Rheumatic Diseases Painful For Patients…Cost And Doctor Shortage Doesn’t Help

Around one point three million people from Northeast Tennessee to Memphis suffer from some form of arthritis. The cost of providing treatment is painful, but for children with the disease, besides the cost, there is another problem to deal with. Dr. Christopher Mecoli explains.

(:12)…pediatric rheumatologists

Nationwide, there is one rheumatologist for every 40 thousand people, but in Tennessee that number is one in every 55 thousand…making treatment especially difficult in rural areas of northeast Tennessee.