doc says i would benifit from pacemaker ,but 800,000 baht ,wow

[ivor bigun]

talking to the doctor theother day and as i take about 10 meds he said a pacemaker  would help ,but here in  Thailand they are 800,000 baht ,as they are imported ,anyone had one ?

[Lacessit]

Shop around, that sounds very expensive. I have a friend who has one, gets the battery changed about every 7 years. I'm pretty sure his was nothing like that. Of course, that was some years ago.

[kokesaat]

[ezzra]

Enough to get a heart attack just by learning how much it cost... definitely shop around...

[VinnieK]

You should seek second, or even third opinion on the issue.

Doctors try to generate income for the hospital ..this includes govt hospitals too

[The Fugitive]

3 minutes ago, VinnieK said:

You should seek second, or even third opinion on the issue.

Doctors try to generate income for the hospital ..this includes govt hospitals too

Slightly different subject but my friend and neighbour was recommended to have a stent installed, purely as a long term preventative measure. He went along with that. His insurance quadrupled (must be a heart attack risk if has a stent installed). Also, anywhere he went afterwards for medical checks/treatment he faced the 'third degree'. Every doctor and nurse told him there was nothing in his medical history that could warrant fitting a stent so why on earth had one been installed? 

[ivor bigun]

9 minutes ago, The Fugitive said:

Slightly different subject but my friend and neighbour was recommended to have a stent installed, purely as a long term preventative measure. He went along with that. His insurance quadrupled (must be a heart attack risk if has a stent installed). Also, anywhere he went afterwards for medical checks/treatment he faced the 'third degree'. Every doctor and nurse told him there was nothing in his medical history that could warrant fitting a stent so why on earth had one been installed? 

I had a by pass 34 yrs ago ,my arteries are shot , having anything like a stent fitted is 50/50 i  survive . cant have actual surgery to risky ., i was never expected to live this long ,when i first went to hospital here and the doc saw my paperwork from the royal free in the UK  he looked at me smiled and said you are one very lucky man , and that was about 4/5 yrs ago .

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, The Fugitive said:

Slightly different subject but my friend and neighbour was recommended to have a stent installed, purely as a long term preventative measure. He went along with that. His insurance quadrupled (must be a heart attack risk if has a stent installed). Also, anywhere he went afterwards for medical checks/treatment he faced the 'third degree'. Every doctor and nurse told him there was nothing in his medical history that could warrant fitting a stent so why on earth had one been installed? 

Recently i learnt that stents are best avoided but of course good money for hospitals

[The Fugitive]

1 hour ago, ivor bigun said:

I had a by pass 34 yrs ago ,my arteries are shot , having anything like a stent fitted is 50/50 i  survive . cant have actual surgery to risky ., i was never expected to live this long ,when i first went to hospital here and the doc saw my paperwork from the royal free in the UK  he looked at me smiled and said you are one very lucky man , and that was about 4/5 yrs ago .

Wow! Very interesting, thanks for the information. Most thought provoking. Long may your good luck continue Sir! 

[The Fugitive]

4 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Recently i learnt that stents are best avoided but of course good money for hospitals

Thanks for that. Strange how they were considered the 'bees knees' not long ago.

[Sheryl]

3 hours ago, kokesaat said:

The surgical fee for the pacemaker (which would be far less at a government hospital) is not the bulk of the cost. The main cost for pacemaker is the device itself.

 

And I suspect in the OP's case that it is  special type of pacemaker being referred to. Specifically, a pacemaker for cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). This is different from conventional pacemakers used for people with slow heart rhytms. And they are indeed very costly machines.

 

 

[Sheryl]

49 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Recently i learnt that stents are best avoided but of course good money for hospitals

This is not accurate as a blanket statement.

 

It depends entirely on the individual patient condition.

 

There are people for whom stents are the best option.

 

Certainly should be avoided if not necessary. But sometimes it is (or the only alternative is open heart surgery with bypass).

[MrJ2U]

56 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Recently i learnt that stents are best avoided but of course good money for hospitals

"Stents, bypass surgery show no benefit in heart disease mortality rates among stable patients"

 

https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2019/11/invasive-heart-treatments-not-always-needed.html

[Sheryl]

2 minutes ago, MrJ2U said:

"Stents, bypass surgery show no benefit in heart disease mortality rates among stable patients"

 

https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2019/11/invasive-heart-treatments-not-always-needed.html

Please note the qualifier: "stable".

 

Also note that this is solely in terms of mortality and doers not refer to quality of life.  Many people get stents because they improve their quality of life, reliving what is otherwse disabling chest pain.

 

There is no one size fits all answer to this. 

[BonMot]

3 hours ago, VinnieK said:

You should seek second, or even third opinion on the issue.

Doctors try to generate income for the hospital ..this includes govt hospitals too

As cynical as this sounds it's the straight up truth. I've had two fillings done that I'm positive weren't needed.

 

Zero ethics.

[scubascuba3]

9 hours ago, Sheryl said:

Please note the qualifier: "stable".

 

Also note that this is solely in terms of mortality and doers not refer to quality of life.  Many people get stents because they improve their quality of life, reliving what is otherwse disabling chest pain.

 

There is no one size fits all answer to this. 

Yes "stable" is key, worth researching if a stent is recommended. 

 

Optimal Medical Therapy with or without PCI for Stable Coronary Disease by William Boden in the April 12, 2007 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine found after studying 2287 patients, “As an initial management strategy in patients with stable coronary artery disease, PCI (angioplasty) did not reduce the risk of death, myocardial infarction, or other major cardiovascular events when added to optimal medical therapy.”¹ In 2004, more than 1 million coronary stent procedures were performed in the United States, and recent registry data indicate that approximately 85% of all PCI procedures are undertaken electively in patients with stable coronary artery disease.

 

https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2007nl/apr/fav5.htm

Edited September 14, 2022 by scubascuba3

[lopburi3]

12 hours ago, MrJ2U said:

"Stents, bypass surgery show no benefit in heart disease mortality rates among stable patients"

 

https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2019/11/invasive-heart-treatments-not-always-needed.html

But most of us are not stable when we make the decision to have to not have.  Indeed there was overuse in the not so distant past but when used for blockage of 70% and more it can make a huge difference in your quality of life - even if it may not extend that life forever.  And the majority of the cost is for the stents themselves rather than doctor/hospital.  The topic at hand is pacemakers and believe that is the same - the cost of units is high - and not because it is imported (actually it may be a higher cost in countries that make I suspect - that is the case for many drugs and medical things).

[MrJ2U]

2 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

But most of us are not stable when we make the decision to have to not have.  Indeed there was overuse in the not so distant past but when used for blockage of 70% and more it can make a huge difference in your quality of life - even if it may not extend that life forever.  And the majority of the cost is for the stents themselves rather than doctor/hospital.  The topic at hand is pacemakers and believe that is the same - the cost of units is high - and not because it is imported (actually it may be a higher cost in countries that make I suspect - that is the case for many drugs and medical things).

I agree with you.

 

The article just seemed coincidental to a post by Scuba.