Glaring Error at MTF Results in Misdiagnosis of Seizure Disorder

I had recently dealt with a case in which a service member on the TDRL came to me for help when the IPEB proposed to reduce a disability rating for a conversion disorder diagnosis, for a variety of different reasons.  This person had been labeled with this devastating diagnosis by military neurologists based upon clinical observation alone.  This practice falls well below the acceptable standard of care, as the use of video EEGs to rule out or confirm a pseudoseizure diagnosis has been the standard for more than 20 years.  In this case, after being admitted for a full epilepsy workup, video EEGs confirmed by objective testing that this person actually had a moderately severe seizure disorder that had been untreated for several years. On review, the FPEB corrected this mistake but this service member had gone untreated for years and suffered pain, humiliation, and embarrassment due to the callous attitude of his military providers.  A word to the wise- don’t assume that your doctor is infallible, learn the applicable standard of care for your symptoms and always ask for second opinions whenever you feel that your doctor is ignoring your symptoms.