Clinic for uninsured patients with MS reopens after receiving new funding

ST. LOUIS A weekly clinic for people with multiple sclerosis has reopened at Barnes-Jewish Hospital after low funds forced its closure in July.

The Gateway Area Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society donated $50,000 to the John L. Trotter MS Center, which serves patients with Medicaid or no insurance.

They are very committed to making sure MS patients in the region have access to an MS specialist, said Dr. Robert Naismith, a neurologist and director of the clinic.

About 400,000 people in the U.S. have multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease of the central nervous system that can cause symptoms ranging from numbness and weakness in the limbs to fatigue and vision impairment. The course of the disease and severity of symptoms varies in each person with MS. Most people with MS take disease-modifying drugs with a goal of slowing its progression.

The clinic will serve 150 to 200 patients when it is open a half day each week. Each patient is expected to visit the clinic at least once a year. It is named for Dr. John Trotter, a leading MS researcher and clinician at Washington University who died in 2001.

Each new patient will spend an hour with Naismith going over their medical history and getting an exam. A social worker from the MS Society will be on-hand to assist with transportation, insurance, education, legal needs and other resources. Resident doctors-in-training will have the opportunity to learn about MS treatment at the teaching hospitals clinic.

The clinic was active for many years as a collaboration between Washington University and the National MS Society. As its new director, Naismith secured the necessary funding with a grant request that included a plan for measuring patients satisfaction and outcomes. Patients will be carefully followed to make sure they are taking their prescribed medications, getting exercise and receiving counseling if necessary.

Naismith said he is concerned that more people are being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and there are not enough specialists to treat them.

We want to get the word out better to reach pockets of the region that historically have not had access to MS care, Naismith said. Its a scary disease to be diagnosed with, but there are treatments. Patients now are doing better than they were 10 or 20 years ago.

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Clinic for uninsured patients with MS reopens after receiving new funding