Re: Dr in Ohio

From: Chrise (cehlers@fuse.net)
Mon Nov 30 22:23:46 2009


A little background: I have suffered with adhesions for 15 years (since my first bowel resection); I have had 17 surgeries for adhesions; the surgeon who performed all of the surgeries was forced to retire 2 years ago due to poor health; no other surgeon will consider more surgeries and two have refused to even talk to me. I live in Cincinnati, OH and have been to see Dr. Semertzides. He uses a compound called Evicel which is made by Omrix and approved for hemostasis (stopping bleeding during surgery). I contacted Omrix about the test and they had no knowledge of it and were not involved in it. It is not a registered clinical trial. I contacted the hospital where he operates to check on oversight and was told they have none. They said that even though the product is being used off label (a not uncommon practice among doctors), because it is an FDA approved product they require no internal approval or oversight. He claims a 50% cure rate, but I can see no way to objectively validate that number. The only way that I can see to validate it is by anecdotal data from the patients. He appears to be a very competent surgeon and from all that I can determine cares about his patients. The lack of oversight and approval by Omrix, the hospital or the FDA has been enough to keep me from using his services. When he has enough data and gets peer review and approval then I will be more comfortable using the procedure. I hope this helps. Chris

[Moderator note: Chris has fairly stated the situation regarding this product and Dr. Semertzides. He has certainly helped a number of patients and we have received many positive reports about how he cares for his patients. We would encourage all surgeons to collect and report the results of their work in peer-reviewed medical journals, although this is not easy for a private surgeon in a non-academic setting. A pilot clinical study was presented recently in which our own Dr. Wiseman was involved, relating to a similar (but not identical) product made by Omrix, called Adhexil. In gynecological patients, undergoing ovarian surgery, Adhexil reduced adhesion formation. A larger study is now planned.]

At Wed, 18 Nov 2009, Darlene wrote: >
>Did you receive any information on Dr. Semertzides in Ohio. Thinking about
>calling him myself.....just a little unsure.
>
>[moderator note: this message converted from ALL CAPS so as to not appear
to >be shouting. Posters - please do not send messages in ALL CAPS. If you are
>unable to see screens very well, increase your view %]
>
>At Fri, 9 Oct 2009, Pam wrote:
>>
>>has anyone heard of Dr. Semertzides in Ohio?? I am thinking of going
>>there and everyone (including Dr) was very nice and helpful with
>>questions on the phone!
>>thanks for your help
>>
>>[moderator note: please check our recent archives for a discussion
>>Thread on this topic]


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