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May 1, 2009 8:34 pm US/Eastern
I-Team: AHCA Doesn't Test Each Hyperbaric Chamber
LAUDERDALE-BY-THE-SEA (CBS4 I-TEAM) ―
Friday's explosion at the Ocean Hyperbaric Neurological Center isn't the first time the center has been in the news.
I-Team investigator
Stephen Stock has been digging through the center's history and records.
The center, located in Lauderdale-by-the Sea, has several hyperbaric chambers. Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) licenses and inspects the center. We learned late Friday afternoon that AHCA does not license or inspect the individual chambers. According to AHCA records, the latest license for the center was December 24, 2007, and it was been continually licensed for 15 months.
Initially, records show no issues or problems, and the Better Business Bureau gives it an A+ rating.
Some of the most famous images of the center—operated by owner Doctor Richard Neubauer until his death in June, 2007—were of Doctor Jeffrey Weiss with his young son, Justin, who nearly drowned at a Memorial Day party at his home in 2002. The Weiss family credited the hyperbaric oxygen treatment with helping Justin recover better than expected.
There is also the story of Carlos Torres, the Miami-Dade police officer who was blinded after being partially hit by lightning in 2002.
But after an hour a day for six weeks in Dr. Neubauer's hyperbaric chamber, and Torres regained almost all of his sight after being told he'd never see again.
The
CBS4 I-Team will continue investigating this story and developments as they occur.
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