View Public Comment for Potential NCD Topics
| Commenter: |
Fisher, Gerry |
| Title: |
Director of Purchasing |
| Organization: |
Precoat Metals, a division of Sequa Corporation |
| Date: |
9/13/2008 5:10:14 PM |
| Comment: |
| I watched [PHI Redacted] suffer incontinence,
impotence, and urethra blockage following
prostate surgery. So, when [PHI Redacted] was diagnosed, I
was determined to find a better therapy. I
quickly learned that all of the prostate cancer
therapies have comparable cure rates, so my quest
was for the one that would preserve quality of
life. [PHI Redacted] had consultations with some of the best
doctors practicing each therapy - [PHI Redacted] at Northwestern University Med. Center
for open surgery, [PHI Redacted] at the Henry
Ford Hospital in Detroit for robotic laparoscopic
surgery, [PHI Redacted] at Washington
University Med. Center in St. Louis for hand
laparoscopic surgery, and [PHI Redacted] at
Washington University Med. Center for IMRT and
Bracytherapy. All of these doctors said that
theirs'' was the best therapy for prostate cancer,
but none could give assurance that [PHI Redacted] would not
suffer the life-changing side-effects [PHI Redacted] was
trying to avoid. Also, none of these doctors
could produce data on the percentage of patients
using their therapy that had these side-effects,
and they would not provide access to former
patients that could testify on the subject.
Things were different when I investigated proton
therapy at Loma Linda University Med. Center. Of
course, Loma Linda doctor would not rule out
the possibility of impotence or incontinence, but
they had a 15 year study that showed outstanding
results. In addition, I found a pool of hundreds
of past patients in the Brotherhood of the
Balloon that gave compelling testimony to
proton''s effectiveness and lack of morbidity. [PHI Redacted]
chose protons at Loma Linda, and underwent
treatment from October [PHI Redacted] to January [PHI Redacted]. [PHI Redacted]
not had the slightest incontinence or
impotence, and PSA has fallen steadily. I
know scores of past proton patients, and don''t
know a single one that has suffered this
morbidity, and has not had curative results. I
also know many patients that had very advanced
cancer that was written-off by the other therapy
practitioners, but were effectively treated at
Loma Linda. There is a reason that large
investments are being made in new proton centers -
this therapy offers superior results. If
allowed to flourish, proton treatment will be the
standard treatment for prostate cancer in the
future. You would be making a grave error to
disallow Medicare coverage for proton treatment
of prostate cancer. |
Page Last Modified: 5/30/2008 3:04:40 PM
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