Orthopaedic Care of the Mature Athlete
I had not heard from the hip patient I had written about last week, the “First Time “, so I asked my assistant to call him fearing the worst. “I am doing really great.” “My pain was at 90% and now is 10%” “My back is still a little sore but I am moving around without a problem and back to work”. “I am very happy”. (To be continued)
This past Monday night, my wife and I attended the pre-opening of a new Italian restaurant in our neighborhood sponsored by The MidNorth Organization. We sat down next to a longtime neighbor and his wife, the former, a tax and zoning attorney.
Question: “So are you retired from Orthopedics?”
Answer: “I retired from surgery almost three years ago, but I continued my outpatient practice while I envisioned, studied and trained for a new approach to orthopedic disease, Regenerative Medicine”.
Question: “What’s that.”
Answer: “It is a minimally invasive approach, in my case, to the management of arthritis with stem cells taken from your own body. After all those years of doing joint replacement, I am working at postponing that need, maybe eliminating that need for a joint replacement”.
Question: I watched a piece on 60 minutes about stem cells and schemes, is it ethical?”
Answer: “What you saw on 60 Minutes was about charlatans, criminal opportunists victimizing desperate families.”
Question: “Is it legal?”
The procedure is compliant with CFR 21 Part 1271
Question: “What do you think about this? My client was a big time real estate developer flying high and building to the sky in Chicago until the crash of the real estate market and now he is almost broke. He has a very arthritic hip because of which he had to quit his passion for bike riding. He no longer had insurance and could not afford the approximately $50,000 out of pocket cost of a joint replacement. He went on line, found a stem cell program in Colorado and last year, underwent a concentrated bone marrow aspirate procedure for his hip at a relatively low cost. I thought it was a hoax, a scam”
Answer: “What was the result?”
Question: “He had always biked the Outer Drive in Chicago, the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend when they hold “Bike The Drive”. Last year he had to quit because of his hip. This year he was able to ride for 15 miles. I don’t know what to think?”
Agony or ecstasy, scam or the future, Yin or Yang? That is why my clinical approach is under the auspices of an FDA approved Clinical Pilot
Mitchell B. Sheinkop, M.D.
312-475-1893
1565 N. LaSalle Street
Chicago, Illinois 60610