It seems that in some instances maggots are able to single…um…maggotedly reduce the incidence of amputation and resulting disability more frequently than traditional techniques. Maggot therapy isn’t really anything new — it’s been well documented amongst veterans of wars since the 1200s. But it’s no less disgusting than it always has been. At any rate, Medicare is considering covering prescriptions for medical maggots. Ick!

Members of the BioTherapeutics, Education and Research (BTER) Foundation disagree with the CMS recommendation, and plan to demonstrate that beneficiaries, health care professionals and taxpayers do see a need for patients and their doctors to be able to use, code, and be reimbursed for using medicinal maggots. According to the charity’s director, Dr. Ronald Sherman, BTER Foundation representatives will remind CMS officials that the same efficacy and safety studies that FDA evaluated before clearing Medical Maggots for marketing in the U.S. also demonstrated lower medical costs and high rates of limb salvage. In fact, when used on patients who failed all other medical and surgical treatments for their gangrenous wounds were offered only amputation or maggot therapy, 40-50% of patients who chose maggot therapy healed their wounds and saved their limbs. BTER Foundation members also will present study data that shows that many doctors will not prescribe maggot therapy when their insurance companies do not, or are perceived not to reimburse for the maggots. “Not having a reimbursement code for medicinal maggots is like not allowing maggots on the formulary of any insurance company,” he says. “This is not what we would expect from Medicare, as the leading proponent of high-quality, equitable, cost-efficient medical care.“