Washington

Dr. David Hanscom's book, Back in Control: A Surgeon’s Roadmap Out of Chronic Pain, explores how a turbocharged central nervous system contributes to chronic pain. Dr. Hanscom himself suffered from chronic pain and chronicles his own recovering in the book too. 

The Dartmouth Atlas provides shocking data about the prevalence of spine surgery here.

If you’re interested in how surgeons and device manufacturers wound up in bed together, you’ll want to have a look at the website for the Association of Medical Ethics. Use the Doctor Payments search tool to find out how much surgeons have been paid to consult on a specific product.

The investigative reporting organization called ProPublica is creating an increasingly robust and truly eye-opening source of information regarding the payments that drug and device companies make to doctors in return for promoting their drugs. This database—broken down by state, which is more convenient—has been assembled by the superb investigative reporters at ProPublica. Start with this article that explains how patients can use the database. The database is here.

From a website specifically devoted to Safe Spine Surgery, here is a list of twelve questions you should definitely ask before deciding to undergo invasive treatment.

Here’s a list of red flags meant to let you know whether it’s time to say goodbye to your prospective spine surgeon. (Some warning signs are obvious; many less so.)

If you’re considering becoming a patient of a new physician, visit the Certification Matters website to find out whether they have been certified by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS).