A 33-year-old woman with a rare illness died aged 33 after a doctor said it was a mental-health problem instead

• A 33-year-old woman who said that she was misdiagnosed died this week.
• Stephanie Aston said a New Zealand doctor dismissed her claim of having Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes.

A woman in New Zealand who accused the medical system of dismissing her rare medical condition died this week at the age of 33.

Stephanie Aston died on September 1, according to a charity she co-founded to raise awareness of her rare condition, Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes.

Aston waged a public battle with healthcare officials in Auckland whom she accused of wrongly diagnosing her disease as a mental-health problem.

A doctor diagnosed her with "factitious disorder," per details of a complaint she made to a New Zealand watchdog. Factitious disorder is a serious mental-health condition where a patient's belief that they are ill produces physical symptoms.

Per The New Zealand Herald, three specialists diagnosed her with Ehlers-Danlos, a group of inherited disorders that weakens connective tissue responsible for supporting blood vessels, bones, skin, and other organs.

The Herald reported that Aston's death was a result of the condition.

Aston's complaint to New Zealand's Health and Disability Commissioner in 2016 said that she believed being diagnosed with factitious disorder had a detrimental effect on her care and treatment. The complaint and its outcome were reported by The Herald at the time.

"I feel like I have had my dignity stripped and my rights seriously breached," she said.

The doctor stood by his diagnosis, in his response to the complaint, The Herald reported.

He pointed out that healthcare workers like Aston were more prone to factitious disorder, and argued that her case did not seem to match Ehlers-Danlos, per The Herald's reporting.

Aston disputed the doctor's account, telling The Herald that he did too little to evaluate her.

The body ruling on Aston's complaint did not give a ruling on whether she or the doctor was right, concluding that it was beyond its remit.

In her tribute, Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes New Zealand's other cofounder described Aston as "a beacon for many in our community.

"Even until the very end she was keen to help anyone and lend an ear," she said. "You will be sorely missed.