Topic: URGENT ACTION ALERT-FROM NOW TILL TUESDAY MORNING
ellenlu
Unregistered
posted
After a four year struggle, saving our access to medical care now depends on getting the OPMC Reform bill to a Senate vote this Monday or Tuesday.
As I explained in a previous post, the bill number has been changed to S4148 (from S5221), and Senator Hannon has become a primary sponsor. � (The other bill that we have been fighting for, Nettie Mayersohn's bill A7365a/ S3000, is still in committee, so has no chance of passage this year.)
IF THE OPMC REFORM BILL, S4148, IS NOT PASSED BY TUESDAY, IT WILL HAVE TO BE RESUBMITTED IN JANUARY AND WE WILL HAVE TO START FROM SCRATCH.
Between now and January, though, we could lose a few of our docs. So this is a true emergency for us.
There are many, many bills in the Senate waiting to come up for a vote, and not nearly enough time for them all to do so.
So, if we want to get the bill that will protect our medcal care, we gotta make more noise than we have ever made in our lives!!
ACTION REQUESTED IMMEDIATELY, THROUGH TUESDAY.
A) FOR ALL LYME PATIENTS IN ALL STATES: Please call and email Governor George Pataki right away. Telephone messages can be left on his answering machine.
Both telephone and email messages can be as short as "Please pass S4148 to reform the OPMC". Leave your name and address on the phone messages..
Telephone: 518-474-8390
To Email The Governor: Click on http://161.11.3.75/ Scroll down on the page this brings you to, and there is a form on which to submit your email.
B) FOR NEW YORKERS ONLY: 1) HANNON: Email Senator Kemp Hannon and call and leave a message on his answering machine.
Messages should thank him for sponsoring S4148, the OPMC Reform bill, AND urge him to have the bill brought up for a vote before the end of session. GIve name and address.
2) BRUNO: Call (answering machine) and email Senator Joseph Bruno. Urge him to bring S4148 , the OPMC Reform bill , to the floor for a vote. Leave name and address.
3) � PATAKI: Please call and email Governor Pataki.
Telephone: 518-474-8390
To Email The Governor: Click on http://161.11.3.75/ Scroll down on the page and there is a form on which to submit your email. ___________________
A lot of very sick people have worked very,very hard to save medical care for all Lyme patients. � We now need everyone to work hard for the next few days and generate as many emails and calls as possible. Ellen Voices Of Lyme
The Office of Professional Medical Conduct, (OPMC), is the part of the New York State Department of Health that investigates charges against doctors and disciplines them, often revoking their medical licenses.
In the past few years, the OPMC has investigated most of the LLMD's in New York State and charged a few of them with medical misconduct. � The proportion of Lyme doctors who have been investigated by the OPMC indicates a pretty clear bias against doctors who treat chronic Lyme disease.
The OPMC admits that many of the complaints that they get against doctors come from insurance companies.
The OPMC witch hunt against LLMDs is probably the major reason why it is so difficult to find doctors who will diagnose and treat Lyme disease.
The NYS Assembly held hearings into the workings of the OPMC, and it became very clear that physicians have almost no right to defend themselves against unjust complaints or charges by the OPMC.
THe Lyme community, has , therefore been supporting a bill that would give ALL doctors a measure of due process, so that they could defend themselves. For example, without this bill physicians are not even guaranteed the right to present scientific literature in their own defense.
Please follow the instructions in the action alert on this thread. Ellen
posted
I'm exhausted, and I'm grumpy, and I seem to be rapidly losing my mmind.
SO, I just wanna tell you that since I have been spending four years fighting to save medical care for Lyme patients, (most of the time being bed-ridden), if you guys don't take time to write and call this weekend,I give up on you.
I will run (or hobble) away to Costa Rica - with or without George Clooney.
Seriously, if you are well enough to post on Lymenet, you are well enough to send the emails requested.
And if you are not extremely sound sensitive , you are well enough to make the phone calls.
For those of you who have never seen me in person,I am 6 1/2 feet tall, brawny and tough.
