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Has a Lyme disease diagnosis ruined your health?

On Behalf of | Jul 11, 2017 | Medical Malpractice

If you went to the doctor with complaints of symptoms such as fatigue, overall pain and neurological issues such as irritability or memory problems, your doctor may have concluded that you had Lyme disease. Last year, doctors diagnosed about 300,000 people with Lyme disease, and that number increases annually.

Because of the rapid progression and long-term effects of the chronic illness, researchers are developing more aggressive methods of treatment, and according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, many of the treatments at best don’t work, and at worst can be deadly.

What is Lyme disease?

The diagnosis of Lyme disease means different things to different doctors. Some believe it is the result of an infection containing the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi. Some use the term as a label for a variety of symptoms that may or may not follow a tick bite. While you may be suffering from debilitating symptoms, a wrong diagnosis of Lyme disease could complicate your health, especially if doctors take a radical approach to treatment.

Some new and experimental treatments for Lyme disease include:

  • Infusing the body with hydrogen peroxide
  • Treating the patient with electromagnetic frequencies
  • Prescribing garlic supplements
  • Transplanting stem cells

While the symptoms of Lyme disease mimic symptoms for many other conditions, true Lyme disease often includes a distinctive skin rash. Doctors understandably want to treat the infection quickly because it can spread to the joints, nervous system or heart. However, the CDC expressed concern that doctors subject people like you to drastic treatment procedures without a complete diagnosis.

The consequences of a misdiagnosis

One dangerous method of treatment for Lyme disease is a prolonged and excessive course of intravenous antibiotics that makes some patients susceptible to deadly septic shock. What’s more, even for those who do have Lyme disease, this course of treatment is often ineffective. The CDC is urging doctors use caution when diagnosing and treating suspected cases of Lyme disease.

If Georgia doctors used an aggressive course of antibiotics on you to treat a condition you did not have, they may have left you vulnerable to greater harm by lowering your resistance to dangerous infections. It’s possible that, if you received an inaccurate diagnosis of Lyme disease, your true ailment went untreated while doctors tried futile methods to battle your symptoms.

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