Fred Lublin, MD: The Primary Care Partnership in Multiple Sclerosis

“We need to partner with the doctors who are close to them.”

Fred Lublin, MD, the Saunders Family Professor of Neurology and the director of the Corinne Goldsmith Dickinson Center for Multiple Sclerosis at Mount Sinai Medical Center, sat with NeurologyLive to discuss the nuances of the relationship between primary care physicians and those treating multiple sclerosis.

Lublin highlighted 2 main rules for primary care physicians to follow: identification and reaction. These patients, he noted, can be transient and ephemeral, making them difficult to recognize, and not only is their disease complex, but the medications used to treat them can carry adverse effects, making the communication between primary care and neurologist extremely important.

Having synchronization between the two is key. That partnership can be especially sensitive, Lublin said, in places such as the United States’ Midwest, where medical centers that house the specialists can be far apart. Having contact with a physician that sees the patient regularly can make a huge difference in their care.