CBC News Montreal: Doctors afraid of losing their licence if they diagnose and treat Lyme disease properly
May 28th, 2017
When Arlene Rill was bitten by a tick in Montreal three years ago, she knew nothing about Lyme disease.
She had no idea she would become so ill, and she never imagined enduring the kind of pain she’s been living with ever since.
“I live with huge stomach issues, terrible [headaches], pain in my ears, ringing in my ears, inflammation in my joints,” said Rill, a 66-year-old retired teacher.
“My legs are in pain. My knees are in pain. Sometimes my feet are killing me.”
Rill says she blames her suffering on a lack of knowledge about Lyme disease in Canada and a lack of willingness to treat long-term sufferers.
…”After a three-month run of antibiotics, Trevor improved but his family doctor said he could not prescribe more medication without risking disciplinary action.”
Doctors can precribe opiods as much as they/their patients want, but antibiotics against lyme …NO WAY, too dangerous. Try your pet’s vet; she/he had the right test and the right medicine.
The worst thing that they can do for you is to give you a false negative test result. Private labs don’t give you a diagnosis but return the test to you and your physician for further discussion where you can work out a possible treatment plan or alternative diagnoses. In Canada the test results are interpreted by the National Microbiology Lab (NML) without knowing the presenting symptoms. The tests are not returned to the patient or their health care provider. Lyme disease is a clinical disease and must be diagnosed clinically and the tests are only used to help confirm the doctor’s diagnosis. The NML steps in between the patient and their physician exactly where they don’t belong. The test is so poor that one has a better chance with a coin toss and they are not binary as physicians are lead to believe but open to interpretation. The art of clinically diagnosing various stages of Lyme disease are not taught properly.
If the MD’s would be Lyme Literate, there position on Lyme Disease and the treatments required would change.
Education for the physicians is lacking in this area!
My dog gets better care from our vet. It was less than a week from when I pulled the still live tic out of skin near her ear, got it tested and the dog examined.