Believe me, you don't want to cross me.
So write the letters and make the phone calls. Ellen
posted
That's right, you don't want to run into Ellen in a dark allyway.. (that's funny if you ever met sweet Ellen)
Seriously..we have to do this, the calls/e-mails are simple..just state your name and where you live, and urge them to pass the Bill # S4148 for OPMC Reform.
It is also well worth (and easy enough) to seriously forward to friends and family..if they helped with the longer letters, they will be exited to know it has moved along, if they didn't, this is simple action.
Also, bring the info to church, school..wherever.
Making these calls/e-mails is a piece of cake.
Loosing our doctors over the course of this year and beyond will be horrific.
Mo
Posts: 8337 | From the other shore | Registered: Jul 2002
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ellenlu
Unregistered
posted
Tomorrow is father's day,so please give this action alert to your families.
Everyone can sneak off for a few minutes to make phone calls. Dad will be happier if he knows his family is getting treatment for Lyme disease.
posted
As much as possible, please try to do this before Monday. I am hoping we can get the bill up for a vote on Monday.
I'm not sure how long the legislature will work on the last day, Tuesday. I would have for them to skulk off early, leaving our bill in the garbage heap. Ellen
posted
Message copied fromn Pat Smith (LDA Pres.):
Poised on the edge of a critical vote, the New York Lyme bill's fate is now in your hands, all of you in the Lyme community. For many years now, a group of people has worked not only in the open but behind the scenes to get the bill to this point.
The passage may now ride on you action or inaction.
Those of you who are familiar with the legislative process know that the smallest thing can tip the scale in favor of bill passage, so if you are deliberating about whether your fax/call/email can make a difference, it can. Elections can be won by one vote, bills can be passed by one vote, or not passed by one vote because a key legislator feels he/she does not have enough of the popular mandate.
Examine the stakes, they are high. Improved due process rights for physicians who are investigated by the OPMC. For a Lyme community with few treating physicians nationwide, that is significant. Doctors will better be able to defend themselves from any charges brought by the OPMC.
Just as the climate of fear for treating physicians has spread from states including New York where physicians have suffered, a more favorable political climate in New York will also spread nationwide. Not only the decision itself, but the fact that patients and advocates have been able to achieve the passage of legislation will sound another death knoll for those who still fight against our physicians. We are chipping away, state by state, bill by bill, and New York is big & tough and the politics bigger & tougher.
We owe a debt of gratitude to Monica and to Ellen Lubarsky whose unflagging enthusiasm has kept the momentum going in the Lyme community on this issue. They have brought it far, you can finish the job. Do it NOW since the session ends Tuesday.
Do it for them, for yourselves, for our doctors, and for those who will come behind still battling the ravages of this disease.
Pat Smith, President Lyme Disease Association, Inc. PO Box 1438 Jackson, NJ 08527 888-366-6611 information line 732 938-7215 fax www.LymeDiseaseAssociation.org
Posts: 8337 | From the other shore | Registered: Jul 2002
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Have not been on boards too much being so ill,really slipped this past yr. Yesterday, I almost just wanted to chuck it all in. Myself have faught. I thank all of you who faught. After 20 yrs., am older & sicker, little fight left...
I feel like I am losing the battle. So many doc`s, test studies, when could worked at clinic to help. Yet, no 1 will treat. Have lost count of the doc`s & insurances I have tryed that I can afford.
Most doc`s around here are now backing out. They are far & few between as it is.( Unless you are loaded & pay up front.) Those few usually do not take insurance. Just have to try to pry it out of ins. if you send a bill.
My doc`s are all stuck on 4wk. dose of doxy. That is it. If you are not well, then do not have lyme. These are doc`s who have done lyme seminars & call themselves Lyme Lit. sigh.....
Take Care.....Thanks....
Posts: 746 | From Clearwater/fl/Pinellas | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
Ellen - we're all behind you...grumpy or not! I like you better when you're grumpy........only kidding.
