An article in the Sun-Sentinel newspaper dated December 6, 2012 entitled, "Boca Doctor Gives Stroke Survivors New Shot at Mobility, Independence" reported that Dr. Edward Tobinick claims to have discovered a 'breakthrough' in treating post-stroke patients using etanercept (better known as Enbrel, a drug manufactured by Amgen). Tobinick's website shows case after case of dramatic recoveries that inspire tremendous hope. Dr. Tobinick points to numerous scholarly papers, including one he wrote entitled "Selective TNF Inhibition for Chronic Stroke and Traumatic Brain Injury - an Observational Study Involving 629 Consecutive Patients Treated with Perispinal Etanercept" ranging in ages from 13 to 97. In this study, Table 3 shows 610 of 614 (or 99.3%) of patients were categorized as demonstrating clinical improvement immediately post-treatment of a single does of perispinal etanercept. A search of the US Patent and Trademark office shows that Tobinick has filed patents on his research.
After spending $5400, I believe Dr. Tobinick claims are unbalanced and/or untrue.
We made an appointment with Dr. Tobinick in his Boca Raton facility. There, we were greeted by "Dan" who handed us patient data forms to complete. Dan then introduced us to "Art Tobinick" wearing an embroidered white lab coat who said he was Edward Tobinick's brother. Art Tobinick led us to a room and played a 15 minute video showing case after case of glowing recoveries, of patients who could barely walk upon entering his clinic but who were dancing after "the shot". They evaluated the patient forms in a prescreening to assess whether mother was a candidate. "Good news! She's a candidate", Art told us, "Do you want a personal diagnosis today?" Cost $600 and if so, sign this next stack of legal documents, including an arbitration agreement, and waiver of jury trial. They run the credit card for $600 for a personal diagnosis by Tobinick. We move to a larger conference room, sign another larger stack of legal agreements, including General Release of Liability. We meet Dr Tobinick and are told how mom's motor function impairment is severe but that he discovered a pathway through the spine to the brain through which etanercept can react and he expects to see improvement in relieving her pain and perhaps her leg, so we fork over $4,800 more for "the shot".
After an abbreviated pain and motor skills assessment by their physician's assistant, "the shot" was given. For 5 minutes after the shot, mom is suspended by her ankles upside down. No apparent change then or now. For us, it was $5,400 totally wasted.
I researched Dr. Tobinick and found numerous Internet message board complaints about him after doing a Google search using the terms "Tobinick fraud", "Tobinick complaint" and the like. I also found that, without admitting wrongdoing, Dr. Edward Lewis Tobinick agreed to have his medical license #G37710 in California placed on probation in 2007-2008 after entering into a Stipulated Settlement and Disciplinary Order with the medical licensing board of the State of California. Had Tobinick not agreed to this settlement, the State of California was prepared to file formal charges against him that, if proven, could have affected the status of his medical license. Rather than going into details, you can look up his 21 page Order and Stipulated Settlement agreement yourself here: http://www.mbc.ca.gov/lookup.html
If you do a Google search of "Tobinick and Etanercept" you will find many negative articles. Amgen (the manufacturer of etanercept) issued a press release asserting that there is insufficient and unsubstantiated scientific data to support the Dr. Tobinick's use of Enbrel and distances itself from Dr. Tobinick's claims with respect to Alzeheimers ( http://www.amgen.com/media/rapid_cognitive_improvement.html ) . Amgen specifically disclaims Tobinick's work using Enbrel saying: "We are not aware of any human data demonstrating that Enbrel reaches either the cerebrospinal fluid or the central nervous system in sufficient concentrations to inhibit the actions of TNF when administered by Dr. Tobinick's method" and "... we believe the reported rapidity of response to be biologically improbable when considering the time required for resolution of an active inflammatory response and the potental impact that this could have on cognition" and that "Amgen does not support this or any off-label use of Enbrel".
I hope the State of Florida's division of medical licensing pulls all of Dr. Tobinick's patient records to either confirm or deny his results vs. expectations of hope that Dr. Tobinick's marketing efforts create. If, indeed, we are in the minority of patients for whom this 'breakthrough' did not help them, I can live with the fact that this is experimental and off-label; if, however, his claims are untrue, he should be stopped. read more
