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“Black Women May be at Greater Risk for Multiple Sclerosis, Study Finds”

  • Everyday Health
  • New York
  • (May 06, 2013)

African-American women are more likely to receive a multiple sclerosis diagnosis than white women, according to a study by researchers at Kaiser Permanente Southern California. Dr. Annette Langer-Gould, MD, PhD, a neurologist for Kaiser Permanente Southern California and lead author on the study altered the data when she disagreed with the original doctor’s diagnosis. After reviewing a patient’s file, Langer-Gould said she changed the medical decision from MS negative to MS positive when she thought the presiding doctor had been incorrect. A switch happened in about 10 percent of the files Langer-Gould reviewed, she said. "That’s a hazard because you’re making your decisions based on reviewing the record as opposed to the actual person taking care of the patient," said Fred Lublin, MD, the director of the Corinne Goldsmith Dickinson Center for Multiple Sclerosis at Mount Sinai, who was not involved with the study. Learn more