According to a story from The Independent, an NHS trust has issued a recall for around 2,500 patients after concerns were raised about the treatment they were receiving from senior neurologist Michael Watt. Dr. Watt saw patients with a variety of rare neurological problems, such as different forms of epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, motor neuron disease, and Parkinson’s disease.
The recall occurred after other doctors began to raise concerns about the standard of care he was giving; some feared that he was misdiagnosing patients. The NHS trust said that most likely only a small number of Dr. Watt’s patients had been receiving incorrect treatment, but they recalled all of his patients as a precaution.
Dr. Mark Mitchelson issued an apology on the behalf of the neuroscience division, but emphasized that there is little likelihood that Dr. Watt had caused significant harm or death as the result of his mistakes. Nevertheless, the announcement is likely to disturb anyone that had seen the doctor for treatment. Mitchelson also says that is almost impossible to determine if Dr. Watt had accelerated the pace of decline for patient’s with long term, progressive diseases like multiple sclerosis.
Dr. Watt has not been actively seeing any patients since last summer. Generally, it seems that patients’ experience with the doctor has been mixed according to reviews on the website iWantGreatCare. Many reviews of his treatment were positive, and some negative reviews still said the Dr. Watt was good at listening to patients. Still, there were some references to getting misdiagnosed by the doctor in some of the negative comments on the site.
However, the situation highlights the challenge of getting an accurate diagnosis for rare disease in the first place. While the recall does reflect poorly on Dr. Watt, getting misdiagnosed is an all-too-common event for many rare disease patients. These frustrating circumstances can lead to critically damaging delays in getting appropriate treatment. This is a significant consideration in determining long term outcomes for many patients.
The recall appointments will take place at multiple clinics that are set to begin in the next few months. These appointments will review the conclusions of Dr. Watt in order to either confirm or refute his earlier findings.
