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Rayilyn Brown Board Member AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson's Foundation [log in to unmask] ----- Original Message ----- From: rayilynlee To: Gregan, Joey Cc: Carole Hercun ; Laureen Antes ; Owens, Tess J. Sent: Sunday, January 06, 2008 5:07 PM Subject: Need for Competent DBS Programmers Dear Mr. Gregan: Perhaps you can tell me who at Medtronic I should write to regarding the need for competent programmers of neurotransmitters for Parkinson's patients who have had DBS. As you may recall, I contacted you in 2007 regarding the AZNPF Annual Meeting. As a constant poster on a Parkinson's website and an ear to the ground in the Parkinson's community, I am hearing of more and more DBS's gone wrong due to poor programming. I have come to wonder if I could get my voice back with better programming of my NTs. The programmer I had at Scripps, La Jolla CA, where I had my DBSs done was much better than my current neurologist here in Arizona. Neurologists and neurosurgeons may be highly qualified in their fields, but are not skilled at programming for various reasons. Programming now seems to be based on the luck of the draw. Medtronic certainly has a stake in DBS success and I am hoping they can do something to make better programmers available to DBS patients. If there is anything I can do to achieve this outcome, please let me know. If something isn't done, the negative DBS experiences may outnumber the positive ones. None of us want that to happen. Sincerely, Rayilyn Brown Director AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson's Foundation ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn [log in to unmask]