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About Us
Carl Melcher, MD
Amenity Health was founded in 2011 by retired physician Carl Melcher, M.D., a well-respected doctor in the San Diego, California area and former UCSD medical professor. In addition to his medical expertise, he is also an entrepreneur with success in the technology and medical industries. Carl has been a life-long sufferer from chronic acid reflux or GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease).
Prior to starting Amenity Health, Dr. Melcher was diagnosed with the esophageal cancer precursor, Barrett’s Esophagus. With the desire to resolve his own condition, as well as help the millions of others who also suffer, he hypothesized that, if done properly, positional therapy could be an effective treatment option for the disease. Partnering with talented engineers and designers, Carl and the design team began developing what is now known today as MedCline and put positional therapy for GERD back on the map.
After several years of thorough and rigorous development, the MedCline Reflux Relief System was clinically verified by former AGA president, Donald O Castell, M.D. using an impedance/PH study performed at the Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. Castell and his team found MedCline to be far superior at reducing acid exposure than a traditional bed wedge. Later that year, Scott Gabbard, M.D. of Cleveland Clinic approached Amenity Health interested in testing the MedCline Reflux Relief System using validated quality of life questionnaires, designed to specifically tabulate nocturnal GERD symptoms. The results from these studies were overwhelmingly positive, showing better score improvements than a leading proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) drug for which the questionnaires were originally drafted. To date, the MedCline Reflux Relief System has been evaluated in 7 clinical trials with for varying sub-populations of GERD patients suffering with nocturnal symptoms.
Since then, Amenity Health has also developed another sleep system, the MedCline Shoulder Relief System, for those who suffer with chronic shoulder pain at night. The systems are very similar in design but differ in the angle of elevation created, as a higher angle of elevation is needed for nighttime reflux relief. Both MedCline Relief Systems are providing much-needed relief for those suffering from nocturnal acid reflux and/or nighttime shoulder pain to get quality, restorative sleep leading to a higher health-related quality of life.
Our Medical Advisory Consultants
We are proud to work with Dr. Ronnie Fass and Dr. Don Castell as Medical Advisory Consultants. Their GERD expertise and industry knowledge is invaluable to us as we strive to make MedCline available to all those who continue to suffer.Ronnie Fass, MD
Dr. Ronnie Fass is the Director of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Head of the Esophageal and Swallowing Center at the Metro Health Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio. He is also a tenured Professor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Fass did his internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, where he later became a Chief Resident. He then completed a fellowship in gastroenterology at the University of California in Los Angeles where he focused on GI motility and functional bowel disorders.Dr. Fass has received many awards for his research, including the American Gastroenterological Association Award for Digestive Sciences in Clinical Research, the VA hospital Investigator of the Year Award, and the International Foundation of Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders Senior Clinical Investigator Award.
Dr. Fass is a frequent lecturer, presenter, and reviewer for more than 70 journals. He is on the editorial board of 28 journals. Dr. Fass has published more than 550 articles, editorials, commentaries, and abstracts in journals such as Gastroenterology, Gut, American Family Physician, American Journal of Gastroenterology, and Archives of Internal Medicine.
Donald Castell, MD
Dr. Donald Castell has been a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and the Director of the Esophageal Disorders Program at the Medical University of South Carolina since October 2001.Dr. Castell is a graduate of the George Washington University School of Medicine and served as a Medical Officer in the U.S. Navy from 1959 1979. Before retiring with the rank of captain, he spent his last four years of active service as Chairman of Medicine at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. He has held faculty positions at George Washington University School of Medicine, the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bowman Gray School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC, and Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, PA.
From April 1992 through September 2001, he was the Kimbel Professor and Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Graduate Hospital in Philadelphia, PA and Professor of Medicine. Dr. Castell was President of the American Gastroenterological Association from 1998 – 1999.
Dr. Castell is internationally recognized as a leading authority on diseases of the esophagus and esophageal function and has authored or co-authored more than 500 scientific publications. He is also the editor and principal contributor of The Esophagus, the primary text on this subject, a definitive 714-page text published by Little, Brown, and Company, which is currently in its fourth edition.