False Information Published In The Journal "PAIN" Is Harming Patients With RSD / CRPS

Dear Dr. Kirkpatrick,

I was hoping I could get your assistance with my Worker's Compensation issue. I have attached the IME Report that was performed by Dr. Stephen Borowsky on 7/14/2011. In his report he is basically stating your treatments are experimental and should not be used or considered when treating RSD/CRPS or approved for treating my injury.

I'm hoping you can look at this report and provide me with a letter of documentation or report of your own that I can provide the adjuster to help my case. Anything you could do would be most appreciated and I would be extremely grateful. This whole thing is driving me nuts, trying to get the insurance to help when all they do is hinder me in every way they can.

Thank you for everything! You have truly help give me my life back.

Sincerely,

Timothy Waldrep

Phoenix, Arizona

7/28/11

REPLY:

Dear Mr. Waldrep:

Thank you for allowing the International Research Foundation for RSD / CRPS to publish the IME Report prepared by Stephen Borowsky MD in Phoenix, Arizona. Health providers and patients will benefit from your experience.

First, an IME (Independent Medical Evaluation) is suppose to be an objective evaluation. Keep in mind, however, that Dr. Borowsky was hired by the Crawford and Company Insurance Company for his opinions.

Second, Dr. Borowsky stated several times in his report that you underwent the "ketamine coma" procedure at our outpatient surgery center and therefore should be denied authorization for care. As you know, this is a false statement. You were conscious throughout the 3-day treatment with ketamine.

Third, the article published in the journal PAIN, upon which Dr. Borowsky claims your treatment was "experimental", contains false and misleading statements.

Dr. Borowsky quoted the following from the PAIN article:

In a subsequent publication published last year, the authors of the PAIN article referenced above conceded to a major error in their report:

Schwartzman   / PAIN 151 (2010) 550–557

Kirkpatrick   / PAIN 151 (2010) 550–557

Please note:

• Sub-anesthetic doses of ketamine to treat RSD / CRPS are being used coast-to-coast throughout the United States and Canada.

Two well-controlled studies have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of sub-anesthetic ketamine to treat CRPS.

Workers Compensation and health insurance agencies throughout the United States and Canada have been authorizing the 3-day and 4-day ketamine infusions for the treatment of RSD / CRPS at our outpatient surgical center in Tampa, Florida.

Anthony F Kirkpatrick MD PhD

Chair, Scientific Advisory Committee

The International Research Foundation for RSD / CRPS

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