The Tremendous Benefit to Health Care Payers if Health Care Providers were All Fully Aware of GDD

Does GDD exist. Ofcourse it does. Actually I had thought that GDD denial had disappeared, but like Freddy Kruger, it seems in the next movie he is back... There is an article coming out in European Radiology, I believe the 3rd highest Radiology impact journal, so no slouch, a report by accomplished European radiologists (who I know and like) that it does not exist. Say its not so....

The one group who should be extremely keen to get recognition widely understood is health care payers. In the US, Medicare, Medicaid, the VA system, and Medical Insurance companies This was brought to my attention by the husband of a current patient of mine, who I will refer to as Bob.

it would be in insurance companies, Medicare and Medicaid best interests if GDD was widely recognized by medical practitioners. Presently sizable number of radiologists and other specialists deny the existence of GDD. Giving the majority the benefit of the doubt, the fact that radiologists deny it in large part is testimony that radiologists do not see patients or obtain (or even worse in a few) accept follow-up on patients. You don't see something if you never look for it- an obvious statement. The other justifiable excuse is that the disease is quite uncommon, seen in 1 in 10,000 individuals. The number who are motivated significantly by financial gain, probably are relatively few. This ofcourse is reflected by Upton Sinclair's observation:

It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.

It is not uncommon that a number of GDD patients undergo extensive work up for all sorts of conditions, when it is obvious they have GDD. Some of my recent patients have described that the medical investigation that they were put through cost approximately $500,000. The disease diagnosis is straightforward, starting with they recently underwent GBCA enhanced MRI and then developed new symptoms. The best diagnostic confirmation is through the first chelation. Currently the best chelator is DTPA. Chelation may involve up to 10 chelation sessions for the majority of patients which is approximately $10,000.

So if insurance companies understood that most individuals with GDD can not only be diagnosed, but also treated for a total of $10,000, and my estimate is that frivolous investigation for numerous other conditions likely ranges from $50,000 to $500,000. From a purely economical consideration (ignoring the tremendous benefit to sufferers in this equation) medical practitioners should be made fully aware of the disease.

No excuse.

Richard Semelka, MD