“One of the bigger distractions in sports medicine practices is that patients often focus on what we do with professional athletes…everyone wants to try what worked for Kobe Bryant. But I tell them that is an n of 1, and what they should truly be basing their decision on is the result of a large prospective study where you are looking at efficacy of a specific dosage and formulary, for their particular type of orthopaedic problem. And this is our job to present that data in a fair fashion, particularly because of the appearance of conflict involved in these cash-based procedures that are rarely covered by insurance. “Because medicine has become a consumer field we must focus on public education. If we were to poll the physicians who are performing most of these treatments, they will likely agree that the evidence is still pending but looking promising, and furthermore that the patients are asking for it.” I spend a good amount of time in my clinic talking to these patients about the current evidence (and lack of such) behind these treatments, and some still do choose to move forward with this option. - www.orthospinenews.com