CREDIT FOR SUCCESSFUL SURGERY
AND
FAVORABLE SETTLEMENT GIVEN TO FONAR STAND-UP MRI
MELVILLE,
NEW YORK, March 20, 2002 - FONAR Corporation (NASDAQ-FONR),
The MRI Specialist, reports that the success of an accident
victim's surgery and subsequent lawsuit rested entirely upon
the results of his examination on the Stand-Up MRI™. The lawyer,
Wesley Laird, of Laird, Baker & Blackstock, LLC, Attorneys at
Law, Opp, Alabama, said, "I give all the credit for a successful
settlement to the Stand-Up MRI™ because it found pathology that
couldn't be found by other MRI scanners."
At 6'1" and 210 lbs.,
Heath Kilcrease stands in FONAR's Stand-Up MRI
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Alabama resident Heath Kilcrease, a pain-stricken victim of
a motor vehicle accident in 1998, had undergone exams on conventional
"lie-down" MRI scanners as well as other diagnostic modalities,
but none of them indicated that surgery was called for. But
images from FONAR's Stand-Up MRI™ convinced Alabama surgeon
John Hackman, M.D., otherwise. Mr. Kilcrease successfully underwent
surgery in September, 2000. Later, Alabama trial lawyer Wesley
Laird relied heavily on the same Stand-Up MRI™ images to reach
a favorable out-of court settlement for Mr. Kilcrease.
Mr. Laird said, "It is an honor to be the first attorney in
history to be able to use FONAR's Stand-Up MRI™ in a personal
injury case. What an opportunity this creates for trial lawyers
to be able to help their clients."
Following his accident in October, 1998, 23-year-old Heath Kilcrease
suffered from severe unremitting low back pain. He required
Class II narcotic pain medication to cope with his back and
leg pain. After undergoing several exams on conventional, or
recumbent, MRI scanners, including high-field units, specialists
at two renowned academic centers (Emory and University of Alabama
at Birmingham) agreed that the images showed only mild disc
bulges, which provided no indication the patient could obtain
relief from surgery.
When he learned of the Stand-Up MRI™, Mr. Kilcrease went to
FONAR headquarters in Melville, New York, in July, 2000, where
he was scanned standing up.
With the Stand-Up MRI™ images that indicated a disc herniation,
Mr. Kilcrease went to John Hackman, M.D., a neurosurgeon in
Montgomery, Alabama. "Because the weight-bearing scans from
the Stand-Up MRI™ indicated pathology that was not previously
visible, the medical plan for this patient changed dramatically,"
said Dr. Hackman. "It is highly significant that the weight-bearing
MRI images showed the L4-5 disc protruding into the neural foramen,
compressing the nerve against the bony walls of the canal. These
findings directly correlated with the patient's complaints and
documented his source of continuing pain."
Using
the images from the Stand-Up MRI™ to guide him, Dr. Hackman
set out to confirm the results. "I ordered a myelogram and post
myelogram CT just prior to surgery to see if we could verify
the pathology the FONAR scanner had seen," said Dr. Hackman,
"but what the Stand-Up MRI™ had visualized was not visible on
either of them."
Based solely on the Stand-Up MRI™ scans, Dr. Hackman successfully
operated on Mr. Kilcrease in September, 2000. "The success of
surgery was in large part due to the new powers of low back
visualization that imaging of the fully weight-loaded spine
enables," said Dr. Hackman. "Stand-Up MRI™ images were remarkably
faithful to the actual pathology."
Mr. Kilcrease's lawyer, Wesley Laird, said, "It's very difficult
to settle out of court without firm evidence of damages and
objective documentation. If a client has a physical problem
that can't be properly documented, the defendant's lawyer and
insurance company are naturally skeptical. The client is often
labeled a malingerer. In Heath's case, the Stand-Up MRI™ made
all the difference. Without it, the only choice would have been
to go to trial and take our chances convincing a jury that Heath's
back problems were worse than indicated by conventional, objective
testing."
Mr. Laird continued, "In a case like Heath's, the Stand-Up MRI™
can make the difference between a four or five figure settlement
and a six figure settlement verdict. I plan on using the Stand-Up
MRI™ whenever possible. If I get a client with undiagnosed symptoms,
I'll be sending him to the closest Stand-Up MRI™, even if it
means extensive traveling."
Mr. Kilcrease is especially grateful to FONAR's Stand-Up MRI™,
and to Dr. Hackman, Dr. Johnson and Mr. Laird for his successful
outcome. "Before the surgery, I couldn't work and was constantly
on pain pills," said Mr. Kilcrease. "Now I no longer take any
pain medication and I have returned to work. I've returned to
the life I had known, and I'm very grateful."