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05/22/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (UNLICENSED FOOT SPECIALISTS)
RE: Unlicensed Foot Specialists
From: Jeffrey Trantalis, DPM
People are wondering why podiatry is fading as a profession. Below is a brochure from a retail store promoting custom foot orthotics for painful feet, knees, and hips. Besides this being inappropriate to be available for the general public, why don't I see the APMA being more aggressive in advertising and promoting of podiatry with biomechanics for treating the feet to the lower back?
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Foot Solutions Brochure |
Why do we forget the knee pain patients, especially the female athlete with femerol anteversion? The people who work in these retail stores have limited education and training, and thus should not be able to dispense “custom” orthotics.
Jeffrey Trantalis, DPM, (Retired), Delray Beach, FL
Other messages in this thread:
05/28/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (UNLICENSED FOOT SPECIALISTS)
From: James Cusack, DPM
This situation has been occurring for many years with no clear solution. I contacted the APMA and they told me it was a state matter and when I did that, they said it is too expensive to litigate. For 38 plus years, I have been fabricating orthotics. The method makes them more customized so one orthotic is actually different than the other. There are too many benefits to list; I’ll just say it is very satisfying and the success rate is high. By fabricating orthotics, you are performing a service unmatched by other professions and OTC insert businesses.
James Cusack, DPM, Salisbury, NC
Editor's note: This topic is now closed.
05/27/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (UNLICENSED FOOT SPECIALISTS) - PART 1A
From: Howard Bonenberger, DPM
The number of recent posts correlate directly with the increased radio spots The Good Feet Store has been running. This proves the point that the ads get noticed, not only by DPMs but by consumers. Many, many years ago, the APMA needed to understand the barrier that consumers perceive when they decide to drop over a thousand dollars on arches versus seeing a podiatrist.
The promotion of the profession has been sorely lacking for years. We run "articles" about the evils of flip-flops, how to select a sneaker, and obscure diseases that most of us will never see in our career. NO ONE comes away from reading those and thinks, "If I had ever had a bad sprain or may have broken something, I'll see the anti-Croc doc." Seriously, get into the modern world of podiatry! The profession needs to spend on a first-rate PR program that is not afraid of its own shadow. But alas, it will never happen. We've had 40 years to do it and have consistently fallen short.
Howard Bonenberger, DPM (retired), Hollis, NH
05/27/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (UNLICENSED FOOT SPECIALISTS) - PART 1B
From: William Beaton, DPM, Burton Katzen, DPM
In my opinion, there is no such thing as unlicensed foot specialists, only unlicensed fraudsters.
William Beaton, DPM, St. Petersburg, FL
I graduated in 1971, so I was around at the onset of so-called “Root Therapy; Do you believe in it?” taught by Dr. Harry Hlavac, expounding the theories of Drs. Root, Sgarlato, etc. So, in my 52 years of practice, I have treated thousands of patients with custom orthotics and more recently, the much improved non-custom orthotics. Like most members of our profession, I always assumed custom orthotics would produce a much better result, but unfortunately, in my area, I often had to consider my treatment choice on the patient’s willingness to pay and/or coverage. I also must say that it would ruin my day when a patient would come in and tell me they paid $1,200 for a pair of orthotics from The Good Feet store when I had 2 or 3 patients the same day refuse custom orthotics at half the price.
So the first question is, if our custom orthotics are so much better, why are people getting good results and why are the owners of these companies making millions, and we’re not. The answer is simple. They...
Editor's note: Dr. Katzen's extended-length letter can be read here
05/27/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (UNLICENSED FOOT SPECIALISTS) - PART 1C
From: Paul Kesselman, DPM
Unfortunately, this is a state-by-state issue. Dr. Trantalis is correct that there are innumerable instances of unlicensed individuals selling their "orthotic" wares both on the Internet and in brick-and-mortar stores.
I was recently approached by an international company asking me to assist them with setting up a system by which patients would take their own foot impressions with foam boxes and they would not only return the devices to the patients but bill their insurance company. If their insurance did not cover orthotics, the patients would be set up to self-pay. They were gearing up to do a national program. I turned down their generous offer to design the system and implement it downstream with all sorts of compliance checklists. The problem here is that no prescriber would ever be evaluating...
Editor's note: Dr. Kesselman's extended-length can be read here.
05/23/2025
RESPONSES/COMMENTS (UNLICENSED FOOT SPECIALISTS) - PART 1C
From: Doug Richie, DPM
I understand and share the same frustration voiced by Dr. Trantalis in his post condemning retail stores providing custom foot orthoses provided by unqualified employees. However, we can make lemonade from the lemons. In 2009, I wrote a blog for Podiatry Today titled "Why podiatrists should not fear custom foot orthotics at Costco". That blog still has the most reads of any blog in the history of that publication. After that, I wrote another blog titled "How Podiatric Associations are Combating The Dispensing of Custom Foot Orthoses in the Retail Setting."
The bottom line is that our professional associations have in the past strongly advocated for and promoted awareness that a podiatric physician has superior and un-matched qualifications to provide foot orthotic therapy to a broad range of patient populations. I am not sure that these associations have continued that effort since 2009.
Doug Richie, DPM, Long Beach, CA
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