Abandoning Lyme patients violates the core principles of medical ethics. A woman in her 40’s came to me after months of searching for answers. She had been a successful business executive, traveling weekly and leading a large team. Now, she could barely get through a video meeting without losing her train of thought. Fatigue left her bedridden most afternoons. Her chart read “treatment complete.” Her reality said otherwise.

This scene isn’t rare. In Lyme disease care, too many patients with ongoing symptoms are told there is “nothing more to do.” Once the standard course of antibiotics is completed, the door to further evaluation or treatment quietly closes — leaving patients to navigate debilitating illness alone.

The Harm of Abandoning Lyme Patients

When chronic Lyme patients are denied further work-up or treatment, the consequences are real:

• “I was told my tests were negative, so my symptoms couldn’t be from Lyme. But I can’t walk my dog anymore.”

• “I finished treatment, but my memory is worse, not better.”

• “My doctor stopped returning my calls once the antibiotics were done.”

This is not benign neglect — it’s preventable harm. Left without care, patients may face:

• Disease progression from untreated persistent infection or co-infections

• Permanent neurologic damage, joint destruction, or autonomic dysfunction

• Loss of work, financial strain, and social isolation

• Increased risk of depression and suicide

“Ethical medicine means not walking away when help is still possible.”

Ethical Medicine Means Never Abandoning Lyme Patients

The American Medical Association’s Code of Medical Ethics calls on physicians to put patient welfare first, avoid discrimination, and provide ongoing care when withdrawal would harm the patient.

For Lyme disease, this means:

• Pursuing additional diagnostics when symptoms persist

• Considering co-infections, persister forms, and biofilms

• Using clinical judgment to guide treatment, even when guidelines are restrictive

• Referring to specialists instead of closing the chart with “nothing more to offer”

Changing the Culture to End the Abandonment of Lyme Patients

Shifting Lyme care from dismissal to engagement requires:

• Expanded physician training in chronic manifestations and co-infections

• Clear guidelines for re-evaluating persistent symptoms

• Research funding to identify effective treatments for ongoing illness

• Referral networks for complex tick-borne cases

• Institutional safeguards to prevent abandoning Lyme patients based solely on “completion” of a standard treatment course

Have you felt abandoned after Lyme disease? Share your story—together, we can push for a medical culture that refuses to walk away when help is still possible.

Resources:

1. AMA Code of Medical Ethics

2. CDC Lyme Disease Overview

3. Lyme Disease Treatment Our Approach

4. ILADS Guidelines on Lyme Disease