2023-10-06 19:25:00
Patients of Rouen neurologist Dominique Parain formed a collective and published a petition to support the use of magnetic stimulation. He uses this technique to treat disabling functional neurological disorders, but Health Insurance has initiated proceedings to cancel reimbursement for this treatment, which is not recognized by the High Authority of Health.
The petition is entitled “Neuro-functional disorders and SED, when the CPAM of Rouen condemns women to disability”, and collects some 2,500 signatures on October 6 at 5:00 p.m. The collective speaks on behalf of “hundreds of thousands of people suffering from neurological disorders and/or chronic functional pain. Due to lack of interest in research, the authors of the petition explain that these women are often condemned to years of medical wandering, while their “level of disability is comparable to multiple sclerosis”.
They were therefore relieved when Dr. Dominique Parain, a 77-year-old private neurologist who worked for 40 years at the Rouen University Hospital, found a solution: “transcranial and peripheral magnetic stimulation, combined with oxygen therapy”. “Used more prolonged and often repeated”, it would have presented unexpected results. Sophie, a 31-year-old patient suffering from functional neurological disorders since she was 18, confided in France Blue : “Without him, I think I would have been in a wheelchair for a long time.” Thanks to oxygen therapy treatment at 288 euros per month and magnetic stimulation sessions at 73 euros, she stands and leads an almost normal active life, on crutches.
The problem is that this technique is not (yet) recognized by the High Authority of Health (HAS), and that Health Insurance refuses to reimburse care that is not based on its recommendations. The institution has therefore initiated a procedure to de-reimburse this care. The latter not having come to an end, Dr Dominique Parain has until the end of October to plead his case, helped by his patients and their petition.
At the same time, the neurologist is awaiting results from the Salpêtrière hospital in Paris, which has launched a study on his method. If he doesn’t win his case one way or another, he risks having to repay several hundred thousand euros, and his patients will probably have to find another treatment, due to lack of money.
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