New FDA Approved Therapy for Depression: Timeline from Prescription to Procedure

On July 18, 2005, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration(FDA) approved vagus nerve stimulation as a treatment for chronic depression. On August 18th, I was a part of a conference call hosted by the manufacturer of the vagus nerve stimulator.

According to Company officials, it is going to take a long time for reimbursement to reach universal coverage by third party payers at the overall policy level. The procedure was just approved by the FDA. Insurance companies are giant bureaucracies with many layers of people whose only job is to say "NO". It is just a fact of life that reimbursement will take time to "grind" through the system.

That is why I devoted an entire eighteen page chapter of my book to insurance codes and the reimbursement process. The Patient Advocate Foundation gave me permission to reprint its guide to the insurance reimbursement and appeal process. The Patient Advocate Foundation is a national non-profit organization that serves as an active liaison between the patient and their insurer.

The manufacturer of the stimulator reiterated on its conference call on August 18th, that insurance coverage will be on a case-by-case basis. In the first two weeks of the official launch, there has been a wide variance by third party reimbursers for VNS Therapy and depression. On a case by case basis, some patients have able to obtain to get pre- approval by Medicare, the VA and private insurance companies. At the other extreme, some reimburers have said absolutely not, maybe, we need to think about it, etc. The Company indicated that the more that patient's fight for reimbursement, the better chance they have to obtain approval.

Charles Donovan was a patient in the FDA investigational trial of vagus nerve stimulation as a treatment for chronic or recurrent treatment-resistant depression. He was implanted with the vagus nerve stimulator in April of 2001. The treatment completely changed his life. He chronicles his journey from the grips of depression thanks to vagus nerve stimulation therapy in his book:

Out of the Black Hole: The Patient's Guide to Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Depression

The book was exhibited at the American Psychiatric Association's Annual Meeting in late May. It is available on his web site, 24 hours a day/7 days a week through the toll free number 1-888-VAGUS-88, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. He is founder of the http://www.VagusNerveStimulator.com Web Site.

MORE RESOURCES:

The Big Three Depression risk - CNNMoney.com

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0i-0fd=Rurl=http://voanews.com/english/2008-11-19-voa5.cfmcid=1272495339ei=vTsmSZ_iIoHI9ATP3exHusg=AFQjCNGv5nhL6SpMpZ9WQCWyelEZnNiQqQimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=Xg5a5zimv4UJimgurl=voanews.com/english/images/ap-Richard-Wagoner-Robert-Nardelli-Alan-Mulally-automakers-175-eng18nov08.jpg width=80 height=63 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Voice of America/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-0fd=Rurl=http://money.cnn.com/2008/11/20/news/gm_depression/%3Fpostversion%3D2008112017cid=1272495339ei=vTsmSZ_iIoHI9ATP3exHusg=AFQjCNHZX9MfgDL2IIV0nkK_qBwFjJExugThe Big Three bDepression/b risk/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fCNNMoney.comnbsp;-/font nobr5 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Some fear a loss of GM, Ford and Chrysler would take US into another bdepression/b. Even if that doesn#39;t happen, a major auto failure would clearly hurt. b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-1fd=Rurl=http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D_-hLEhrjdi8cid=1272495339ei=vTsmSZ_iIoHI9ATP3exHusg=AFQjCNHV5BlcVBuWEzJoPzE5nURlWRzLCwVideo: Big Three Strapped For Cash/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrCBS/nobr/fontobject width=448 height=356param name=movie value=http://www.youtube.com/v/_-hLEhrjdi8/paramparam name=wmode value=transparent/paramembed src=http://www.youtube.com/v/_-hLEhrjdi8type=application/x-shockwave-flashwmode=transparentwidth=448height=356/embed/objectbr/fontfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-2fd=Rurl=http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1226570/senator_richard_shelby_of_alabama_leads.htmlcid=1272495339ei=vTsmSZ_iIoHI9ATP3exHusg=AFQjCNFpX_Vk2IAV6aRoVQSmWhkAyremBgSenator Richard Shelby of Alabama Leads Opposition to Big 3 Bailout/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrAssociated Content/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news?btcid=e3abfae965230256img src=/images/news_comment_bubble12.gif alt=google news comment class=comment-iconComment bynbsp;Gary Chaison/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnbsp;Prof. of Industrial Relations, Clark University/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/0-3fd=Rurl=http://www.mgwashington.com/index.php/news/article/the-big-three-broke-rule-of-begging/2180/cid=1272495339ei=vTsmSZ_iIoHI9ATP3exHusg=AFQjCNHDieMa9o_cg-kTONWrSC88Nr8PZQnobrMedia General Washington Bureau/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1272495339hl=ennobrall 2,122 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

