Showing posts with label randall snook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label randall snook. Show all posts

Sunday, May 16, 2021

Compilation of reports/statements by medical & governmental organizations and (mostly) mainstream media reports about "the Dechoker," now based in Denver [UPDATED 5/16/21]


 Dechoker promo video featuring Randall L. Snook MD of Lone Tree, CO

If I've missed any, please e-mail links to Peter.Heimlich@gmail.com 

For information originating from Dechoker LLC (Wheat Ridge, CO), click here for the company's home page. Click the links for the websites of Dechoker UK (Northampton), Dechoker Spain (Madrid), and Dechoker Sweden (Gothenburg).

Also see Caretakers Detail How “Indispensable” Dechoker Has Saved Dozens of Lives, a February 15, 2019 Dechoker LLC blog item which includes links to case reports signed by Randall Snook MD who practices at Advanced Integrative Medicine, Lone Tree, CO.

Click here for my similar compilation re: the LifeVac anti-choking device.

A. MEDICAL

Executive Summary: 2020 International Consensus on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care Science With Treatment Recommendations (ILCOR) by Nolan et al, Circulation, October 21, 2020:

Recently, manual suction devices (airway clearance devices) that use a vacuum to remove foreign bodies have become commercially available. These devices have not previously been reviewed by ILCOR and were included in this SysRev. The data in the peer-reviewed literature assessing the efficacy of suction-based airway clearance devices comprised just 1 case series of 9 adults, which the task force deemed insufficient to support the implementation of a new technology with an associated financial and training cost...The task force suggested that suction-based airway clearance devices should not be used routinely.

Resuscitation Council UK is aware that several airway clearing devices for the treatment of choking are now available in the UK. There is insufficient evidence on the safety or effectiveness of these devices for us to recommend their use, and we are concerned that the use of these devices could delay established treatments for choking; for this reason, Resuscitation Council UK does not support their use. 

Appropriately trained healthcare professionals can already use advanced techniques such as suction or laryngoscopy and forceps for airway foreign body removal. We recommend that new airway clearance devices should only be used by trained healthcare professionals as part of a formal evaluation. 

April 5, 2018 Swedish CPR Council report re: anti-choking devices by Henrik Wagner MD PhD, Jan Gelberg MD, Andreas Claesson RN PhD. Click here for original Swedish version; click here for English version via Google Translate.

April 25, 2019 statement by the Spanish Council of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation re: anti-choking devices. Click here for original Spanish version; click here for English version via Google Translate. 
B. GOVERNMENT
May 10, 2021 warning/demand letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to Dechoker LLC re: the agency's ongoing investigation of the company. Click here for the October 2, 2019 Adverse Incident Report involving a three-year-old that triggered the FDA investigation.
August 30, 2017 determination letter from UK Medical and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) re: Dechoker anti-choking device (via my Scribd account)

C. MEDIA 

Game-changer: Dechoker medical device could end deaths by choking by Melissa Chipman, Insider Louisville October 22, 2015

FDA approves new lifesaving device based out of Louisville by Ann Bowdan, WLKY-TV, October 30, 2015

Space age to beat baldness: Health gadgets just got madder than ever... but do any actually work? by Jinan Harb, Daily Mail (UK), February 22, 2016

Can New Devices Match Heimlich to Stop Choking? LifeVac and Dechoker pose alternative to abdominal thrusts by Laura Johannes, Wall Street Journal, July 11, 2016 (Paywalled) Phil Heimlich is my older brother -- PMH
Two new easy-to-use devices work like plungers to suck out obstructions in the airway, providing another option if standard treatment—such as abdominal thrusts developed in 1974 by Henry Heimlich—fail to clear the airway, say the companies who sell them.

