Having read the latest tirade of Dr. Fisch I must conclude that the man really is a case of something all too common in the unhallowed halls of academe: a case of arrested development. His behaviour can only be described as puerile. Having read that article in the Hartford Courant I wondered and "these are the people who are in charge of our health care"???? His comment about helping the smaller (ie poorer???) restaurants to cheat on their state inspections would be hilarious but for the fact that food poisoning is a major cause of death and a major health problem in this country I believe.
In any case as I am from the benighted state of South Carolina and not Conneticut the Courant declined to print my response. I submit it herewith. If some one in that superb if tick infested state would care to make use of it I would be grateful. Cheers.
The Editor The Hartford Courant
Dear Sir:
Your recent article on Lyme disease highlights a serious problem in the treatment of this crippling, painful and potentially fatal disease. As the basic science of this infection becomes more complex, the clinical science remains simplistic and uninformed. The position of Dr. Fisch and his colleages resembles nothing so much as a group of mediaeval prelates expounding dogma ex cathedra. They have demonstrated a political ruthlessness towards anyone who might disagree with them that can only be called striking. Attacking and ruining the careers of those who disagree with you on the basis of peer reviewed research and their clinical experience is science?.
As a result thousands infected with this disease either cannot get diagnosis and treatment or can get them only with the greatest difficulty. This in the face of what is one of the most invasive and elusive pathogens known to medical science. If treatment is delayed, a tenacious tissue invasion develops which is extremely difficult or impossible to eradicate. Far too many have been disabled and died.
The plain truth is that the positions taken by Dr. Fiscch and the IDSA have been flatly contradicted by a massive body of peer reviewed reseasch into this extremely complex disease, disproven by the clinical expericence of hundreds of treaters of Lyme disease, who unlike Dr. Fisch have actually helped their patients and refuted by the thousands and tens of thousands of sufferers of Lyme disease who in many but not all cases have benfited from those very antibiotic therapies Dr. Fisch would forbid.
The sad truth is that the medical profession, the IDSA and Dr. Fisch have failed all of us miserably.
Sincerely,
Thomas M. Parkman President, Lyme Disease Network of South Carolina
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Pretty pitiful, isn't it Thomas!? Your letter was awesome...I hope it gets in print somehow, someway.
Maybe you should spell Fish's name right. He might throw a hissy-fit!!
Since you're a Southern boy, you know all about those!! Posted by northstar (Member # 7911) on :
Wonderful letter, as usual !
How did you know that they declined it?
Did you have to register first?
North
Posted by Thomas Parkman (Member # 3669) on :
Well I read down all of the 57 replies and I was not there in spite of the fact that I was the first to reply. So I don't know what is going on. All I can say is the whole level of discussion of this certainly complex and difficult issue is pretty disappointing. People's lives are at stake and we get this??? Am I the only one who sees that there is something terribly wrong here.
As for Dr. Fish I will make every effort to spell his name correctly. Mabe that is why they refused to print it. I will resubmit it and see. But I repeat we have had far too much vitripution and personal attacks and not nearly enough honest discussion of the real issues involved with this disease. Dr. Fish would have been far more effective if he had acted in a mature and adult manner and responded to questions that have been legitimately raised. Then there could be an honest laying out of all the cards on the table in an unemotional manner and then we would begin to get somewhere.
Posted by northstar (Member # 7911) on :
Did you register with Topix? I think you have to register and sign in to post?
I did notice that there were non-Conn. states listed in Comments.
North.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
^
Posted by lymeladyinNY (Member # 10235) on :
I like how you write, Thomas! Posted by Michelle M (Member # 7200) on :
Elegant prose, Mr. Parkman. As ever.
Michelle
Posted by breathwork (Member # 567) on :
Thomas,
As always, I love your words..and particularly, how you string them together...
I couldn't agree more...just wish I lived in CT so I could take credit for them temporarily!
Carol Ann
Posted by CaliforniaLyme (Member # 7136) on :
You are in now!!! I read you there!*)!)*! GREAT letter Mr. P*)!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by Thomas Parkman (Member # 3669) on :
well, good people, I think that the good Dr. Fish, notice the spelling please, has actually done us all a good turn. He has inadvertantly spilled the beans. He commented, he the great bug authority but not an MD, that in 1980 there were practically none of these little ticks about, in 1981 there were a good many but by 1982 there was this huge explosion and half the ticks were infected and he then admitted that this was going to be one hell of a problem and boy was he ever right.
Now if we can have a bug explsion in the great state of Connecticut,notice the spelling please, can we not have a bug explosion anywhere with half of the benighted creatures infected??? Over a mere two year period??? So yes, we do have one hell of a problem. Now why can't somebody call up the good Dr. Fish and suggest that he become part of the solution instead of part of the problem. Cheers.
Posted by Ann in CA (Member # 97) on :
Same thing happened with my response. Even though it said it had been sent the first time, it never showed up. I waited a few hours to see if perhaps they just screened everything, and when it still hadn't shown up, I resubmitted it, and it showed up instantly. So think it must be a bug in their system rather than deliberate descrimination.
What I would like to know is why it said I was from Napa, CA. I did not register and wonder how they got so close to my actual county. (Sonoma) My email source would not reveal that I would think?
Great comment!
Ann
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
congrats thomas on another great letter being PUBLISHED !! we salute you!
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