Why does everyone go to Germany to get their 2 level pro disc done ??

[GregA]

Why does everyone go to Germany to get their 2 level pro disc done ??

I had Mine done here in Delaware In the USA
I have been looking around and havent seen 2 level pro disc done here
Greg

[KBear]

I will speak for people going out of country in general, be it Germany, Brazil, the UK, whatever. A lot of them go because FDA hasn't approved 2 levels in the US, thus making it extremely difficult to get insurance to pay. It's very difficult to get most insurances to pay for a 1 level, though more are coming around. So when faced with paying out of pocket, out of country tends to be less expensive than in the US. There are also more discs available in other countries that aren't available here due to FDA approval. So if they want the M6 for example, out of country is the way to go. Lastly, the big name surgeons overseas have a ton more experience than the US surgeons, since they have had ADR available to them since 1989. Surgeon experience is super important in a successful outcome.

A lot of it is the FDA and the slowness. For instance, I have the Active L, received it in a US clinical trial almost 2 years ago. The surgeon that put it in me was also the co-inventor of it. It is still not FDA approved and is in the trial phase here in the US (it's been in trial for 4 or more years I believe), waiting on all the 2 year data to come in. The same disc has been in use overseas for years, no problem. It will probably be at least 2 more years before it hits the US market. That was one of the reasons that it didn't bother me one bit to be in a trial, because people were paying to go overseas for the exact same thing I was getting for free and by the co-inventor, doesn't get much better than that!

All that said, a lot more people are sticking around in the US for surgery, compared to a few years ago. Some because paying for out of country just isn't feasible, others because they aren't comfortable with out of country and others because there are more surgeons now in the US who are very experienced in ADR.

[GregA]

hmm.... I guess I am lucky that I got hurt on the job. The Insurance company as far as I know aproved the 2 level for me here in delaware . My doctor told me they aproved it . I never thought about going through my own insurance ..
Thanks for the info
Kbear

Greg