Read on Twitter
#StarInvestigation: 1,999 nerve blocks. That’s how many injections an Ontario doctor gave a single patient for chronic pain over roughly three years. They account for nearly $8.4 million of the $13.3 million he's billed to OHIP.
#StarOperationTransparency https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2020/09/28/thats-an-injection-mill-ontarios-top-billing-pain-doctors-capitalize-on-provinces-lax-rules-running-up-the-publics-tab-for-chronic-pain-management.html?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=SocialMedia&utm_campaign=Health&utm_content=operationtransparency
#StarOperationTransparency https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2020/09/28/thats-an-injection-mill-ontarios-top-billing-pain-doctors-capitalize-on-provinces-lax-rules-running-up-the-publics-tab-for-chronic-pain-management.html?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=SocialMedia&utm_campaign=Health&utm_content=operationtransparency
The Star investigation has found top-billing pain doctors capitalize on Ontario’s lax limits on nerve blocks, giving patients weekly injections despite medical guidelines saying the procedure should be done no more than once every three months. https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2020/09/28/thats-an-injection-mill-ontarios-top-billing-pain-doctors-capitalize-on-provinces-lax-rules-running-up-the-publics-tab-for-chronic-pain-management.html?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=SocialMedia&utm_campaign=Health&utm_content=operationtransparency
Ontario’s tax-funded health system has paid more than $420 million for these kinds of nerve blocks since 2011. https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2020/09/28/thats-an-injection-mill-ontarios-top-billing-pain-doctors-capitalize-on-provinces-lax-rules-running-up-the-publics-tab-for-chronic-pain-management.html?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=SocialMedia&utm_campaign=Health&utm_content=operationtransparency
This is how much Ontario’s three top-billing pain doctors charged the province on the nerve block procedures between 2017-2018, compared to the totals of entire provinces. https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2020/09/28/thats-an-injection-mill-ontarios-top-billing-pain-doctors-capitalize-on-provinces-lax-rules-running-up-the-publics-tab-for-chronic-pain-management.html?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=SocialMedia&utm_campaign=Health&utm_content=operationtransparency
‘That’s an injection mill.’ Ontario’s top-billing pain doctors capitalize on province’s lax rules, running up the public’s tab for chronic pain management. https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2020/09/28/thats-an-injection-mill-ontarios-top-billing-pain-doctors-capitalize-on-provinces-lax-rules-running-up-the-publics-tab-for-chronic-pain-management.html?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=SocialMedia&utm_campaign=Health&utm_content=operationtransparency
How does it work? Nerve blocks are commonly used before surgeries or to diagnose which nerve is causing a patient pain so health professionals can chart a course on how to treat it. https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2020/09/28/thats-an-injection-mill-ontarios-top-billing-pain-doctors-capitalize-on-provinces-lax-rules-running-up-the-publics-tab-for-chronic-pain-management.html?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=SocialMedia&utm_campaign=Health&utm_content=operationtransparency
The Star spoke to more than a dozen chronic pain patients. They say they swear by nerve blocks. Some get weekly blocks and others wait as long as three months between injections. https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2020/09/28/chronic-pain-patients-praise-nerve-blocks-for-freeing-them-from-the-shackles-of-pain.html?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=SocialMedia&utm_campaign=Health&utm_content=chronicpainpatients
Read our latest #OperationTransparency investigation. https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2020/09/28/thats-an-injection-mill-ontarios-top-billing-pain-doctors-capitalize-on-provinces-lax-rules-running-up-the-publics-tab-for-chronic-pain-management.html?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=SocialMedia&utm_campaign=Health&utm_content=operationtransparency
Ontario’s health minister said the government will tackle the “excessive” use of nerve blocks billed to the provincial health system, a problem the premier called “shocking.” https://www.thestar.com/news/investigations/2020/09/28/ontario-pain-doctor-billings-shocking-doug-ford-says-after-star-revelations.html?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SocialMedia&utm_campaign=Health&utm_content=
