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The NIH consensus statement
agree or disagree?

The NIH consensus statement on AN treatments (found at http://odp.od.nih.gov/consensus/cons/087/087_intro.htm ) plays a major role in determining the treatment decisions made by newly diagnosed AN patients.  It is often used by diagnosing physicians to guide the advice they give to AN patients, and the referrals they make.

ANA USA, the national AN association run by AN surgeons (not affiliated with the AN Archive) is the leading AN patient organization in the USA. It, too, follows the NIH consensus statement in its policies on AN treatments.  All local support group leaders must stick by it as well.  This policy determines what kind of material about AN treatment options can be made available to ANA members.

We believe that the best interests of the newly diagnosed are not being served by such a policy.  Since the NIH statement, GK has undergone further improvements...  Wait-and-watch has proven itself as a viable option... FSR did not even exist then. According to the NIH statement, FSR providers do not exist, FSR patients do not exist, and their stories in the our patient directory are to be completely disregarded.

The Archive's mission is to help the newly diagnosed make an informed treatment decision, and we believe that AN  patients should be informed of all available AN treatments. Anyone who ignores all the developments that took place since the ones on which that NIH statement is based cannot be making a really informed decision, by definition.

It was a shocker when we first discovered that it was ANA's policy to stick to that consensus statement when deciding what material to make available to its members. ANA is excellent at providing support and advice to post-operative patients.  However, no amount of support and advice can undo the damage caused by uninformed treatment decisions.

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Last Edited: Wednesday, October 30, 2002