An obituary for a woman who is alleged to have suffered from misdiagnosed Lyme disease is circulating online. The reason? It absolutely roasts the Dutch healthcare system.
The Reddit post in r/Netherlands, showing an image of the obituary, has already sparked hundreds of interactions and comments despite being posted only a day ago.
What does the obituary say?
The obituary for Marit Boulonois, who passed on the 12th of December 2025, describes her death as self-inflicted due to her incredible suffering from Lyme disease.
One particularly harrowing statement has captured users’ attention. The obituary claims that Marit’s death by suicide was “made possible” by the poor health care in the Netherlands.
The second section of the obituary poses critical questions aimed at the healthcare system on Marit’s behalf.
The central theme? Dutch doctors are not properly trained on how to refer or treat patients with symptoms of Lyme disease due to the stigmas and incorrect handling of ME/CFS.
Here are the questions asked within the obituary:
- Why is fatigue immediately reported as psychological?
- Why don’t mainstream doctors find out what ME/CFS really consists of?
- Why don’t general practitioners recognise the symptoms of Lyme disease?
- Why don’t general practitioners refer patients to specialists?
How are people reacting?
The resounding response online has been one of sympathy and resonation.
Hundreds of comments lamenting the issue of misdiagnosis and mistreatment of chronic or complex illnesses in the Netherlands were added to the post.
One user writes, “My mother dealt with the effects of Lyme disease for years. It was incredibly difficult to get proper help. She was severely affected by it for about ten years.”
Another has a similar story, saying, “My wife has an autoimmune disease, and it took three years for her GP to finally refer her to a specialist. The specialist determined that if she had been treated sooner, her condition wouldn’t have been nearly as severe.”
Stories of falling through the healthcare cracks and being left in life-threatening situations show just how dissatisfied people are with the system.
Not the only one struggling with an ME/CFS diagnosis
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a chronic and debilitating illness with triggers such as COVID and mononucleosis. It is characterised by intense fatigue, pain, cognitive issues, and more.
Issues with ME/CFS diagnoses have exposed key failings in the Dutch healthcare system, according to many commenters on the post.
One commenter says: “My wife has ME/CFS, and we’ve had several GPs whose ignorance (even though the tests were readily available online) has caused significant damage to my wife’s health. On purpose? No, of course not. But that doesn’t mean the blame suddenly lies elsewhere.”
The same comment specifically mentioned that the quality of care is dependent on the perceived severity of the illness, saying that if you have a “complex multisystem disease”, you are unlikely to get good treatment.
Counter-arguments?
Not all commenters agree, however. Several users relay good experiences with Dutch healthcare, or show general surprise at the intensity of the critiques.
One user says their “mother was immediately diagnosed with Lyme disease after experiencing fatigue, even though she herself said it was probably mainly due to stress.”
READ MORE | I had a good experience with the Dutch healthcare system, am I the only one?
Others show sympathy for the doctors being put to blame. The difficulty of diagnosing complex illnesses with limited resources is not a simple problem.
A critical user commented that “The Netherlands has ranked quite high on all lists of best healthcare for years. So no, the healthcare here isn’t bad. We do have a lot of problems with people who Google themselves and think they have a certain condition.”
Taken together, the comments and responses paint a plausible picture of patients being left behind by a strained, limited healthcare system.
What are your experiences with Dutch healthcare? Let us know in the comments!
No different than the healthcare in the US. Except it’s cheaper. Same happens in the US. They give you the run around, can’t find what’s wrong but it’s 10x more expensive to get 0 help.
Hi!
I‘m also completely abandoned and battling with a Deadly Crusted Scabies almost 4th year now that after doctors delaying, incorrectly diagnosing, false diagnosing, not recognizing or dismissing every single fact I presented to them. The protocols snd appointment schedules etc- i feel I’ve been through a concentration camp experience. 200+ visits and reach outs and, literally, hysterical calls and cries out for help, turning ER feeling suicidal…
Treatment plans that were harmful and causing complications (the opposite of what I really needed). And the Biggest Cruelty – constant discrimination, and gaslighting of me into ‚it‘s in your head‘. I had to travel to Ukraine and Poland to get help – a diagnosis was confirmed and treatment finally devised. I still have to get it from there though – to survive every day.
My life is in complete ruin. I‘m debilitated. Over 30-40k eur poured into managing this. With hundreds of wounds and insane itch for almost 4 years. NL doctors conclusions: fuck off , we can’t help you, go to the psychiatrist, you don’t have it. Now my entire family of 4 is infected and undergoing insane daily treatments and quarantine measures for the environment (wash everything high heat, iron, clean surroundings etc). I still don’t know when I will ever get out of it and have no doctor willing to help treat me in the Netherlands!..
