2019 V-RED Winners
The Vasculitis Recognizing Excellence in Diagnosis (V-RED) awards celebrate healthcare providers whose insight, persistence, and compassion have profoundly impacted the lives of people living with vasculitis.
For many patients, the journey to an accurate diagnosis is long and filled with uncertainty. It often takes a clinician who is inquisitive, caring, and determined—someone willing to look beyond the obvious—to uncover what others may have missed. V-RED honors those providers who make that life-changing difference.
This year’s winner shows how significant a physician’s persistence can be—diagnosing a rare disease in record time and guiding a patient from crisis to recovery through his dedication and compassion.
Berlin, Vermont, Pediatrician Ties for First Place in Vasculitis Foundation’s 2019 V-RED Award Program
(Berlin, Vermont, October 2019) Gwendolyn Shelton, MD, shared first place honors in the Vasculitis Foundation’s (VF’s) 2019 Recognizing Excellence in Diagnostics (V-RED) award program. With her diagnosis, doctors started treatment early enough to prevent a young woman’s vasculitis from progressing and causing more systemic damage.
In March of 2008, during her freshman year in high school, Meaghan Carpenter began exhibiting peripheral neuropathy in her legs, in addition to chronic asthma and allergy issues that didn’t appear to have any common thread. Eventually, Carpenter’s pain grew worse and she was admitted to the pediatric ward at Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Doctors controlled her pain with morphine, but they were unable to pinpoint the diagnosis. Fortunately, Dr. Shelton, who was a pediatric hospitalist on her medical team, felt that Carpenter’s case needed more in-depth investigation. When none of the potential diagnoses in the hospital’s computer produced any leads, Dr. Shelton turned to the internet for clues with more success. A website suggested Churg-Strauss syndrome, now called eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis.
Dr. Shelton contacted one of her former residency supervisors, Wilmer Sibbitt, MD, for advice (he later became Carpenter’s first rheumatologist). Dr. Sibbitt agreed with her conclusions, and with Dr. Shelton’s diagnosis, the doctors at Presbyterian Hospital began treatment. “Dr. Shelton looked outside the box, took my case home with her and saved me years of potential misdiagnosis,” said Carpenter. “Thanks to her investigation, my disease was identified and brought under control. I’ve been able to live an almost normal life. I’ll never forget what she did for me.”
Currently a pediatrician at Central Vermont Medical Center in Berlin, Dr. Shelton earned her medical degree at the University of Vermont Larner College of Medicine and completed her pediatric residency at the University of New Mexico. She served as a pediatric hospitalist at Presbyterian Hospital in Albuquerque and was founder/director, Inpatient Child Advocacy, responsible for consultations, and civil and criminal testimony for hospitalized children suffering abuse or neglect. Dr. Shelton is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Karen Hirsch, past-president of the VF Board of Directors, is particularly encouraged by the V-RED award program’s success. After her son, Michael, received an early diagnosis of vasculitis, Hirsch created the award to bring special recognition to medical professionals in a broad range of clinical specialties. She believes the award increases awareness among medical peers. The program calls on patients worldwide to nominate a medical professional they want to recognize for making a critical, early diagnosis of vasculitis, thus enabling timely treatment, and potentially sparing permanent and ongoing health complications. With more nominations than ever before, the program, now in its sixth year, has grown into a powerful campaign that raises awareness about early diagnosis.
Building upon the collective strength of the vasculitis community, the Vasculitis Foundation supports, inspires and empowers individuals with vasculitis and their families through a wide range of education, research, clinical, and awareness initiatives.
Maitland, Florida, Internist/Anesthesiologist Ties for First Place in Vasculitis Foundation’s 2019 V-RED Award Program
(Maitland, Florida, October 2019) Mark Anderson, MD, shared first place honors in the Vasculitis Foundation’s (VF’s) 2019 Recognizing Excellence in Diagnostics (V-RED) award program. Dr. Anderson’s patient, his wife Nancy Anderson, was trying to get a diagnosis in a way that is familiar to many vasculitis patients. Nancy’s early, nonspecific symptoms led to multiple visits with specialists who misdiagnosed the underlying condition. As her condition worsened, Dr. Anderson was determined to get some answers. “When Nancy’s peripheral neuropathy (numbness and tingling) spread from her feet to her hands, I knew this was something very serious,” he said. “I also knew her doctors were missing the core issue when they suggested it was just arthritis or fatigue.”
