Iowa-based John Dooley, MD, and orthopedic surgeon Michael Hendricks, MD, are trying to establish an ASC to perform spinal cord stimulation to treat pain without opioids in the Burlington, Iowa, but have been unable to obtain the certificate of need from the Iowa Department of Public Health, according to The Hawk Eye.
Here are six things to know:
1. Dr. Dooley is an American Board of Anesthesiology certified pain management physician at Pain Centers of Iowa in Burlington, Coralville and Davenport.
2. Across the United States, opioid mortality rates have quadrupled since 1999. According to the Iowa Medical Association, the rate of opioid deaths in the state has more than tripled over the past decade.
3. Dr. Dooley estimated about 60 percent of his patients are able to get off of pain medications by switching to alternatives that target the pain's root cause. Dr. Dooley claimed 80 percent of patients who receive spinal cord stimulation are able to get off of pain medication.
4. In spinal cord stimulation, pain is replaced with pleasant vibrations. Small wires are inserted down the spinal column and connected to a small computer that sends electricity along them. Patients try the implant for seven days by having leads inserted and taped to their back before it is surgically implanted.
5. A certificate of need must be obtained before Drs. Dooley and Hendricks can create the spinal cord stimulation ASC.
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