Re: Re: RHBMP2

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Hi - You hit the nail on the TWICE = ) I am WAY tired of the guinea pig thing... & "yes" the BMP was used with the cages at my L3/L4, L4/L5 back in 2005. My revision surgeon, Dr. Hu, even wrote a commentary for The Spine Journal http://www.spine.org/Documents/TSJJune2011_Hu_Commentary.pdf. Now I know why she uses it "sparingly". I happen to fall into the high risk for fusion failure group (previous failed fusion/post-menopausal/lifelong smoker)...so for me the benefits of its cautious application outwieghed the

risks. I just wish SOMEONE would have let me know what those risks were! I had to hear about it on the news = ( The company that manufactures it really crossed the ethical line with the payoffs. It's a whole lot easier to overlook & not disclose side effects when you've got $23 mil in you bank account!.............................Kathy

From: <elizabethrgonzalez@...> Sent: Sunday, July 3, 2011 4:03 PMSubject: Re: RHBMP2

Kathy --Ah, yet another new complication to research! Thanks so much for theheads-up -- this is one I missed.How well I remember all the hoopla about that new and exciting productof genetic engineering, bone morphogenic protein. Dr. Rand told me hewas definitely planning to use this in my revision, along with cadavergraft and my own autologous graft tissue (which he removed on Day #1 ofmy two-part surgery and parked in the freezer for a week before returnigit to my body on Day #2, along with the BMP).You undoubtedly know more than I do about this dubious material at thispoint, but it seemed to me that when they were first promoting it, italways went hand-in-hand with those "cages" so many of us acquiredduring our revision surgery. The cages were packed with the morphogenicstuff and other stuff, holding it in place while it supposedly fusedover time. The cages were, if I'm not

mistaken, implanted during theanterior portion of the surgery.The information you have now provided is positively hair-raising, and Iam halfway grateful I knew nothing about it at the time I was signing onthe dotted line to have vast portions of my spinal column replaced withany fool thing that had slipped by the FDA.What next?! Do any of you guys get sick of being perpetual guinea pigs?Thanks,>> I am going to post this message on both flatback group sites that I ama member in. So if some of you are members of both also, I apologizefor the double delivery. The nightly national news ran a segment on howthe makers of Recombinant Human

Bone Morphogenic Protein 2 (rhBMP2) paiddoctors up to $23 million to promote & use their product, in addition tobeing misleading about the severity & percentage rates of complications.I think everyone who has had spinal fusion surgery that used syntheticbone, as opposed to having bone harvested, should keep current on thisissue. Here is a website for more info:>>http://www.spine.org/Pages/ConsumerHealth/NewsAndPublicRelations/NewsReleases/2011/pressrelease1_062811.aspx>> As many of you already know, I had a failed fusion surgery in 2007that caused flatback. My surgeon at the time, described that fusionmaterial he used as "bone cement". In 2009 I had a consultation withDr. Pashman at Cedar's in Los Angeles. He told me that I had "vacuumdisk phenomenon". Basically, where bone filler/fusion material replacedmy disks were now open & empty. I asked him "What happened to the

bonefiller?" His response was that my body had absorbed it. Body aborptionof bone is one of the side effects of RHBMP2. There are also reports ofneurological damage, severe leg pain, hardware displacement, malesterility, & even cancer.>> I'm not trying to scare anybody...I just think we should all bediligent & keep up on medical research that pertains to our situations. BMPs are today's "latest & greatest" technology...just like theHarrington rod was the "latest & greatest" at one time.>> ...............................Kathy>