The Governor's counsel has suggested that the bill be
VETOED this year and that they start with a new so
called "governor's program bill" next year.

This would be a disaster for Lyme. The OPMC is
currently investigating two of our LLMD's, and failure
to pass a bill this year could very well mean losing
these important doctors.

Also, we have fought long and hard to get a bill that
is fair and will protect our doctors from persecution.
A totally new bill opens the door for the OPMC to
demand provisions that will keep the process unjust.

For me, it is hard to see the Governor's counsel's
"suggestion" of vetoing our bill and starting anew as
anything but a ploy to get us off their backs.

We are willing to make compromises on the bill this
year, but are absolutely, positively against veto of
the bill, absolutely and positively against a "program
bill" next year.

BETWEEN NOW AND WEDNESDAY, PLEASE CONTACT GOVERNOR
PATAKI AND ENLIST EVERYONE YOU KNOW TO DO THE SAME.

THE MESSAGE WE NEED TO GET ACROSS IS:

PLEASE SIGN THE OPMC REFORM BILL, A4274b, THIS YEAR.
WE DO NOT WANT A PROGRAM BILL NEXT YEAR.

CONTACT INFO FOR GOV. PATAKI:

EMAIL:
Click here to email Governor
Pataki: http://161.11.3.75/

Scroll to the middle of the
page
to send Governor Pataki an email.

CALL Governor Pataki's office:
518-474-8390

This will take a few minutes of your time. Please do
it. The health care you save will be your own.
Ellen

[This message has been edited by ellenluba (edited 06 November 2004).]
 

The Pataki email link as given isn't active...

could you redo it pretty please?

Melanie
 

This should work: http://161.11.3.75/

Dave, thanks so much for writing.

Come on , everyone, please let Pataki know we don't want no "program bill" (whatever the heck that is). We need the bill signed this year!

BTW. all the variations you have seen in my username (ellenl, ellenluba, and ellenlu) are all me. Ellen Lubarsky. I've been having trouble getting into Lymenet to post. so just keep changing my user name.
Ellen
 

People always wonder why it is so hard to find a Lyme doctor. This is the reason. Until we can make it safe for the to treat us, until we can protect them from losing their licenses to the state medical discipllinary boards, many will be afraid to treat us.
Ellen
 

Ellen, thank you for all the hard work & all the effort that you & the others have put into this.
 

And..

@$^$&*%# %$#^&*

NOT THIS AGAIN!

GEEZE!

Could he possibly drag this thing out any further?

WHAT IS HIS PROBLEM?

He is REALLY getting on my nerves now.

I just wrote and told him to either, "poop or get off the pot".

I hope he does it NOW... without much more stink!

Grrrrrrrrrrr...

I didn't ACTUALLY say to poop or get off the pot... just wanted to freak you out a bit... hehehe

Dear Governor and staff,

Again I write to you asking.. NO ... begging that you PLEASE sign the OPMC Reform Bill... now, not later. I am too tired to keep messing around with this situation... and I am quite sure you are tired of hearing from me all the time about this issue.

I mentioned the other day that I have sent more letters to you than I have to my own family in the last few years.

I actually think the folks at my local post office think we are having a personal relationship after seeing me .. so many times.. sending you letter after letter!

Your actions in NY are being monitored in every state in the country and in many countries around the world.

Many peoples lives depend on getting this bill passed. Your signing this bill will make history.. and many people will be thankful once this whole mess is put to rest.

We are counting on you to help all of us and take a stand to do the right thing.

You already know all the boring details and how I feel from all my other letters.. so I will cut this one short. Before I go.. once more I will ask that you..

PLEASE SIGN THE OPMC REFORM BILL, A4274b, THIS YEAR!

WE DO NOT WANT A PROGRAM BILL NEXT YEAR.

Don't zap what little energy we have left and keep us hanging... PLEASE!

Thank you for taking care of us by signing the bill.

Today would be a good day to sign it.

Sincerely,

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Now.. for a phone call.

I wonder if he is there waiting for my call at 2 AM?

We'll see!

He said..

"Tincup! Good to hear from you again. Not to worry dear... I will sign that stupid thing just for YOU! But ONLY if you promise to keep writing me and calling me. I just LOVE to hear from you."

I said..

"Sure Governor.. I will call you every day if you just go ahead and sign that bill NOW."

He said..

"Please tell EllenLu not to have a cow over this situation. Tell her I want her to make plans for a nice long vacation and not to worry her pretty little head over this anymore."

I said..

"Thanks Governor, I will be sure to tell her. I know she will be pleased."

Then I woke up from the dream.

Actually.. there was a voice mail and I left a message.
 

Dear Governor Pataki,

I am asking you again to PLEASE SIGN THE OPMC REFORM BILL A4274b THIS YEAR.

Lyme Disease patients DO NOT WANT A PROGRAM BILL NEXT YEAR.

My life depends on this. I am improving after many years of illness with this dreaded disease and I have to thank a very brave doctor for helping me to A. correctly diagnose me where others failed FOR MANY YEARS and B. giving me my life back.

If you do not approve this bill, my life will again fall apart as it will for thousands of other Lyme patients.

Not only will our health deteriorate again if treatment is stopped too soon. But, our relationships will suffer as well as our entire families, not to mention our career prospects and productivity!

I BEG you to PLEASE support us here! Not doing so will have horrific consequences for many of us.

DLL

 

Are you reading this thread, Ellen? Please look at your email.
 

