US Politics: Competitive Bidding for Prosthetics

[Wayne Renardson]

>From OANDP-L,  with permission of Mr. John Hattingh, CP  
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Justin,

As a veteran CP of 27 years in the P&O field, it continues to amaze me how 
much more amputees can do today then what what possible when I still 
treated patients with wood setups years ago.  

The development of technologically advanced componentry is for the 
improvement of quality of life which, in my opinion, is a medical necessity. My 
forte is sport prosthesis and I could never imagine an athlete such as Marlin 
Shirley sprinting a low 11 sec 100M with 20 year old technology, or Joe Soap, 
a grandpa, playing basketball with his grandson.  

What you are saying is what was said 30 years ago - amputees are not entitled 
to a better life - . Third world countries have a different agenda because their 
governments are dictators that do not have a humanitarian bone in their body. 
They do not care about feeding their people so where do you think prosthetics 
fits into this picture? You are hearing this from a person that worked in Africa 
for 15 years, when last did you attend a clinic there?   

Lets discuss insurance companies. Ever check the bonus dollar number for the 
CEO's?  

I do agree however that the manufacturers of components are milking this 
field for all that it is worth. Paying for the R&D only takes so long and I am 
done listening to that story. Microprocessors are used in other fields every day 
and certainly do not cost nearly what we pay for them.  

There are issues that we need to address, but making the patients suffer is not 
one of them.  

John Hattingh CP