GM shares hit lowest price since Great Depression - BusinessWeek

Guest Post: The Great Depression, as I remember - CNNMoney.com

Depression-era interviews of 700 Arizonans preserved - Arizona Republic

Global deflation risk grows - Christian Science Monitor

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/4i-0fd=Rurl=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1310ap_meltdown_101_cpi.htmlcid=1272761138ei=vTsmSZ_iIoHI9ATP3exHusg=AFQjCNGdfdWDAv2601CPSeH5do2zI1IDXgimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=Ir4_xgoHpIkJimgurl=seattlepi.nwsource.com/dayart/aponline/51363.36CONSUMER-PRICES-YRS.sff.jpg width=47 height=80 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Seattle Post Intelligencer/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/4-0fd=Rurl=http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1120/p01s04-usec.htmlcid=1272761138ei=vTsmSZ_iIoHI9ATP3exHusg=AFQjCNEJF7Ts_auUCBD8J9tzDQd-8JZB5QGlobal deflation risk grows/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fChristian Science Monitor,nbsp;MAnbsp;-/font nobrNov 19, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1quot;A deflationary bdepression/b is a very real possibility,quot; says Ed Yardeni, an economist who heads Yardeni Research in Great Neck, NY quot;We#39;re now experiencing a b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/4-1fd=Rurl=http://news.briefing.com/GeneralContent/Investor/Active/ArticlePopup/ArticlePopup.aspx%3FArticleId%3DNS20081120161555TakingStockcid=1272761138ei=vTsmSZ_iIoHI9ATP3exHusg=AFQjCNFp3lGp-hPeMVYaWYytZncU9djIhgThe Inflation Bust/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBriefing.com/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/4-2fd=Rurl=http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/20081119_united_states_pitfalls_negative_inflationcid=1272761138ei=vTsmSZ_iIoHI9ATP3exHusg=AFQjCNEA53tkqs1IvLe8Ix4ErPBTXtK04gUnited States: The Pitfalls of Negative Inflation/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrStratfor (registration)/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/4-3fd=Rurl=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jeRm-JXwGSwtu3Ffmo1roZhf6rRgD94I91EO0cid=1272761138ei=vTsmSZ_iIoHI9ATP3exHusg=AFQjCNFdtEkMGWf2OsEto-94Apd53HNDwQMeltdown 101: How is the CPI calculated, and why?/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Associated Press/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/4-4fd=Rurl=http://useconomy.about.com/b/2008/11/20/deflation-greatest-threat-to-us-economy-right-now.htmcid=1272761138ei=vTsmSZ_iIoHI9ATP3exHusg=AFQjCNHVsHOp5Y-vFFXsj5xb3Z8L97ofLwnobrAbout - News amp; Issues/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/4-5fd=Rurl=http://www.rgemonitor.com/globalmacro-monitor/254483/us_consumer_prices_down_1_core_prices_also_downcid=1272761138ei=vTsmSZ_iIoHI9ATP3exHusg=AFQjCNFObl-z_g8rCa6JyQ1or2ZW68JMegnobrRGE Monitor/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1272761138hl=ennobrall 164 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Another Great Depression? - Wadena Pioneer Journal

Depression linked to poorer diabetes control - Reuters

Depression risk hits shares - The Australian

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7-0fd=Rurl=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,24680746-30538,00.htmlcid=1272579994ei=vTsmSZ_iIoHI9ATP3exHusg=AFQjCNGFn-uT_u8pIO_Gh7aA3GcM_uPQygbDepression/b risk hits shares/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fThe Australian,nbsp;Australianbsp;-/font nobr23 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1THE risk of global quot;Great bDepression/bquot; is emphasised by the largest fall in US consumer prices for 61 years. “The cost of living in America fell at its b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7-1fd=Rurl=http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Coming-of-the-Second-G-by-Craig-Harrington-081120-477.htmlcid=1272579994ei=vTsmSZ_iIoHI9ATP3exHusg=AFQjCNHz8Ie1qeQX-eiCMsgq4B9G-tBpbgThe Coming of the Second Great bDepression/b?/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrOpEdNews/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=Tct=us/7-2fd=Rurl=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/opinion/2008399383_opin17krugman.htmlcid=1272579994ei=vTsmSZ_iIoHI9ATP3exHusg=AFQjCNF1cz2c2oSlXbEzPoJFTA-mRZ3fygThe US economy needs a daring stimulus plan/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrSeattle Times/nobr/font/fontbrfont class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1272579994hl=ennobrall 12 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Fairfax Students Report Depression - Mount Vernon Gazette

Texas Tech Thursday Morning Notes - Deed, Deed State of Depression ... - Double-T Nation

Depression - Google News

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