Fortunately, Dr. Anderson had some knowledge of vasculitis from his background in internal medicine so he knew what lab tests needed to be ordered for Nancy. When her anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies test came back significantly elevated, they immediately contacted John Stone, MD, a vasculitis specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, where Nancy was diagnosed with microscopic polyangiitis and treated with rituximab (Rituxan®). “I feel so fortunate that my husband intervened when all of my other doctors were misdiagnosing, or not taking my condition seriously,” said Nancy. “His research and gut instinct ultimately prevented the vasculitis from becoming worse.”
Dr. Anderson earned his medical degree from the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College. He is an internal medicine specialist and anesthesiologist with United States Anesthesia Partners in Maitland, Florida, and has been practicing for more than 30 years. His professional memberships include the American Medical Association, American College of Physicians, American Society of Anesthesiologists, the Florida Society of Anesthesiologists and the Florida Medical Association.
Karen Hirsch, past-president of the VF Board of Directors, is particularly encouraged by the V-RED award program’s success. After her son, Michael, received an early diagnosis of vasculitis, Hirsch created the award to bring special recognition to medical professionals in a broad range of clinical specialties. She believes the award increases awareness among medical peers. The program calls on patients worldwide to nominate a medical professional they want to recognize for making a critical, early diagnosis of vasculitis, thus enabling timely treatment, and potentially sparing permanent and ongoing health complications. With more nominations than ever before, the program, now in its sixth year, has grown into a powerful campaign that raises awareness about early diagnosis.
Building upon the collective strength of the vasculitis community, the Vasculitis Foundation supports, inspires and empowers individuals with vasculitis and their families through a wide range of education, research, clinical, and awareness initiatives.
Kent Town, Australia, Neurologist Receives Honorable Mention in Vasculitis Foundation’s 2019 V-RED Award Program
(Kent Town, Australia, September 2019) Andrew Lee, MBBS, MPH, FRACP, A/Prof, has received an honorable mention in the Vasculitis Foundation’s (VF’s) 2019 Recognizing Excellence in Diagnostics (V-RED) award program. Dr. Lee, a neurologist in Kent Town, is credited with diagnosing cerebral vasculitis in a patient whose series of frequent strokes baffled her doctors. His patient, Carmen Haule Reaiche, is now enjoying a life free from harsh medications and debilitating symptoms.
“Early diagnosis made a difference to my life in many ways,” said Reaiche. “It allowed me to grow stronger and to recover. “I am back to work, and even though I am not at 100 percent, I am alive. I am also able to be here for my only daughter when she has needed me the most, as she lost her father to cancer. I am functioning the best I can.” Raeiche’s first stroke occurred in 2012 at age 42. When she awoke, she was unable to speak or walk. She was examined by specialists at a local hospital, but after a few days, was released. Several strokes followed and her doctors had no idea why they were happening with such frequency and to someone who usually would not be at risk.
Dr. Lee is director of the Centre for Neuroscience Innovation at Calvary Wakefield Hospital and associate professor, College of Medicine and Public Health, at Flinders University. He specializes in stroke neurology and provides consultations, nerve conduction studies and research trials. He has been in practice for 22 years.
Karen Hirsch, past-president of the VF Board of Directors, is particularly encouraged by the V-RED award program’s success. After her son, Michael, received an early diagnosis of vasculitis, Hirsch created the award to bring special recognition to medical professionals in a broad range of clinical specialties. She believes the award increases awareness among medical peers. The program calls on patients worldwide to nominate a medical professional they want to recognize for making a critical, early diagnosis of vasculitis, thus enabling timely treatment, and potentially sparing permanent and ongoing health complications. With more nominations than ever before, the program, now in its sixth year, has grown into a powerful campaign that raises awareness about early diagnosis. This year, two winners tied for first place in addition to Dr. Lee’s honorable mention.
Building upon the collective strength of the vasculitis community, the Vasculitis Foundation supports, inspires and empowers individuals with vasculitis and their families through a wide range of education, research, clinical, and awareness initiatives.