...Both the Dechoker, $89.95, and the LifeVac, $69.95, have a plastic mask that provides a seal over the mouth and nose while suction is provided. The Dechoker looks like a large syringe, while the LifeVac’s plunger is shaped like a small accordion.
...Skeptics include Dr. Heimlich, now 96. Such a device may not be handy in the “unexpected instance that a person chokes,” Dr. Heimlich, a retired thoracic surgeon from Cincinnati, says in a statement released by his son, Phil Heimlich. “Any action that delays use of the Heimlich maneuver or complicates the rescue can be deadly.”
Kudos to WSJ for giving thorough look at ‘Heimlich alternative’ devices for choking victims by Susan Wei PhD, Dan Mayer MD & Joya Victory, Health News Review, July 18, 2016

Anti-choking devices give piece of mind but don't replace Heimlich Maneuver by Liz Harrison, ABC30 News (Fresno, CA), September 27, 2016

Brackley man advocates ‘de-choking’ device for all nurseries and schools as alternative to back slaps by Tim Redigolo, Northampton Chronicle & Echo, March 24, 2017


Anti-choking device business raided, accused of investment scheme by investigative reporter Matthew Grant, FOX46-TV News, Charlotte, NC, March 12, 2018




'Dechoker' anti-choking device claims to save lives but has never been tested on humans by investigative reporter Jackie Callaway, WFTS-TV News, Tampa, FL, May 21, 2018



Heimlich alternative? KWWL investigates new medical device offered to Iowa school by Amanda Gilbert, KWWL-TV News, Waterloo, IA, May 31, 2018:



Interview by KWWL reporter Amanda Gilbert with Iowa State EMS Director David Stilley MD:




Northampton care home staff save residents' life after he started choking by Carly Roberts, Northampton Chronicle & Echo, June 15, 2018*

Dechokers at A-L expected to keep kids safe by Kate Day Sager, Olean Times Herald, October 5, 2018

Heimlich’s son questions Dechoker products in A-L schools by Kate Day Sager, Olean (NY) Times Herald, November 1, 2018

Milton Keynes man’s device saves 11 people from choking to death by Paige Brown, Milton Keynes Citizen, January 17, 2019*

With 11 lives saved last year. What next for 2019…?, DechokerUK blog, January 17, 2019 (emphasis added)
We are pleased today to confirm a total number of 11 (eleven) choking deaths in the adult care sector last year were prevented with Dechoker.
Funding for life-saving product maker by Jon Robinson, Inside Media Ltd., February 11,

Care homes urged to reduce choking deaths by Jill Rennie, carehome,co.uk, May 22, 2019 (emphasis added)
According to staff at Brookholme Residential Care Homes in Chesterfield, a resident began choking and turned blue after eating a piece of bacon. Staff told a Dechoker representative in the UK that abdominal thrusts did not work, and that they believe the resident would have died without the Dechoker.

...Kerry Toulson, manager of Dudbrook Hall in Brentwood Essex said: “We recognised that one of our residents, in particular, was at serious risk of choking on her food which was a real worry.

...“Approximately four weeks after our training, a resident who we were concerned with had been assessed as requiring a fork-mashable diet. One lunchtime they choked and lost consciousness.”

When staff failed to remove the object by using traditional methods of back blows and abdominal thrusts, staff began using the Dechoker. The blockage was removed easily, and the resident recovered quickly.
Anti-choking devices: a lot of servile "journalism" and no clinical trials by Esther Samper, Hipertextual, May 26, 2019. Click here for original Spanish version; click here for English version via Google Translate

Woman passes out and is close to death after choking on food - but is miraculously saved by carer: Pensioner Ivy was unconscious by Anna Riley, Hull Daily Mail, May 31, 2019

Carers used Dechoker to save woman who choked on sausage by Emily Collis, Senior Reporter, Worcester News, August 7, 2019 (emphasis added):
Staff at a Wyre Forest care home have praised an innovative anti-choking device which was used to save the life of a resident who "turned blue" after choking on a piece of sausage.

First-aiders at Casa Mia Care Home in Far Forest turned to the Dechoker as a last resort after back slaps and abdominal thrusts failed to revive a woman who fell unconscious for between three and four minutes during dinner on July 18.

Team leaders Tracey Hemmings, aged 46, and Lorraine Swain, aged 58, say the woman, who suffers with a mood disorder which affects her mobility, "would have died" if it wasn't for the device.

..."Lorraine had already tried back slaps but that didn't work, so we started doing abdominal thrusts. When that didn't work we realised the severity of the situation and called 999.

"She was totally unresponsive and started to turn blue.

"We grabbed the Dechoker as a last resort. We have three of them in the home and were all trained how to use them last year.

..."She started breathing again. It was amazing.

"Lorraine and I both said she would have died otherwise. It was a really close call."

