Dr Betz Complications! Nail/Screws Break and Require More Money and Surgery

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Quote from: Medium Drink Of Water on December 30, 2013, 01:40:43 PMDr. Betz is what he his.  Do you want LL?  He'll do it.  After getting rejected in Serbia for BS reasons and then getting some no questions asked LL in Beijing, I love that about a doctor.  It's the patient's choice whether to do LL and how much to lengthen.  If you've got money and want 1st world medical treatment, but "aren't a good candidate" according to the more fussy doctors, Betz is there to provide LL for you.  Getting turned down for LL was one of the worst experiences of my life.

The pros and cons have been stated in this thread, so people can go in with their eyes open and make their own decision about him.

Of course it's the patient's choice, but the doctor should show caution and responsibility and inform the patient of the risks. Doesn't sound like Betz does that?

It's a shame that he gives the impression of being of the same caliber as other western surgeons like Paley, Guichet, etc. If what Mime says in that list he posted, Betz must be way overpriced. Also, Germans are known for correctness and reliability in engineering. Myself, I thought that would make Betz a good choice, because a sloppy surgeon couldn't possibly operate in a rich country like Germany. Obviously, first impressions and stereotypes aren't always accurate.

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But is he really as bad as some say he is?  Many people on this forum will believe any bad thing written about him and his patients, even making up reasons why he's a bad doctor.

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Quote from: Medium Drink Of Water on December 30, 2013, 02:41:34 PMBut is he really as bad as some say he is?  Many people on this forum will believe any bad thing written about him and his patients, even making up reasons why he's a bad doctor.

Exactly, and who knows. That's why I am asking for more evidence for these claims or at least some hints at how someone would know such things.

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Hi guys,

long time no update to this thread. I needed to take a break from this very bitter subject. I won't yet disclose my exact relationship with Dr. Betz, but it is one of the 3 possibilities mentioned by medium drink above.
I will also disclose the story of a patient of Dr. Betz which gives an example why examinations and test before LL are indispensible.
The patient was refused by Dr. Guichet because her bone density was not good enough. So she went to Dr. Betz and started lengthening. After a few weeks she had a fracture in 1 leg. She needed another surgery and stop lengthening the leg. Dr. Betz convinced her to continue lengthen the other leg and after healing her fracture restart lengthening the other leg. She lengthened 6.5cm on the good leg and waited to heal the other leg. After the leg had healed, she got another surgery and lengthened the leg. She stayed over 1 year in Germany for this whole process. After lengthening she had another surgery to get titanium nails. She went home for consolidation.
Over 1 year later she returned to get the titanium nails removed. After removal while she was taking a first walk outside the Park Hotel - crack! Her leg broke again. She got another surgery and got another titanium nail inserted. She never removed this nail and will probably keep it for the rest of her life.

I don't know exactly how much she paid for the 6 surgeries plus the long time in Germany, but anybody can guess it was a fortune.

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Holy crap, that sounds terrible. Do you know if her bone density was an issue just for using an internal device like the G-nail or would that have been a problem too if she wore external fixators?

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That's a good question. I don't know but certainly there are many reasons why internals might not be suitable for a patient. The external fixator is more universal. Internals are more comfortable but ultimately have more risks. Another factor is the osteotomy which has a lot of influence on the whole healing process. Certainly Dr. Betz doesn't put much effort here either. He just uses a saw.
He is always cutting corners.

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Wow, just some heavy accusation.
I thought Dr Betz was a top doctor, and since stumbling upon this forum, I've been reading otherwise.


Quote from: Mime on January 30, 2014, 07:07:10 PM
He is always cutting corners.

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Hi Mediocre,

Dr. Betz is most certainly among the worst doctors for limb lengthening and i can only warn people who consider going to him. It is actually quite funny how many people give him credit because he is German. Germany is famous for crappy service. Take on top of that the weird legal system which gives all protection to doctors and none to patients and you'll quickly discover that Germany is a bad place to undergo medical treatment in general.

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Quote from: Mime on January 31, 2014, 07:27:34 AMHi Mediocre,

Dr. Betz is most certainly among the worst doctors for limb lengthening and i can only warn people who consider going to him. It is actually quite funny how many people give him credit because he is German. Germany is famous for crappy service. Take on top of that the weird legal system which gives all protection to doctors and none to patients and you'll quickly discover that Germany is a bad place to undergo medical treatment in general.

dude, can you stop spreading   without backing it up.
Germans are known for pefection. They certainly do not provide 'crappy services'.
I think you need a little bit of blitzkrieg up your arse

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I agree with kusop. What you're saying wouldn't surprise me at all, but you can't just say things like that and expect us to believe it after all the biased  misinformation that's been flying around the last year. "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence". Why can't you even give us just a little?