DEEP DIVE · CHAPTER 18
Cost Effectiveness in Pain Care
Cheapest Costs the Most
The cheapest pain treatment can cost the most, and the order that keeps the years is blood before scan, block before burn, bridge before fusion. This Deep Dive gives the evidence behind Chapter 18 of The Pained Brain: the price of a year of health and what a fusion costs against a decompression.
51 pages · 144 references, every one verified · written by Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda, MD, MBA, MHP, and Dr. KrisJay Fucanan, MD
CHAPTER 18 ON VIDEO
The Four-Dollar Bottle Costs the Years
Dr. Padda walks through this chapter on video. All twenty-two are on the The Pained Brain playlist on the Padda Institute channel.
The receipts behind Chapter 18
A retired bookkeeper brought me a fusion proposal and four years of every bill her back had generated, and asked which one was the expensive one. It was the four-dollar bottle of ibuprofen. In Chapter 18 I price a year of health, give the surgeon’s case its real numbers, show what a fusion costs against a decompression, and lay out the order that keeps the years: blood before scan, block before burn, bridge before fusion.
The book makes the argument. This Deep Dive shows the evidence, claim by claim: the study, who was in it, the number and where it sits in the paper, what it does not show — and the questions to bring to your own physician. It is written to be handed to your doctor.
Enter your name, email and mobile number. The PDF arrives by email within a few minutes, and the other twenty-one Deep Dives arrive one a week, in order.
Frequently asked questions
Can cheap pain treatment end up costing more?
Yes. A retired bookkeeper brought Dr. Padda a fusion proposal and four years of every bill her back had generated, and asked which one was the expensive one. It was the four-dollar bottle of ibuprofen. Chapter 18 of The Pained Brain prices a year of health to show why the cheapest pain treatment can cost the most, and why that bill is paid in years, not only in dollars.
What order should back pain treatment follow?
Chapter 18 lays out the order that keeps the years: blood before scan, block before burn, bridge before fusion. The chapter also gives the surgeon’s case its real numbers and shows what a fusion costs against a decompression. The Deep Dive carries the evidence behind that order, claim by claim, so you can take the sequence to your own physician and ask where you are in it.
What is in the Chapter 18 Deep Dive?
A 51-page briefing with 144 references, every one verified, written by Dr. Gurpreet Singh Padda, MD, MBA, MHP, and Dr. KrisJay Fucanan, MD. Each claim comes with its study, who was in it, the number and where it sits in the paper, and what it does not show. It is written to be handed to your doctor, and the PDF arrives by email within a few minutes.
Educational material. Not medical advice. If you are in the St. Louis area and want this looked at properly, that is what the Padda Institute is for.