The resident was the 31st person to be saved by a Dechoker...
Casa Mia now wants to encourage other care homes in the area to invest in a Dechoker...
* Via the February 11, 2019 Press Gazette article by Charlote Tobitt, Blogger (Peter M. Heimlich) asks press regulator to consider sanctions against online publishers that pull articles without explanation

If the person with you was choking, would you know what to do? by consumer investigative reporter Lauren Verno, WJXT-TV (Jacksonville, FL), May 3, 2021

Posted by Peter M. Heimlich at 2:54 PM
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Monday, September 17, 2018

Colorado doctor who was disciplined in year 2000 Denver Bronco diet pill case is now spokesman for embattled Denver anti-choking device company

source

The past couple of years have been challenging for Dechoker LLC, the Denver company that markets an anti-choking plunger of the same name for humans and for pets.



Per my blog, the company was named as a defendant in three lawsuits alleging unpaid debts, one of which was filed in a Louisville, KY, court by the company's former COO.

Then in March, FOX46 Charlotte, NC aired an investigative report by Matthew Grant, Anti-choking device business raided, accused of investment scheme.

A few months later, ABC Action News in Tampa broadcast 'Dechoker' anti-choking device claims to save lives but has never been tested on humans by investigative reporter Jackie Callaway:

A few weeks later, Amanda Gilbert at the NBC News affiliate in Waterloo, Iowa, reported that the supervisor of a local school district which had installed the devices would remove or sent them back to Dechoker LLC "until they can provide FDA approval on them."

But if you think the company's down for the count, think again.

Via Dechoker is Moving Forward! by company president Alan Carver in an August 31, 2018 post on the company's blog:
We just wanted to make a quick post to bring everyone up to date on a few of exciting things going on at Dechoker!
TWO MORE LIVES SAVED - We received confirmation of two more lives saved, these two were both in assisted living homes in UK. This bring the total to 20 lives that would not otherwise be here today if not for Dechoker!

...MEDICAL DIRECTOR - We have brought on a Medical Director for Dechoker. The Medical Director will further help in assisting drive the Dechoker device through education and promotion within the public and medical community.
Dechoker is continuing to push for eradicating choking deaths throughout the globe. 

I was unable to locate any substantive details about details about the claimed 20 lives saved by the device, but I found this YouTube video embedded on the home page of Dechoker LLC's website featuring Randall L. Snook MD who practices at Advanced Integrative Medicine in Lone Tree, a suburb of Denver:

It's unclear if Dr. Shook is the company's new medical director, but he's featured in the new Dechoker testimonial video:



It's unclear if Dr. Snook has any background in resuscitation but a quick Google search turned up the following information.

He also promotes PHatea, a "100% Natural Chinese Dark Tea" :


Randall Snook MD Pha Tea from iHeartMediaDenver on Vimeo.


Via PHatea.com, whose website includes an undated CV for Dr. Snook:


Dechoker LLC appears to be trying to make a new start after facing some serious challenges.

A quick Google search revealed that, re: a widely-reported story about 18 years ago (NY Times, ABC7 Denver, etc.), Dr. Snook appears to have done the same.

Via Fallout stuns Romo's doctor by staff reporter Mike McPhee, Denver Post, October, 11, 2000:
The physician who wrote prescriptions for diet pills that were allegedly given to Denver Broncos linebacker Bill Romanowski says he had no idea the consequences would be so grave.

"It's not even banned by the NFL," Dr. Randall Snook said Monday, referring to the appetite suppressant phentermine. "If I had written the prescriptions for Bill, none of this would have happened."

But Snook didn't, and he lost his Littleton practice as well as his 4,000 patients. Last spring, the internal medicine/gerontologist pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of unlawfully dispensing a controlled substance.
Via Romanowski says trial verdict restores his reputation, Associated Press, June 30, 2001:
Saying his reputation was restored, Denver Broncos linebacker Bill Romanowski was acquitted of getting prescription diet pills illegally.

...(Defense lawyers never denied that Dr. Randall Snook prescribed phentermine for other people that was meant for Romanowski. But they said Romanowski committed no crime because he was acting on the advice of Snook. They also said Snook told the Romanowskis they were doing nothing wrong.

...Snook pleaded guilty to providing the pills.








Posted by Peter M. Heimlich at 10:55 AM
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