Why hundreds of patients a year are misdiagnosed with MS
Posted: Thu May 10, 2012 7:20 am
Relying too much on brain scans appears to be one reason doctors each year misdiagnose multiple sclerosis in hundreds of patients whose symptoms are caused by some other disease.
Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University and the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center surveyed 242 multiple sclerosis specialists in the U.S. to find out how often they see patients who have been misdiagnosed. Among the 122 respondents, more than 95 percent said they saw at least one patient in the past year diagnosed with MS by another medical provider, but the specialist "strongly felt" the patient had some other disease. Three out of four specialists said they saw three or more misdiagnosed patients within the past year.
The authors estimate that the 122 specialists saw 600 patients in a year who had been given an incorrect diagnosis of MS. An estimated 280 of the misdiagnosed patients were receiving therapy for MS with a disease-modifying drug, which can cause serious side effects and cost $40,000 or more per patient per year. ... Read More - http://www.msrc.co.uk/index.cfm/fuseact ... ageid/1327