Saturday
Jun162007
Back pain relief or fraud?
A friend of mine has been experiencing debilitating back pain for a year now. He's seen pain specialists, surgeons and so on, and so far the only treatment has been pain medications, strong ones. He is desperate.
He recently came across an advertisement for treatment with a device called the DRX 9000. I've been reading about this treatment on the web and find positive reports apparently concentrated on a few sites, and then sporadic reports of shady dealings, FBI investigations and so on.
Here are some links and quotes I was able to find. Do you know anything about this one way or another? Please comment or email me!
Back pain treatment scrutinized: "It sounded like it was well worth the money," Dorjath said. "But it didn't work. I had so much pain afterwards, I literally couldn't walk." but in the same article: "After the third treatment, I could see a big difference," said Debbie Cino, 54, of San Jose. Cino said an extra vertebra in her back made it difficult for her to sit or stand for long periods, and the treatment helped. "I think it's wonderful," she said.
Surgery Not Only Alernative For Back Pain: "They come in on the machine and their bodies are immediately relaxed and their muscle spasms are decreased and the separation of the bones causes the pressure to be off the nerves, decreasing their symptoms," Stafford said."
DRX 9000 Maker Under Investigation: "What can you do? Educate, educate, educate. Don't be afraid to tell people the truth. There is NO literature that shows the DRX 9000 to be more beneficial than standard traction and not much literature that shows traction, in general is helpful."
FBI Raids Medical Supply Business: "TAMPA - Agents from the FBI raided Axiom Worldwide this morning, carrying boxes and bags to a large white van parked in a disabled parking spot in front of the business."
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He recently came across an advertisement for treatment with a device called the DRX 9000. I've been reading about this treatment on the web and find positive reports apparently concentrated on a few sites, and then sporadic reports of shady dealings, FBI investigations and so on.
Here are some links and quotes I was able to find. Do you know anything about this one way or another? Please comment or email me!
Back pain treatment scrutinized: "It sounded like it was well worth the money," Dorjath said. "But it didn't work. I had so much pain afterwards, I literally couldn't walk." but in the same article: "After the third treatment, I could see a big difference," said Debbie Cino, 54, of San Jose. Cino said an extra vertebra in her back made it difficult for her to sit or stand for long periods, and the treatment helped. "I think it's wonderful," she said.
Surgery Not Only Alernative For Back Pain: "They come in on the machine and their bodies are immediately relaxed and their muscle spasms are decreased and the separation of the bones causes the pressure to be off the nerves, decreasing their symptoms," Stafford said."
DRX 9000 Maker Under Investigation: "What can you do? Educate, educate, educate. Don't be afraid to tell people the truth. There is NO literature that shows the DRX 9000 to be more beneficial than standard traction and not much literature that shows traction, in general is helpful."
FBI Raids Medical Supply Business: "TAMPA - Agents from the FBI raided Axiom Worldwide this morning, carrying boxes and bags to a large white van parked in a disabled parking spot in front of the business."
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Saturday, June 16, 2007 at 8:58AM 
Reader Comments (3)
Hmm... sounds too good to be true, lack of scientific evidence or independent studies, and fraudulent business practices? Pito, i think you can draw your own conclusion!
Understand it for what it is. I am certain that people have walked out of their DRX9000 treatment feeling better. Here, IMO, are the problems:
1. It is unknown which LBP patients respond better to traction vs standard care (PT, NSAIDs and Activity modification, Chiropractic, etc). It's assumed those with disc herniations would be the best candidate. And one can find references to studies on disc herniation and traction (but, yet, not on the manufacturers website) that show reduced herniations. Problem is that unless the disc is directly pushing on a nerve root, no good evidence shows that herniation size relates to pain levels and dysfunction.
2. Practitioners using the DRX9000 advocate it for ALL LBP patients. hmmm...
3. It's expensive, very often not covered by insurance (because it has no evidence of it's efficacy vs other cheaper treatments), and extensive in treatment length. As I stated in my blog, my average LBP treatment length is just over 7 visits. This includes post surgical pt's, sprain/strains, disc herniations, chronic LBP, etc. Before the State intervened, the DRX9000 protocol being promoted was daily for 6 weeks. 30 visits! Even now the manufacturers website speaks of treatments ranging from 20-24 visits. You can do better for your initial treatment choice.
My mother who has had a degenerative disk problem for over 20 years, went for a consultation using the DRX treatment. The office used "car salesman" technics to try to get a desperate woman to committ to a loan, which they approved right there in the office, and begin treatment that very day. If I had not happened to call my mom and urge her to think about this large financial decision, I have no doubt she would have signed up. $5,000! For 10 weeks of treatment. She is on disability. She can barley afford her car payment. If they really believe in this machine and want to help people, why charge these exhorbitant fees?