ACA Board Chairman and Ossur

[John C. Ghormley]

You really want me to believe the unions are the panacea for working
together?  Any chance they'll practice that for us all to watch soon?

John C. Ghormley
Bedford, TX  76021
rbk  '02

*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 8/17/2003 at 9:47 PM James Street wrote:

***  I'm probably being really naive, but isn't this the way
***  everything is run in
***  America?  None of this bothers the super rich who are in control,
***  because
***  they can buy anything they want.  It tells you something when the top
***  1% of
***  the population owns 40% of all the wealth and the "bottom" 50% own
***  only 3%
***  of all the wealth.
***  The rich eat fois gras and the poor eat MacDonald's while the middle
***  classes, who do most of the work and keep the country going, gripe and
***  fight
***  each other.  I'm not a socialist, I'm just stating what seems to me to
***  be
***  the facts.  The eye gouging and testicle kicking is being done by a
***  class of
***  people who don't know that their self-interest is to work together. 
***  The
***  working class lost its unions and dumped a huge portion of its
***  population on
***  the streets by not understanding how to work for its own self-interest
***  and
***  keep the unions going.  End of sermon.
***  
***  ----- Original Message ----- 
***  From: "rodgerole" <rodgerole at mail.ev1.net>
***  To: "Amputee Information Network" <amp-l at u.washington.edu>
***  Sent: Saturday, August 16, 2003 7:59 PM
***  Subject: Re: ACA Board Chairman and Ossur
***  
***  
***  
***  On Second thought,I'd hate to condemn a man without knowing what's in
***  his
***  mind and heart.  He may truly be the best man for the job???????
***  
***  Ole rak 01/02
***  
***  
***  Wayne,  That leaves a terrible taste in my mouth and is difficult to
***  digest,but then,I guess it's a war out there.  No holds barred,eye
***  gouging
***  and kicking in the testicles is allowed.  It's a shame the motive for
***  most
***  prosthetics manufacturers is merely the "bottom line".  The folks who
***  will
***  be the eventual losers in this war are the amputees.  I really think we
***  deserve better than that.
***  I know the ACA is mainly supported by prosthetics manufacturers,but why
***  would they ( the ACA) allow him to hold such a position when his
***  objectives
***  are definitely suspect?
***  
***  Ole rak 01/02
***  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
***  > OANDP-L with permission of Mr. James Addams, Prosthetist
***  
***  My momma would call this a conflict of interest. I have no idea what
***  ACA (they represent amputees and not the industry--indeed) might call
***  it.
***  
***  Wayne Renardson
***  ----------------------
***  
***  Back to the Ossur debate. For those of you waiting for the smoking
***  gun to prove that Ossur is and will be attempting to take your
***  patients away from you, here it is.
***  
***  Ossur has just sent out invitations to patients to attend an Amputee
***  Mobility and Performance Clinic 2003. These clinics are being held in
***  Nashua, Chicago, San Diego and Kansas City.  These free one-day
***  clinics are being taught by Robert Gailey and Kurt Collier.
***  
***  There are three aspects of the brochure that I find extremely
***  distressing:
***  
***  First: one of the claims made in the brochure, and this is a direct
***  copy of the text.
***  
***  "Prosthetic Components-make the right Choice. Learn about design and
***  functional difference among available components and learn how these
***  options may benefit you."
***  
***  Second:  this brochure was brought to me by one of my patients who
***  informs me he has NEVER contacted Flex Foot or Ossur. In fact, he
***  wanted to know why he was receiving this junk mail from Ossur and
***  concluded that I must have sold his name to Ossur. The only way Ossur
***  could have accessed this patient's address is from the warrantee
***  card. There is no other explanation.
***  
***  Third: Kurt Collier, a previous employee of Ossur and one of the
***  presenters for the seminar, is promoted as being the current Chairman
***  of the Amputee Coalition of America.  Looks like Ossur is using their
***  money to purchase all the patient contacts and influence they can in
***  our industry.
***  
***  Are you ready to have an Ossur representative and Chairman of the ACA
***  evaluate your patient at these seminars and then tell them what is
***  wrong with the prosthesis you made and then recommend that they be
***  fit with an Ossur product from an Ossur facility?
***  
***  What Ossur is doing is dead wrong. It is bad for patient care, it is
***  bad for our industry, and it is bad for our reputation.  If you are
***  still supporting Ossur by using their products, stop and take a good
***  long look at Ossur business practices, They are about pushing Ossur
***  product and pushing Ossur sales. They do not appear to care about
***  patients or the industry as a whole.
***  
***  Call Ossur and ask for a copy of the brochure so you can see for
***  yourself, or better yet, ask one of your patients. I am sure they
***  will receive a brochure very soon from Ossur.
***  
***  James Addams
***  Prosthetist


John C. Ghormley
Bedford, TX
www.johnghormley.com