I suspect thy marked my file with something like „it‘s this crazy lady that likes to go to doctors“ – which is totally not true. They have also been telling me straight LIES – like „scabies can’t be in the head, or cause it’s on your scalp – it’s not scabies“ when all the medical literature and research and hundred of people online talk about it!!! Cherry on top: thy still denied after even antiscabicidal medication being effective for me and photos from Dermatoscope demonstrating a bug and eggs clear as day (like textbook) and confirmed to me from doctors in other countries!! My mum is also diagnosed (in Switzerland) and undergoing crazy complications (me and her had corticosteroids given by dermatologists, while it is KnOWN it can cause nodular / incognito/ crusted forms of complications where instead of 15 mites you have millions.
Absolutely hopeless and desperate I am now filing a legal claim as I have MoRE than sufficient evidence these are intentional harming crimes.
If you would like to hear more – feel free to reach out.
Kind regads,
Anna
I have been fighting this health care system since I moved here 8 years ago. Fighting for pain management has been a nightmare. Paracetamol does not cure all.
Paying 385 euros as normal each year in case you call for ambulance, get your prescription that’s necessary to survive etc is crazy, so far I can’t say my experience with healthcare is possitive. It needs to be free since each year you pay more per month and it’s already crazy high the money spend per month for the basic healthcare
It took 2 years to diagnose shingles with my uncle because (gordel roos) is around the waist. Then there was told no treatment. No antivirals. No nerve pain medication. Noting. He died after years off agony … no treatment
At the GP level there is definitely room for improvement. Once you advance past that gatekeeper, my experiences have been pretty positive. The problem with most Dutch GP’s is that they treat your complaint and not your condition. They don’t ever do research or investigation to determine anything beyond the superficial complaints. Luckily, I have learned how to manage my GP and be my own advocate. I would rather be a pain in the ass than casualty. Over the years my doctor has actually come to respect this.
The main task for a GP is, to send as little as possible patients to the specialists. In many cases people do not ger the trearment they need. 3 years long a man I know got the diagnose Lyme. 3 times a new infection they said.but real treatment he didn’t get.
Too expensive.
When my mother had major surgery in The Netherlands I was surprised that there was no need for a consent form to be signed, for the operation. When I mentioned that my mother had not yet signed a consent form for the operation the surgeon at the time stated “we don’t do that here”!
It’s called the biggest scandals in recent medical history, and is not specific to the Dutch medical system.
It has recently been superimposed by the biggest (negative) medical outcome of the most recent pandemic, called long Covid.
Most people with post-acute infection syndromes have been mistreated similarly.
Two weeks ago there was a Dutch protest about it.
Dutch Review is more than welcome to (still) report on that too, and not only create clockbait.
Signed,
A former medical specialist and health-care provider, now specialized in these conditions
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/12/chronic-fatigue-syndrome-me-treatments-social-services
https://nos.nl/artikel/2592582-geld-voor-longcovidonderzoek-raakt-op-wanhoop-bij-patienten-groeit
Worldwide patients with Lyme disease and other fatigue illnesses miss correct diagnoses because the antibody testing is extremely bad for chronic infections. It’s the system that’s clinging to the Elisa WB combo, which was already found to be flawed back in the 80’s. Not the individual drs. And the comments about Googling your illness are so dismissive. It’s absolutely human to look for help, plus the whole intent of the Internet was to disclose science for crying out loud.
How about Axonal neuropathy, I suffer this since 2007. At least in Australia I got taken seriously. apart from being seen by a most unpleasant neurologist.
I was made believe that the heavy bleeding I had for a week wasn’t serious since I didn’t have pain in my stomach or experience dizziness, at the end of a week I change hospital I was extremely weak had to get blood transfusion and have an emergency surgery to remove my uterus. So I’m afraid to trust most of the doctors in Nederlands
I lost my mother, father and sister to delayed or incorrect diagnosis from Dutch healthcare. Mother – breast cancer – was not correctly diagnosed as life threatening. Father – doctor said he had a burn-out, but three most later it was stage 4 cancer. Sister – suicidal, she was on the waiting list for psychiatric care for 6 months, she finally got an invitation for psychiatric care 1 week after she successfully ended her own life.
Early 2024, my mother was in pain, had trouble eating. The GP told her to take paracetamol. She didn’t improve. After months in pain, in April, she was finally referred to a specialist, on 17 July. My sister and I sent her to a private German clinic instead. Diagnosis: stage 4 stomach cancer. Nothing to be done. My mother died on 11 July 2024- and the appointment with the specialist on 17 July turned out to be her funeral date.. The only ‘silver lining’ is that her wish for euthanasia was approved immediately. Nederland en ‘Neem maar een paracetamolletje’.
In the Netherlands you need to be assertive and strong. You need to demand to see an specialist. If you feel unheard you need to change GP asap. There are now some international GP so that is also an option. Research by yourself and prepare yourself for the meeting with the doctor. Now, with AI, you can have a good explanation of possible diagnosis and testing that you can discuss. They are, indeed, behind the rest of the world in terms of preventive medicine. They tend to be convencional in their approach and are caught by the rules of what they can and cannot do according to the insurance companies. Once your gut feeling tells you something, find another doctor, change hospital. I changed my GP 3 times and my specialist, two. It takes energy but you need to be in control and make yourself clear. People get tired and give up. That is the worst you can do.