OL Bates had stem cell treatments in Panama in September!

Unfortunately, our regulatory agencies have developed into very unwieldly bureaucracies.  And in some cases, are basically defenders of the industries they are supposed to regulate.   So many innovations take forever to get approved because they would cut into the revenue streams of the companies being regulated.

I had a recent triple bypass surgery performed by a minimally invasive robotic cardiac surgery specialist.  It was almost an outpatient procedure (I had to spend one night in the post-surgical ICU).  No breaking my chest open. No stopping my heart and being put on a heart-lunch machine.  I was lucky as this doctor teaches at the University of Chicago and does his work at the university's med center. 

I was amazed at what is done there after finding him.  In our discussions it came up that there are only 12 or 13 surgeons in the USA who do this type of procedure.  In my research, I found out that the world leader in this surgery is India.  They have 100s of these surgeons.  I suspect that the growth of this surgery is being held up by the big hospital chains and the payors (Medicare, insurance companies, etc) as the equipment and staff upgrades are very expensive.

My surgeon has been doing this for about 20 years here.  What a shame.  Total recovery in less than 3 weeks (mine was just over 2 weeks) instead of 4 - 6 months in the case of traditional open-heart procedures.  Fewer complications, better long-term success rates, etc.  And it was totally covered by my Medicare + medigap (Plan G) insurance.

I had no idea about any of that, Chuck.  Thanks for enlightening us.  That puts a better light on Bates getting that done.

This is why I believe that they throw everything they can at the draft in OL. More shots on goal to hit since Poles seems lacking.