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A touch of MS: therapeutic mislabeling
Adrienne R Boissy1, Paul J Ford
1Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis and Center for Neuroethics, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH, USA. BOISSYA@ccf.org
Clinicians face ethical dilemmas when patients demand incorrect neurologic diagnoses like multiple sclerosis (MS). Mislabeling psychogenic symptoms as MS, even with good intentions, causes harm and violates ethical values.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Medical Ethics
Background:
- Psychogenic symptomatology presents ethical challenges when patients request inaccurate neurologic diagnoses.
- Multiple sclerosis (MS) serves as a pertinent case study due to diagnostic ambiguities and treatment risks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore ethical considerations for clinicians managing patients with psychogenic symptoms who insist on an MS diagnosis.
- To highlight the potential harms of therapeutic mislabeling in neurology.
Main Methods:
- Case study analysis using multiple sclerosis (MS) as an example.
- Discussion of ethical principles and value considerations for clinicians.
Main Results:
- Providing an inaccurate diagnosis, such as "a touch of MS," for psychogenic symptoms is identified as therapeutic mislabeling.
- This practice sacrifices ethically important values without commensurate benefits.
Conclusions:
- Clinicians should carefully manage patients with psychogenic symptoms who seek specific, inaccurate diagnoses.
- Ethical practice requires avoiding medically inaccurate labels, even when seemingly well-intentioned.
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