The Empowered Patient Coalition provides resources enabling patients to take control of their medical treatments.

In 2003 a mystery ailment hit like a Mack truck rendering it impossible for me to work. I spent years being referred from one doctor and test to the next. Test results indicated all kinds of health maladies, yet I received no comprehensive diagnosis nor treatment. And I had comprehensive medical insurance through CIGNA. So I assembled my medical records, studied and self diagnosed. I’ve been disabled for over 5 years now with severe degeneration of the spine caused by untreated infections that developed as a result of undiagnosed congenital colon problems. Not being diagnosed cost me my job, my health and all my wealth. I’m facing foreclosure and bankruptcy in very bad health. Try finding a lawyer who will sue on your behalf once you’ve lost everything. This blog is a Hail Mary pass to anyone willing to help me. It chronicles my dogged pursuit for competent health care. We’ll never reform health care without shifting the focus to truly providing a service. I’d like to help by publicizing my story as representative of the tens of thousands of patients in the U.S. with chronic illness because they slipped through the health care cracks.

http://doctorblue.wordpress.com/