Yes, I know I've discussed this issue before, and here I am again because it's one of those things that really irks me.
Selective Dorsal Rhisosomy is a surgical procedure for kids with CP. Kids with CP in countries with government healthcare cannot get this treatment. We're talking about a procedure that completely changes a persons life, as I've written about before
Imagine telling a family that there's a procedure which has been around for over two decades and that will allow their child to walk instead of being confined to a wheelchair for his entire life. Imagine telling them that they cannot get the procedure in their "enlightened" European countries because their governments have denied them that choice.
You want what's best for your child? You want the opportunity to drastically improve his or her ability to live a normal life? Sorry, but Nanny Government says this surgery is too risky so you can't get it. If you want life-changing medical care you'll have to come to what is still the most free country on earth, the United States of America.
The Scottish government's position on SDR is still "We're not sure about it yet" and "it's too risky." Keep in mind this is a procedure that has been around to treat CP since I was born. In fact, my parents actually brought me to a doctor who performed SDR. The doc said my CP was mild enough that I wouldn't be a candidate. Even 25 years ago you could bring your child to a doctor here in the U.S. and have this procedure done, yet in the UK it is described as something new, pioneering and groundbreaking.
I see all of these stories from Europe and it just pisses me off. It pisses me off that these families have no choice but to ask for charity so they can come here and pay cash for a treatment we've had for decades and which their government bureacrats are denying them.
The only reason these kids can't get a new lease on life is because overbearing bureacracy in Socialist European governments have decided to deny individual choice, create disincentives for doctors, and stifle medical innovation. Of course the level of neo-natal care for premature babies in Europe might have something to do with these kids having CP. That's just a hunch of course.
The results really are life-changing.
I could link to a million stories of kids just like this coming to the U.S. and leaving with a drastically improved quality of life. Meanwhile, back in May of this year a boy in the UK was the first EVER to have SDR surgery in the UK rather than America. The NIH is the UK is just now admitting that hey, this SDR stuff might actually benefit kids with CP, saying,
"The latest evidence and expert opinion suggests that treatment can improve spasticity in the longer term"
Really? You think so? The latest evidence? The NIH must be run by a bunch of idiots who have been living under a rock for the last quarter century or so.
*Yes, I know I included many links. You should read them all.
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I had heel cord surgery to ease the problems CP caused with my walking back when I was 12. It was supposed to be this new technique that would make weekly therapy a thing of the past.
End result - the leg grew to be longer than my other - leading to scoliosis, and less than 20 years later, there are days when I can't get my leg to work at all.
That said, if given the choice again, I'd still risk it, because who knows what the past years would have been like without it.
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