You did a great job on Friday at the press rally. Now, would you take your grumpiness and go see Dr. Klein?? He's no match for you.
Marie
Posts: 143 | From Putnam Valley, NY. USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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ellenlu
Unregistered
posted
Thanks so much to everyone writing and getting everyone else to write.
KerryBlue, what you are feeling is what so many Lyme patients are feeling. We are so sick. Many can't find doctors because of the reign of terror caused to a large part by OPMC persecution of doctors.
THIS is our opportunity to fight back, to turn the tide so that ultimately no patient will be sent home with a useless amount of treatmnt. Ellen
posted
It was super easy. Even a LymeBrain, like me, can do it. Please, if you do nothing else, this year, please do this one thing for all of us.
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liz28
Unregistered
posted
Just phoned them. The Senators have assistants in the office on Sunday, taking messages. Apparently, they are getting tons.
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1) From now through late Tuesday, no matter how often you've e-mailed or called before, NOW is the time to DO IT AGAIN.
2) If close family/friends have given you permission to call/e-mail in their name & address, PLEASE, PLEASE DO IT AGAIN.
3) If you have an e-mail or phone list of "usuals" you ask to make these kinds of calls/e-mails or if you have others who pass this info on to people who call/e-mail, we BEG you now: resolutely and tirelessly please DO IT AGAIN!
We MUST constantly position ourselves smack all over Senator Hannon's, Senator Bruno's and Governor Pataki's radar screens for the next 3 days! WE MUST BE RELENTLESS! We must make them think "These OPMC reformers/Lyme guys are really serious. Get their bill up for voting. "
The end of each legislative session is usually an intense scramble. And it's POWER that gets bills to the floor for voting. We are competing with lots of bills and their vocal supporters who also want to get their bills passed. Only the heavy hitters get their bills called up for voting in the last days and hours of the session. (I know. I've been there.)
WE HAVE TO BE OUR OWN "HEAVY HITTERS" BY OUR SHEER NUMBERS AND TENACITY! I know we are all tired of repeatedly writing or calling for the same thing. But those first two thousand calls and letters we made built the foundation to educate legislators. And we have done a fantastic job! NOW the next 3 days (Sunday thru very late Tuesday) is screaming out for all we're worth. Clamoring and insisting our bill get to the floor and be passed!
Only WE can do this. IT'S ALL IN EACH OF OUR HANDS NOW.
Some of us have stepped up to the bureaucratic or legislative plates often. For many of us this is the first time. Either way it can be demanding, intimidating, annoying or exhausting. It has also made us smarter, stronger, and better advocates. LOOK AT US! With the help of so many in- and out-of-staters we have accomplished so much in 4 years in NY!!! We have gone from being total unknowns to a respected, consulted, recongized SERIOUS GRASSROOTS MOVEMENT THAT MEANS BUSINESS. We are not asking for something that's unreasonable. We are INSISTING ON BASIC RIGHTS AND FAIRNESS FOR OUR DOCTORS, OURSELVES AND ANYONE WHO COMES AFTER US WHO NEEDS GOOD CARE. (I found out the hard way, that sometimes includes the people nearest and dearest to you.) If this bill does not pass the very necessary good research we desperately need will suffer also. In NY and other states we have learned that WHEN WE STAND FIRMLY TOGETHER WITH ONE STRONG VOICE WE CAN ACHIEVE, EVEN AGAINST GREAT ODDS.
This coming 3 days in NY, no matter where you live, we must stand together again with one firm voice. One firm purpose. Tenaciously, relentlessly, persistently. We must not let our S4148 get lost in the large group of bills vying for legislators' attention.
NOW IS OUR TIME! THIS IS OUR MOMENT! THE CONDITIONS HAVE NEVER BEEN BETTER FOR US TO GET THIS CRUCIAL BILL PASSED! AND THEY MAY NEVER BE THIS GOOD AGAIN!
Please follow Ellen's Action Alert of 6/19.