Dear Governor Pataki,

Please sign the OPMC Reform Bill. Do NOT veto it now, or wait to propose a new bill next year. I feel that doctors who are being accused of wrongdoing should be allowed to hear any charges brought against them, and should be able to present whatever evidence they feel will help their case at any OPMC hearing. I believe that doctors who treat Lyme disease with long-term antibiotics are being unjustly targeted, unjustly investigated, and are not allowed to put on a reasonable defense. I believe the OPMC Reform bill will rectify this matter in New York, and will set a precedent of fair procedure that will be copied around the country.

Governor Pataki, you recently visited my home town. As a registered Republican and voter, I had hoped to attend. If I had, I would have asked you to sign this bill. Unfortunately, I could not go. I was just too exhausted from Lyme disease to make the trip to the apple orchard that evening.

Lyme doctors are few and far between. (I travel to CT to see mine, when I can.) They are on the frontiers of medicine, battling a fairly new and debilitating disease. They need to be able to treat according to the latest scientific research, without worrying that their licenses will be taken away. If any are suspected of malpractice, they should have a FAIR hearing, just as any other individual would have if they broke the laws of the land.

PLease remember that people all over the country are watching what you do about this issue, and we have voices, and votes.

Regards,
[shaz]
 

Pataki needs to know that we will remember what he did in NY. Even if you do not live in NY, you should make your opinion heard in Albany.

Regards,
Shaz
 

Thanks for being persistent about this. I had failed to read these before so am so glad I did! Thanks again!

Sue
 

------------------
Sonoma County Lyme Support
[email protected]
 

But, please, no one feel you have to write something on the level of the letters here. Just be sure you let Pataki you want him to sign the bill THIS YEAR and that next year will be too late.

It's true that Pataki wants to run or President. That's why we're urging everyone from around the country to call him. He will want to please all these potential voters.

Remember that there can be power in numbers if we manage to get EVERYBODY we know to email and call Pataki.

The bill gives due process rights to ALL doctors, not just Lyme docs, so all patients have a vested interest in getting it passed.
Nitey night.
 

UP on the housetop reindeer pause,

OUT jumps good old Santa Clause..

eeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk...

Hey wait a cotton picking minute!

Is it, reindeer "pause".. or "PAWS"?

Gee willikers!

I am THIS old and am just NOW trying to figure that out?

Oh well..

When Quinn the Eskimo gets in.. everybody's going to jump for joy!

[This message has been edited by FightFireWithWater (edited 08 November 2004).]
 

Please let the governor hear from you immediately!
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by liz28:
But does Pataki have any incentive to sign this now that the elections are over?

---

Enjoyed your quip about your long-term relationship with the Gov!

I'd sure like to break it off with him, too!
How about it, Gov? Set us free!
 

I guess it's the short-sighted, quarterly-report-to-the-stockholders mentality that we have to fight.

Please don't forget to put it out to groups and organizations..

Everyone you can reach. We just can't accept this, the numbers everybody here have generated in these actions before are what got this Bill this far..we can do it again!

By way of mass contacts, let them know once and for all: DON'T mess with Lyme!!

Mo

..."your immediate signature is critical and has significant national influence"...

love,
andie &JC
 

DLL
 

Whoops. It's 8 o'clock. I've got a party to go to. Maybe Tincup will wear her fruit hat.
Ellen

 

PLEASE SIGN THE OPMC REFORM BILL, A4274b, THIS YEAR!

DELAYING THIS BILL FOR NEXT YEAR WILL ONLY HARM THE WELLFARE OF THIS STATE.

DOCTORS NEED TO BE EDUCATED ABOUT THIS DISEASE, ADEQUATE LABORATORY TESTS NEED TO BE DEVELOPED, AND INSURANCE COMPANIES NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE LONG-TERM BENEFITS OF DIAGNOSING AND TREATING LYME EFFECTIVELY.

LYME CAN HAVE DEVASTATING IMPACT ON THOSE WHO CONTRACT IT. PEOPLE ARE RUTINELY MISDIAGNOSED, AND THERE IS AN ALMOST PERVERSE RELUCTANCE AMONGST THE MAINSTREAM MEDICAL PROFESSION TO TREAT AND DIAGNOSE LYME.

LYME SURVIVES IN OUR BODIES. WOMEN CAN PASS IT ON TO HER UNBORN CHILD. LYME CAN BE PASSED ON IN BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS, AND WHEN DONATING BLOOD.

LYME IS NOT A NEW RECENT DISEASE AND LYME IS NOT A DISEASE RESTRICTED TO NEW ENGLAND. LYME IS A WORLD-WIDE DISEASE AND IS THE MOST RAPIDLY SPREADING INFECTIOUS DISEASE IN SEVERAL INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES, INCL THE USA.

I BEG YOU TO TALK TO THE CDC AND TO DIG INTO THE MEDICAL LITERATURE YOURSELVES AND LEARN THAT THERE ARE STRONG LINKS BETWEEN LYME AND DISEASES SUCH AS MS, ALZHEIMERS, COGNITIVE PROBLEMS, DEPRESSION, IMMUNE DEFICIENCIES, ETC.

 

Many, if not most, in the Lyme Community think that the CDC has been part of our problem, particularly because the CDC has allowed their surveillance criteria to be used as diagnostic critieria rather than for their intended purpose. This has spelled doom for many patients. That said, the CDC could obviously be very helpful should they choose to be.

Thanks again for writing!

[This message has been edited by FightFireWithWater (edited 10 November 2004).]