28/02/2026
Is spinal surgery for elderly patients simply a money-making racket that ultimately destroys both the patient and their family's quality of life, bankrupting them and their medical schemes? Who stands to gain when these procedures are performed and go wrong?
It is said that with age comes wisdom. For some of the fortunate “chronologically gifted”, financial freedom or comfort also comes with age. Sadly, one thing that rarely comes with age, is improved back and neck health! This leads to Laminectomies and Fusions increasingly being performed to treat stenosis in elderly patients. Unfortunately, we at Claims Hound have dealt with numerous of these cases.
All the patients that we assisted were aged between 69 and 81, and each one faced significant additional health issues.
Each of these patients had, regrettably, experienced extremely poor outcomes, which impacted not only themselves but also their families and medical schemes.
All these patients followed the correct authorisation procedures.
Quotes were received from neurosurgeons, orthopaedic surgeons and their assistants, prosthetic suppliers (billed through the hospital), and last but NEVER LEAST, the anaesthetists.
Surprisingly the Anaesthetists involved billed the highest percentages above scheme tariffs! (Our regular Facebook followers are now nodding knowingly, they are of course NOT surprised.)
As to the expected hospital stay, the unrealistic, rosy promise is around 5 days.
Once the medical schemes responded regarding the authorisation of procedures, and since they did not cover the full costs, the practitioners and institutions involved were ready to present their payment options to the overwhelmed patient and their concerned family. (In some instances, there were GAP cover companies that would pick up some of the shortfalls.)
One doctor offered a discount on shortfall payments made UPFRONT, with varying discount rates for EFT (electronic transfer) or credit card payments. (Not sure how this work in terms of the Consumer Protection Act.)
At this point, one would be permitted to wonder, are we still discussing the care of a someone’s beloved grandmother or grandfather? Or are we securing the next instalment on the doctor’s Porche?
The hospital handles the supply of the prostheses, presumably so that they could add a handling fee and/or add a profit margin to the items.
If our readers are watching and waiting for the speeding train to run off the rails, keep reading!
The reality turned out to be completely different:
1. One patient spent 4 days in hospital following the procedure, only to end up back in hospital shortly afterwards because of infection. She is still in hospital!
2. All the other patients were hospitalised for significantly longer periods, one was in hospital for a continuous period of 57 days due to complications and infection.
3. Non-Designated Service Providers (DSPs) needed to be involved including general surgeons and physicians resulting in large outstanding account balances.
4. Because of the investigations that needed to be done, pathology and radiology costs skyrocketed.
5. All the patients were bed-ridden for extended periods following the procedures and required extensive rehabilitation treatments at huge cost, alas without any significant improvement.
6. Because of payments that needed to be made and demanded by the service providers involved, several families lost their financial independence. As retirees, this is the greatest cost to pay!
7. Less affluent families had to get family members to quit their jobs to stay at home to look after the patients.
Claims Hound was successful in getting some of the service providers to reduce or write of the outstanding amounts not paid by the medical schemes and GAP cover companies.
In one instance the Orthopaedic surgeon paid for the prostheses used after both the hospital and supplier of the items discounted their invoices.
One of the hospitals involved was not a DSP and as such there was a 20% co-payment for which the patient was liable. They generously wrote off the amount.
Maybe they were concerned that they may be held liable for what appears to be a hospital acquired infection?
Perhaps the time has come to hold DOCTORS and HOSPITALS accountable for their actions.
If you are an elderly patient or know an elderly patient who had successful spinal surgery, please let us know who the doctors were and where the surgery was performed so that others may benefit.
If you had one of these procedures done and it went wrong, please let us know what you would do differently?
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