Personal Patient Experiences with Alpha Stim

Totals:

Responders:

On Label:

Off Label:
1) An older woman had the compulsion to climb the stairs precisely 60 times a day. She had severe back pain. She had a heart attack, with heart damage. She could potentially suffer heart failure. She got Alpha Stim 20 minutes day, set at 1 for one week, then at 2 for one week. Her compulsion was gone. I stopped the treatment for 2 weeks, and there was no return of her obsessive-compulsive disorder. There was no substitute compulsion, as sometimes occurs. The compulsion has not returned for 4 months. She requested to continue regular treatments for anxiety and for insomnia. I restarted treatment at her request.

2) An adolescent had a form of autism, once called Asperger Syndrome. He had a very high level of rage, despite high doses of a major tranquilizer, with high blood levels. If he did not get what he wanted, he jumped from a high balcony. I asked him what was the date today. He replied, that is a stupid question, and walked out. He had two treatments at a level of 1. He said, he would go to the pool, for the first time of the summer. The bus was 45 minutes late, but he just paced and waited. He went to the pool. He had two more treatments, and a home visit. Instead of being destructive and assaultive, his mother reported he started talking to her about his interests, such as computers and games. After a year, but only a month on Alpha Stim AID, he went home. He was asking for the treatment, and for an extension of the time to 30 minutes. It is unclear if he liked the treatment or access to the internet offered to him while on it.

3) A woman is received Alpha Stim M treatment for neck pain. After several treatments, she reported no improvement in her neck pain. However, her tinnitus (ringing in the ear) of many years was completely gone.


Non-Responders:


Bibliographies:

On label reports here.


Off label reports here

Letters to the Medical Directors of the Medicaid Pharmacy Benefits Insurance Companies About Their Refusing to Pay for Alpha Stim Treatment

I had a trouble finding their mailing addresses, not readily available on any of their websites.

I am therefore listing them here, along with the letter their Medical Directors were sent.

RE: Paying for Alpha Stim without Pre-Authorization

Dear Doctor,
Alpha Stim is an FDA approved Class II medical device, as a condom is classified.  It has FDA approved indications for depression, anxiety, insomnia or pain. It requires a prescription in the United States.

The device is reviewed here:

http://www.alpha-stim.com/

It has the pain management potential to solve the opioid overdose problem. To continue to refuse to pay for it is cruel to extremely distressed patients and unconscionable. It is also stupid. Spend $hundreds on it, save $thousands on medications that can be weaned off and discontinued.

If you pay for other medically indicated FDA approved, medical device of any kind, you must pay for Alpha Stim without a pre-authorization requirement. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) prohibits discrimination against mental health treatment.  I am attaching printed guidance from CMS on the Mental Health Parity provision of the ACA.

If you continue to refuse to fund Alpha Stim treatment, including all necessary accessories, I will be asking the federal prosecutor and the Office of Civil rights to enforce the federal law in federal court. As is my legal duty in Pennsylvania, I will also be initiating regulatory complaints against you personally. Your brazen violation of federal laws is unprofessional conduct.






UPMC Health Plan; U.S. Steel Tower; 600 Grant Street; Pittsburgh, PA 15219

Keystone First; 200 Stevens Dr. ; Philadelphia, PA 19113; Phone:(215) 937-8000

Health Partners; 901 Market St #500; Philadelphia, PA 19107

John B. Bulger, DO, MBA, Medical Director; Geisinger Health Plan Insurance Agency;
108 Woodbine Ln; Danville, PA 17821; Phone:(570) 271-8771

Gateway HealthSM; Four Gateway Center; 444 Liberty Avenue, Suite 2100; Pittsburgh, PA 15222-1222


AmeriHealth Caritas Pennsylvania; 8040 Carlson Drive; Suite 500; Harrisburg, PA 17112


Aetna Better Health Administrative Office; Aetna Better Health; 2000 Market Street, Suite 850
Philadelphia, PA 19103;  1-866-638-1232;  (HealthChoices)

Impressive Anecdotal Results of Alpha Stim for OCD and for Anxiety

An elderly woman with heart disease and painful arthritis had a compulsion to climb and descend the stairs 60 times a day. Her doctor said,  this is excessive and dangerous exertion for her. She did for years.

After a week of alpha stim 20 minutes a day, 5 days a week, she stopped this compulsion completely. Her failed OCD medications are being slowly tapered.

A male patient has crippling anxieties, a mood disorder, and only a partial response to high doses of clozapine. He is moaning much of the day. He over-reacts to mild frustrations such as an enumeration of his behavior by staff the week before. He has to walk out, yelling, "I can't take this anymore."

After a couple of weeks of Alpha Stim, all moaning has stopped. He can handle his progress being discussed with poise, and stays seated.

This gizmo may be a good alternative to addictive benzodiazepines. It should be placed on the unlimited formularies of most pharmacy benefits organizations. So far, no habituation has taken place.

On a personal note, I did not think that a low current could reach the brain from ear clips. So I turned the current to its maximum setting. I had no sensation during the 10 minutes I wore the ear clips. However, within a half hour, I was dizzy, nauseous, and sleepy, and the effect lasted 3 hours. Do not be a knucklehead as I was. Whatever it is reaching, I can attest, Alpha Stim is not a placebo effect.

http://www.alpha-stim.com/alpha-stim-technology/

It is approved by the FDA, European and Asian health regulatory agencies.