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ACADEMY URGES INCREASE IN FUNDING FOR MUSCULOSKELETAL RESEARCH
WASHINGTON--Dollars spent on musculoskeletal research produce treatments that save lives and limbs, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, which today urged Congress to provide $457 million to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) in fiscal year 2002 for research.
Gary E. Friedlaender, MD, New Haven, Conn., a member of the Academy's board of directors and chairman of the Academy committee on research, testified today before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies for continued and expanded funding for research at NIAMS.
"Today, injuries to bones, ligaments, joints and muscles result in 21-million school loss days for America's children; 147-million work-loss days for America's workers," said Dr. Friedlaender.
"Osteoporosis is a threat for 28 million Americans and osteoarthritis affects 20.7 million people in the U.S."
Dr. Friedlaender's testimony focused on the need to support critical medical research for arthritis, osteoporosis, trauma and sports-related injuries, back pain and spine problems, tumors and other bone and joint diseases. "One out of every four persons in America has a musculoskeletal condition, costing the U.S. $254 billion each year," he said.
Dr. Friedlaender was accompanied by two of his teenage patients, Allison Gaffey and Daniel Kayne, whose medical outcomes are better today than they would have been 10 or 20 years ago because of scientific progress.
"Allison and Daniel, both as teenagers, developed osteosarcoma, a malignant tumor of the bone," Dr. Friedlaender said. "Just 15 ago, the only option for survival would have been chemotherapy and amputation."
"Today, modern imaging by MRI, CT scan, bone scans and plain x-ray allowed me and other health care professionals to judge the character and extent of the tumor within their legs and to assess the possibility of the spread of this malignancy to other parts of their bodies," he said. "Their treatment included a combination of highly-effective chemotherapeutic drugs and limb-sparing surgery."
"This surgery accomplished the complete removal of the tumor, without amputation," said Dr. Friedlaender. "It is followed by replacement of the diseased bone with either a custom metallic replacement, similar to the total joint replacements we use for arthritis, or with a bone transplant donated from another individual at the time of their passing."
The Academy's new chairman of its Council of Musculoskeletal Specialty Societies shared with the subcommittee the benefits of musculoskeletal research and how the federal investment at NIAMS has given Allison and Daniel hope for the future.
Dr. Friedlaender is the Wayne O. Southwick Professor and chair, department of orthopaedics and rehabilitation, Yale University School of Medicine, and consultant in orthopaedic surgery and sports medicine, Yale University Health Service, New Haven, Conn. He serves as chief of orthopaedics and rehabilitation, Yale-New Haven Hospital. The 25,500-member American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (www.aaos.org) or (http://orthoinfo.aaos.org), is a not-for-profit organization that provides education programs for orthopaedic surgeons, allied health professionals and the public.
An advocate for improved patient care, the Academy is participating in the Bone and Joint Decade (www.bonejointdecade.org), the global initiative in the years 2000-2010 to raise awareness of musculoskeletal health, stimulate research and improve people's quality of life.
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