New member concerned about rh-BMP-2 use in spinal fusion

[Jussie]

One year ago I had scoliosis surgery and was fused from T10-L5. Medtronic's Infuse (rh-BMP-2) graft material was used. I was very concerned when I read that the initial trial results and reports for BMP use may have been tainted. Side-effects/complications were not reported in the trials. Some of the investigators/doctors were receiving money in the hundreds of thousands in royalties for other Medtronic products and claim these payments did not influence the results. The ethics involved (or not involved) in this matter are even more concerning to me. This product is very commonly used off-label in spinal fusions. Just look up rh-BMP to read about it. Does anyone else have a major problem understanding how something like this could happen?

[Catherine]

Hi Jussie and welcome!!

I too have a big problem with this issue and that's why I went to see Dr Eugene Carragee at Stanford University Medical Center. He is the Dr who has written the paper and has the Spine Journal publication. It was all just crazy to me also that this stuff could be used on people this way. There are lots of papers written on this subject at Pubmed. Good luck and I hope you aren't having any problems.

Catherine