Approve Hyperbaric Oxygen for All Off-Label Conditions.

Approve Hyperbaric Oxygen for All Off-Label Conditions.

Started
April 9, 2017
Signatures: 5,420Next Goal: 7,500
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Why this petition matters

Started by Christian Huber

Hi! My name is Christian Huber, and I have mild cerebral palsy. I am 19 years old, and I have written a petition! Would you please take the time to read, sign, and share it if you support it? It would help me, and so many others with brain injuries! :)

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My Story (written two years ago when I was 17):

“I have officially diagnosed your son with mild cerebral palsy,” said the doctor.  At that very moment, my life changed, and so did my parents’ lives.  Because I shared my mother’s womb with my identical twin who died, I was born two months prematurely on October 8, 1999.  As a result, my lungs weren’t fully developed, and I didn’t take one necessary breath when I was supposed to, and my brain suffered because of that loss of oxygen. My parents were unaware at that moment of how important that one breath of oxygen would be to my developing brain, and they would have no idea how it would affect me in the future.  Although mild, my cerebral palsy is a life-altering developmental disability[1] that has affected me since the day I was born.

Fast forward 18 years from the day I was born, and my brain still hasn’t changed.  I still need assistance with skills that are considered to be easy to other people, such as finding something in the house, getting a knot out of my shoe, or doing any other life skill or activity that you could think of.  I currently take occupational therapy (OT) to work on those skills, and activities such as cooking corn muffins and making orzo salad.  One of my occupational therapists actually showed me how to wash my mom’s car, since that counts as a life skill, too!  He even said to me one time: “Everything’s OT,” meaning that every life skill I do, whether it’s washing a car or making a meal, is considered a part of occupational therapy. In addition to taking occupational therapy, I also currently take physical therapy so that I can loosen and strengthen my spastic leg muscles, improve my balance and coordination, run around the neighborhood, play basketball, and jump rope.  Even though these therapies are fun, sometimes I think that they aren't really helping, since I still wake up each morning with tight muscles and a brain that doesn't always work the way it should.

Now that I am getting older, however, I am entering the transition phase from high school to college and the workplace.  As a result, in two years I will no longer be in school with occupational and physical therapy.  Although my parents love me very much, I can feel tension and the sense of urgency between my parents and I.  My dad sometimes mentions my age when I can’t do something by saying: “You’re 17 years old, you should know how to do this by now!”  I feel as if he sometimes doesn’t know how to take a deep breath, and calmly explain to me how to do something in a step by step way.  My mom is also getting nervous about my lack of life skills, despite my academic abilities.  She said to me just recently, “We are going to work on life skills all summer.”  I would love to work on life skills all summer, but I need to heal my brain so that I can learn and grasp life skills quickly and easily.  Before I can pursue a neurological healing journey, however, I need the FDA to approve a treatment that has been proven to work: hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and I need all of you to sign my petition.

References:
[1] Surabian SR. Developmental disabilities: epilepsy, cerebral palsy, and autism. Journal of the California Dental Association. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11484298 Published June 29, 2001. Accessed March 15, 2017.

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Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) Studies on Numerous Conditions (great resource from a HBOT clinic): https://oxfordrecoverycenter.com/conditions/ 

The scientific evidence exists for this treatment.  Let's make it "on-label" for all conditions.

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External Resources:

Conditions for HBOT (long list that I found!): https://oxfordhbot.com/treatment-indications/

Collet Study Fraud from the Quebec Association of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy: http://www.therapiehyperbare.com/en/index_en.html

Georgia Medicaid Court Decision (in which father David Freels and his brain-injured son got reimbursed for HBOT treatment): http://davidfreels.com/pdfs/files/GeorgiaMedicaidDecision.pdf

Direct Testimony of Pierre Marois, M.D during Georgia Medicaid Court Decision: http://www.therapiehyperbare.com/images/hyperbare/2006-06_georgia_medicaid_dr_marois.PDF

David Freels (father of son with brain injury who was reimbursed by Medicaid for HBOT): http://davidfreels.com/

Medicaid for Hyperbaric Oxygen (HBOT) Yahoo Group: https://beta.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/medicaidforhbot/info?referrer=StemCells

Mums National Parent-to-Parent Network (HBOT advocacy group): http://www.mums-network.org/index.htm

Chamber of Hope providing free HBOT in Florida to families: http://cpfamilynetwork.org/resource-tag/free-hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy/ AND http://cpfamilynetwork.org/resources/chamber-of-hope-charity-providing-free-hyperbaric-center-for-children-inc-florida/

Nano-devices that cross blood-brain barrier open door to treatment of cerebral palsy, other neurologic disorders (scientific study): https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120423104015.htm (Oxygen could be placed inside these dendrimers to cross blood brain barrier as an alternative to hyperbaric oxygen and ozone therapy)

Information on Inaccurate/Fraudulent Collet Study: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14SDuRJx4suw1i5gryLjysZr2xsJyACL7/view?usp=sharing

Petition Update List: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z4EVf4m6wiKd9L-liB6wIYe2BH39stjF/view?usp=sharing

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Work Cited:

Picture from above: http://www.hbot.com/blog/infinitee/hbot-treatment-chronic-traumatic-brain-injury 

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Signatures: 5,420Next Goal: 7,500
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