A report says that the serologic test for Lyme disease is overused.

“We found that a good number of Lyme disease blood tests are ordered inappropriately, primarily for patients who come in without symptoms,” . . .

. . . In more than 50 percent of the inappropriate tests, the patients didn’t have symptoms of Lyme disease, according to the article in the July/August issue of the Annals of Family Medicine.

Moreover, 27 percent of the tests were done because the patients asked for them. Of these, almost 40 percent were inappropriate.

Like many other instances, more education is needed to prevent inappropriate patient demands of tests. Alternatively, one can shift the cost burden completely to the patients where the tests are not indicated.