Delusional Parasitosis Impeding Delivery of Acute Care in a Cancer Patient

Taking care of patients with delusional parasitosis can be challenging. This report illustrates the added management complexity and ethical dilemmas surrounding a patient who was newly diagnosed with an incurable lung cancer, while at the same time was suffering from delusional parasitosis. Her delusion was so profound that she blamed flukes for her respiratory failure and refused treatment of her cancer. This paper emphasizes making the right decision with the greater good in mind, even if this meant “yielding” to a patient’s delusion and treating the non-existing parasitosis in order for her to allow us to also treat the cancer.