The article raises an interesting question about delusions and the limits of medical knowledge. But what does it really mean to be crazy? And who is to hold doc

The article raises an interesting question about delusions and the limits of medical knowledge. But what does it really mean to be crazy? And who is to hold doctors responsible when they dismiss patients who might have a real illness? First, let's acknowledge that many people complaining of Morgellons might actually be crazy: they might be suffering some kind of OCD. With that out of the way, we should ask ourselves, what if some of the people suffering are suffering from some real, physical illness? That is, what if the illness is real and simply can't be diagnosed? For the sake of argument, let's say that Morgellons is actually a rare manifestation of the varicella zoster virus (in the USA, this is referred to as "chicken pox" though it has nothing to do with chickens). VZV can cause shingles, which leads to agonizing nerve pain, so, as a thought experiment, lets imagine that Morgellons represents the rare case when VZV manifests as itching instead of pain. Let us further suppose that in 10 years research proves the that VZV explains Morgellons. My concern, in this hypothetical scenario, is the lack of accountability that the doctors face (or rather, don't face). They will never have to apologize to the people who they labeled as crazy. We invest doctors with great social powers, and in some situations doctors can act as agents of the state (for instance, in the USA, regarding a patients mental state, if a doctor says you represent an immediate threat to yourself or others, they can have you locked up for up to 72 hours, pending a psychiatric examination). The laziest diagnosis is "You are crazy." A doctor who can not find an answer for your problem can simply dismiss you as delusional. And yet, a diagnosis of delusions should only be made after a psychiatric examination, and then, if positive, treatment should begin for the delusions. We need to put in place policies that keep doctors from dismissing patients with a diagnosis of "delusions". Right now, it is too easy for doctors to dismiss patients with that diagnosis. If the patient has not been through a psychiatric examination, then a diagnosis of "delusions" or "obsessive compulsive disorder" should be forbidden.