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. 2019 Sep 11:12:679-681.
doi: 10.2147/CCID.S218894. eCollection 2019.

Health providers induced iatrogenic delusions of infestation

Pooja R Shah  1 , Elizabeth Cusick  1 , Yasmine Nousari  2 , Andrea Sandoz  1 , Francisco Tausk  1
Affiliations

Health providers induced iatrogenic delusions of infestation

Pooja R Shah et al. Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol. .

Abstract

Patients that suffer from factitial dermatosis mutilate their skin, often lacking any consciousness of self-injury, attributing the resulting lesions to spontaneous development. The case hereby described shows how the health providers' interventions led a patient from a baseline undiagnosed factitious disorder to frank delusions of infestation with Mycobacterium Kansasii, and a relentless search for antibiotic treatments. We highlight the need for educating health practitioners on the characteristics of psycho-cutaneous disorders.

Keywords: delusions of infestation; delusions of parasitosis; dermatology; factitious dermatosis; psychodermatology.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

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