What is the cost of RRP?
Assumptions and Conclusions: Let us assume that the “average adult-onset patient” in the United States has a mild to moderate disease process requiring 40 surgeries over the course of his or her working career, and let us also assume that the average cost of surgery is somewhere around $7,000 [allowing for inflation, that is a VERY low estimate]. The total surgical cost will therefore be around $280,000 ($7,000 X 40). Then there’s the lost time from work, etc., figured at 40 surgeries X 10+ days per surgical event=400+ days of work. Many surgeries will require more, few will require less, so this time loss expense could easily top $60,000 (includes benefits), depending on the patient’s income level, and that does not factor in the inflation index over time. It also fails to include time loss that may result from long-term or temporary disability. Then there are the non-surgical interventions (adjunctive treatments, speech therapy, psychotherapy, antidepressants, ancillary medical treat
