The impact of the failure is felt far beyond the families of the sick.

When a child does not get speedy, effective treatment it can be very traumatic for the entire family. 

• Managing a child with this disease can be extremely difficult. Outsized reactions to ordinary situations can lead to tantrums and sometimes even physical violence.
• Such children sometimes attempt to flee from their caregivers, which can be risky for all involved.
• The anxiety, OCD, and depression associated with PANS can lead to prolonged school absences. Many parents have had to take time off from their jobs to be home for their child.
• Without insurance coverage, families may go into debt or sell their homes to manage medical bills.
• Other children in the household are often neglected because of their high needs sibling
• Knowing that effective treatments exist but are out of reach can be devastating

It can affect the tax base:

• Permanent neurological damage from the lack of speedy access to treatment may result in permanent dependence on other state programs.
• One parent may have to stop working or reduce their employment to care full-time for the ill child. Desperate families may sell their homes to pay for medicine out-of-pocket.
• Children may miss many days of school or have disruptive behavior or high needs in a school setting, have paraprofessional support or an out of district placement, taxing school district resources.
• Police, emergency response, and child protective services can be involved as symptoms become increasingly erratic. 
• Patients may be hospitalized medically or psychiatrically, resulting in more costs and unnecessary suffering due to inappropriate medical treatment.

It can affect insurance companies themselves:

• PANS and PANDAS patients are often treated for other forms of mental illness for years before getting a proper diagnosis.
• Years of evaluations, visits to multiple psychiatrists, and repeated inpatient stays for suicidality or out of control behavior are among the costs insurance companies would typically pay for. Rapid diagnosis and treatment of PANS/PANDAS could spare companies those costs.