Patients wait in pain as a surgeon fights to get paid — all in a battle over health-care dollars – By Lauren Pelley (CBC News) / June 25, 2023
Toronto physician specializing in complex spinal surgeries says he waits months for payments
Christine Kaschuba first noticed a strange bend in her spine as a teenager.
For years, it seemed manageable: she played sports, ran marathons and had three children. But slowly and steadily, her back deformity worsened. Her spine’s C-shaped curve, a hallmark of severe scoliosis, is now roughly 70 degrees.
The pain is unrelenting. It ripples from Kaschuba’s back to her lopsided hips, sometimes shooting down her legs, all while her lungs struggle to take in full, deep breaths. Most nights, she says, the ache is so all-consuming she just wants to close her eyes and not wake up.
For the last few years, the 44-year-old Whitby, Ont., resident has been waiting for a risky, complicated spine-straightening surgery with one of the few Ontario surgeons capable of handling the most challenging scoliosis cases.
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