 770/491-6776 (phone and fax) 509/275-1618 (efax, sends fax as email attachment) mailto:dfreels@... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 10, 2008 Report Share Posted October 10, 2008 Talking about Offit, see some of his famous quotes here: http://www.ageofautism.com/2008/08/false-prophet-r.html > > Dr Offit, > > Saw your brief interview in the Neubrander piece at http://cbs3.com/local/Autism.Treatment.Childrens.2.836453.html > . > > Here's another HBOT video you're more than welcome to try and describe > as quackery: > > > Just so you know. HBOT is about to be used to reverse the effects of > Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) as suffered by Iraq war vets. The above > referenced video has a lot to do with the decision to finance HBOT for > TBI by the US Government. > > I understand your frustration as I've heard the same things stated by > pediatric neurologists in court hearings regarding Medicaid coverage > of HBOT for cerebral palsy for our son. > > Whatever frustration you feel can be multiplied by 100, and you might > approach the level of frustration I feel as the parent of a disabled > child when confronted by the total, total indifference and ambivalence > toward our son--and thousands of childfren like him--by the Child > Neurology Society, American Academy of Neurology, and the American > Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine--just to mention > a few. > > Ironically, if the parents are correct and the neurologists are wrong-- > just regarding HBOT--the neurologists are facing the biggest > malpractice lawsuits in the history of medicine. As a result > neurologists fight the evidence of HBOT. That's what happens when that > branch of medicine refuses to provide anything but palliative care. > > HBOT is forcing a re-definition of brain-injury because parents are > winning where it counts. In court. About 20 states so far, and the > parents will change the healthcare system. > > You're welcome to take a look if you've got the courage. > > http://www. .com > > > > > > > > Freels > 2948 Windfield Circle > Tucker, GA 30084-6714 > 770-491-6776 (phone) > 404-725-4520 (cell) > 815-366-7962 (fax) > > mailto:david@... > > fearlessparents/ > > http://www. .com > > http://www.davidfreels.com > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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