Stimwave fake stylet

[Agast]

Former CEO Of Medical Device Company Convicted Of Creating And Selling A Fake Component That Was Implanted Into Patients

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that a jury returned a guilty verdict today against LAURA PERRYMAN on two counts of an Indictment charging her with conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud and substantive health care fraud...

www.justice.gov

TL;DR

Stimwave created a dummy piece of plastic that was billed as an IPG and the former CEO was found guilty of fraud. But I don’t understand how the stimulator still was able to function if the plastic piece was used in place of the pink stylet that was a true receiver?

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[Greenbayslacker]

Placebo is one hell of a drug

 

[Kissmyabjj]

Crazy that you posted this. I just found out about this last night because I hadn’t heard of the device and a patient I saw recently had one that didn’t work.

 

[Ferrismonk]

What are your guys' thoughts on Curonix? They apparently bought and tweaked Stimwave stuff after bankruptcy and are pushing a similar thing now (with real wires ffs).

 

[Ducttape]

are you sure?

 

[BobBarker]

I did a few cases but always used the pink
stylet. They did have us trim it but past the marker band.

 

[IHawkDO]

What are your guys' thoughts on Curonix? They apparently bought and tweaked Stimwave stuff after bankruptcy and are pushing a similar thing now (with real wires ffs).

To my knowledge, it was more of a rebranding because it looks like a lot of the same people are involved in the company. I don’t use much PNS to begin with, but I’ve definitely avoided Curonix/Stimwave because of the history.

 

[Orin]

Curonix and Stimwave's problem is that their system can't do an impedance check. You never know if the lead is mis-positioned or broken unless you get tonic paresthesia stim.

Their wires are also really annoying with where you can and can't bend them, so a touch more thinking/planning/limitations than your usual systems for SCS.

The original CEO really left a negative impression but the device itself was fine.

 

[sloh]

Perryman also knows placebo is one hell of a drug haha

“However, Stimwave — at the direction of PERRYMAN — did not lower the price of the Device so that its cost to doctors and medical providers could be covered by reimbursement for the implantation of only the Lead. Nor did PERRYMAN recommend that doctors not implant the Device or its receiver component in cases where the Pink Stylet could not fit comfortably. Instead, PERRYMAN directed that Stimwave create the White Stylet — a dummy component made entirely of plastic, but which Stimwave misrepresented to doctors as a receiver alternative to the Pink Stylet. The White Stylet could be cut to size by the doctor for use in smaller anatomical spaces and was created solely so that doctors and medical providers would continue to purchase the Device for use in those scenarios and continue to bill for the implantation of a receiver component.”

 

[Agast]

Perryman also knows placebo is one hell of a drug haha

“However, Stimwave — at the direction of PERRYMAN — did not lower the price of the Device so that its cost to doctors and medical providers could be covered by reimbursement for the implantation of only the Lead. Nor did PERRYMAN recommend that doctors not implant the Device or its receiver component in cases where the Pink Stylet could not fit comfortably. Instead, PERRYMAN directed that Stimwave create the White Stylet — a dummy component made entirely of plastic, but which Stimwave misrepresented to doctors as a receiver alternative to the Pink Stylet. The White Stylet could be cut to size by the doctor for use in smaller anatomical spaces and was created solely so that doctors and medical providers would continue to purchase the Device for use in those scenarios and continue to bill for the implantation of a receiver component.”

But does that mean patients had successful trials with an external receiver component, and then were implanted with duds because now there is no receiver?

 

[BobBarker]

I think the real issue is the device works without any receiver component but that doesn’t work for coding/billing. I heard rumors people were putting them in with no wire at all.

 

[drrosenrosen]

I think the real issue is that they were having doctors "and medical providers" put these devices in