CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF NEUROLOGICAL SURGEONS
CANS – California Association of Neurological Surgeons, Inc. Homepage
The California Association of Neurological Surgeons (CANS) was founded by members who were very concerned about the need for a state neurosurgical organization to address socioeconomic issues relevant to the practice of neurosurgery. Contacts had been established during the process of preparing the Relative Value Scale for reimbursement. This led Dr. Byron Cone Pevehouse to propose the organization, and with the assistance of Dr. George Ablin, the association was incorporated on June 10, 1973. The “Founding” Meeting was held in Los Angeles on December 8, 1973 and 189 members were then enrolled in the initial phases of the development of the association.
As a consequence of this historical step taken by the founding members of CANS and demonstrated leadership of neurosurgery in the California medical community, the organization was already in place to rapidly respond to the malpractice crisis of 1975. This is when the American Mutual Insurance Company announced that they had ceased writing liability insurance for doctors in the Bay Area counties. This turmoil in insurance coverage readily expanded across the state and the Board of Directors responded promptly and effectively to the events that subsequently occurred. It has been the continued commitment of the Board of Directors to detail and expand on the various issues that impact the daily work of the neurological surgeons in the state.