Abbott spinal cord stimulator customer service

The Abbott Spinal Cord Stimulator: A Double-Edged Sword for Chronic Pain Sufferers?

For millions of patients worldwide, chronic pain has become a constant companion - an unwelcome guest that refuses to leave no matter how many treatments are tried or pills are popped. In search of relief from debilitating backaches, shooting nerve sensations, and unrelenting ache, more and more people have turned to spinal-cord stimulators like Abbott's device.

These tiny but powerful devices use electrical currents to block pain signals before they reach the brain - a concept that sounds almost too good to be true. And for many patients like 45-year-old Tom Taft of Texas, it has been just that: a life-changing solution to years of excruciating suffering.

'I thought I would have a wonderful life,' says Taft wistfully, his voice heavy with regret as he looks back on the day surgeons implanted Abbott's device in hopes of finally silencing the constant pain coursing through his spine. But for Taughts like him - and thousands more across America who've opted for similar procedures believing the sales pitches from medical device companies and doctors touting these devices as miracle solutions to their chronic discomfort - reality has been anything but wonderful.

In fact, an investigation by The Associated Press (AP) found that Abbott's spinal-cord stimulators - along with products offered by other leading manufacturers in this lucrative market segment - come accompanied by a host of serious risks and complications. Indeed, according to data from the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), these devices account for more than 80,000 reported incidents since 2008 alone, making them one of the most common causes of injury among all approved medical device products on the US market today.

From life-altering paralysis like Taught's - who suffered a devastating spinal cord injury after multiple surgeries failed to fix problems with his Abbott stimulator, leaving him unable even to use the bathroom independently anymore - to more minor but still debilitating side effects such as chronic pain itself (ironically), these devices have proven anything but safe or effective for many users.

So what went wrong? Why did medical device companies like Boston Scientific and Medtronic -- along with their doctor allies in peddling these products so aggressively, often downplaying the known risks while hyping up exaggerated benefits to vulnerable patients desperate enough to try almost anything?

The answer lies partly within our healthcare system itself. As demand for pain management solutions continues to skyrocket driven by factors like an aging population seeking relief from age-related aches and pains; rising rates of opioid abuse fuelled in part by overprescription; plus growing pressure on providers to meet targets set by payers keenly eyeing bottom lines rather than patient outcomes - the stage was set for unscrupulous profiteering at any cost.

The consequences have been devastating. For Taught and countless others like him, what promised to be a panacea has become instead a permanent fixture in their lives -- an unwelcome reminder that when it comes down to it, sometimes 'what seems too good to be true' really isn't after all.

Abbott spinal cord stimulator customer service