And 'wo/man' your computers! Keep checking thru Tuesday late evening to see if
there are any last minute updates. Things may shift a lot or quickly in the next few days and we may get notices to do something else immediately. Short notice is a fact of life in legislative session endings. It's also when the *real* business gets done! So please don't let a new, short-notice action alert make you crazy.
Just check nylyme often and act. SINK OR SWIM, WE ARE ALL IN THIS
TOGETHER. A VICTORY IN PASSING S4148 WILL BE A VICTORY FOR US ALL, IN EVERY STATE. Another crucial building block upon which more things can be achieved for us and our Lyme community.
Fight for all you're worth to get S4148 brought to the floor, voted on and passed!
Fight for all you're worth ... because we are worth it AND we are truly fighting for our lives.
To paraphrase Margaret Meade: Never doubt a small group of determined people can change the world... for that is the only thing that ever has.
Collectively we have passed important bills before and WE CAN DO THIS AGAIN!
Cheerleading from the heart, Carol
Posts: 8337 | From the other shore | Registered: Jul 2002
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Rita
Unregistered
posted
It's crunch time. I cannot express how extremely important it is for you to call & email now.
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When I just called Senator Bruno's line, they answered, asked name, what county in NY you are from, and when you mention the Bill to please pass #S4148..
SHE said..the OPMC Reform Bill?
Must mean they are getting some calls.
Full throttle to the finish, folks..
KEEP CALLING and E_MAILING!!!!!! As instructed above. ALL STATES call and e-mail Pataki, all with an NY county to refer to, call Hannon and Bruno as well.
Gat permission and names to do for others..
Just don't stop.
I wish to hear the fat lady singing soon..
Mo
[This message has been edited by Mo (edited 20 June 2004).]
Posts: 8337 | From the other shore | Registered: Jul 2002
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All the Cops at the 67th in Brooklyn USA will be calling again tonight and tomorrow.
I got connections wit da brass ova day ... (translation= over there)
Keep this up everyone! They need thousands and thousamds of calls in order to have a hope at it's passage.
ALLOT of Bills are on the table, we HAVE to be the squeekiest wheel!
Ya know what I'm sayin'?
Mo
Posts: 8337 | From the other shore | Registered: Jul 2002
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Ann-OH
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 2020
posted
I sent out the appeal and details for e-mailing and calling to my e-list which numbers 130+ people. Of course, I have e-mailed and called twice. Have been getting some replies that people are following through. (quote from Ellen) Both telephone and email messages can be as short as "Please pass S4148 to reform the OPMC". Leave your name and address on the phone messages..
Telephone: 518-474-8390
To Email The Governor: Click on http://161.11.3.75/ Scroll down on the page this brings you to, and there is a form on which to submit your email. (end quote)
posted
Thanks, Ann. The more people we encourage to call, the greater the chance that our bill will come up for a vote.
The thought of it not beng passed now is pretty hard to take. We would probably lose some significant docs by next January. Plus, we would have t start from scratch in getting a bill written.|
That thought alone seems like enougj to encourage people to pull out all the stops now. Take the few minute to write the requested emails and make the phone calls. Ellen
treepatrol
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 4117
posted
Heres what I sent short and sweet.
I wish you would pass this I have lyme disease and would very much like to see LLMD's have protection and the ability to treat Tick born disease's with out the threat of being prosecuted or threatend while the OPMC plays there games people are sick and getting worse these Dr's who treat lyme need help not persecution. Please wake up these tick born disease's are only getting worse, who knows you may need a llmd someday ? SUPPORT THE OPMC REFORM BILL S5221 AND THE MAYERSOHN BILL S3000
Thank you
Posts: 10564 | From PA Where the Creeks are Red | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
THanks so much . Please keep up the good work.
I know people must be confused by the recent changes. The OPMC Refrm bill was originally S5221, BUT it is now S4148. That's because some minor changes were made in it AND because Senator Hannon is now a primary sponsor.
But, just because Hannon is now a primary sponsor, we cannot count on his bringing this up for a vote before the sesson ends. So please follow the action alert at the beginning of this thread. Ellen
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