In medicine, straightforward cases are usually straightforward, and what usually works… usually works.

But what if it hasn’t for you? No patient wants to be an “interesting case.” You can struggle in the system for years – or for the rest of your life.

Personal Medical Consulting

Doug provides services to a select number of rare disease and complex condition patients. During a year long engagement, he partners with his client and experts to investigate and tackle rare, complicated medical conditions. He strives to understand healthcare from all levels of organization, from the individual to the health system to global health, as he fights to get his clients better care, better treatment, and better health.

A note from Doug on his journey through the medical system

When I realized the medical system didn’t have a plan for me or my family, I made one for us. I researched our conditions and collaborated with doctors and scientists. I figured out our problems involved the autonomic nervous system and the adrenal glands, and then I figured out what to do about it for each of us.

• ME: Developed surgery for my case which took me from wheelchair to walking after 11 years home bound.

• MY MOM: Predicted to live only 6 months; she lived another 8 years because of our work.

• MY AUNT: Healthier now at 71 then she has been since her 20s because I developed a new use for an old drug for her case.

I Take This Work Personally

When I was a kid, my mother Barbara and my aunt Jeanne were sick. I did all I could for my mom. I was a good caregiver, but beyond that I couldn’t do much. My mom suffered from chronic pain and muscle rigidity. She was too weak to open our front door. My aunt couldn’t tie her shoes in her 30s. For years neither could leave the house or take the stairs. The doctors had decades to help them, but after all that time, they still didn’t even know what was wrong.

When I got sick with the same thing, I was 21. It was terrifying. The doctors failed me too. I spent the next 11 years homebound and bed bound. They had no answers for me either.

I could have given up, but I took my illness as a chance to help us all. I read and researched. I figured things out. I devised novel treatments and partnered with doctors and scientists. I invented the concept for a surgery to fix me. People thought the things I was trying to do were impossible. But I proved them wrong. First I got us answers, and then I got us help.

I took the fight to get my family and me better care, better treatment, and better health very personally. If I take your case, I’ll take it personally too.