posted
Here is the letter that the IDSA is advising all infectious disease docs to sign onto. It's crafty and powerful - a wolf in sheep's clothing.
GET ****ED AND GET ON THE PHONE AND EMAIL!!!!
Dear �Title� �Last Name�,
I am an infectious diseases physician treating seriously ill patients in and around �City�, �State�.
This letter is to express my strong opposition to Legislative Bill �Bill Number�, which sanctions the use of long-term antibiotic therapy to treat Lyme disease.
In urging your opposition to this legislation, my primary concern is to ensure the best quality in patient care and to protect the public's health and safety.
To this end, I believe it is critically important that you be fully apprised of the widespread consensus within the medical and scientific community about the appropriate treatment of Lyme disease, as well as the medical community's concerns about unproven, potentially harmful treatments for so called ``chronic'' Lyme disease that are advocated by a small group of physicians.
As you may know, Lyme disease is a tick-transmitted infection that can cause non-specific symptoms such as muscle and joint pain, fevers, chills, fatigue, and difficulties with concentration or memory loss.
Some patients may continue to experience these symptoms even after a course of antibiotic therapy has killed the Lyme disease bacterium. A small group of physicians have diagnosed such patients as having ``chronic'' Lyme disease.
Many of these so called ``chronic'' Lyme diagnoses are supported by laboratory tests that are not evidence based and are not regulated by the Food and Drug and Administration.
Even more troubling, physicians who diagnose ``chronic'' Lyme disease often advocate treating patients with repeated or prolonged courses of oral or intravenous antibiotics that have no proven value other than an anti-inflammatory response in some individuals, and which may in fact do more harm than good.
Of greatest concern is the bill's misguided attempt to sanction the use of long-term antibiotic therapy to treat Lyme disease.
The premise for prolonged antibiotic therapy for Lyme disease is the notion that some spirochetes can persist despite conventional treatment courses, thereby giving rise to the symptoms ascribed to chronic Lyme disease.
Not only is this assertion microbiologically implausible, there are no convincing published scientific data that support the existence of chronic Lyme disease.
Rather, carefully designed studies of Lyme disease have demonstrated that there is no difference in the measured improvement between patients receiving placebo and patients treated with antibiotics.
A recent New England Journal of Medicine article stated unequivocally ``that there is little or no benefit associated with additional antibiotic treatment for patients who have long-standing subjective symptoms after appropriate initial treatment for a properly diagnosed episode of Lyme disease.''
Furthermore, the scientific evidence indicates that long-term antibiotic therapy may be dangerous, leading to potentially fatal infections in the bloodstream as a result of intravenous treatment.
Also, although the bacteria that causes Lyme disease does not acquire resistance to antibiotics, long-term antibiotic exposure can lead to drug-resistance among other microorganisms, creating ``superbugs'' that cannot be treated with currently available drugs.
In summary, far from improving the patient's quality of life, prolonged antibiotic therapy may actually increase the patient's suffering.
As an alternative to enactment of Legislative Bill �Bill Number�, I urge the committee to hold public hearings on Lyme disease.
Such hearings could play an important role in educating our fellow citizens about the controversy surrounding the treatment of this debilitating condition.
However, in order to ensure that legislators get a science-based assessment of appropriate treatments for Lyme disease, I strongly urge you to invite board-certified ID specialists who support evidence-based medicine to testify at all public hearings.
On a personal note, as an ID physician who treats patients with serious infections on a daily basis, I have profound empathy for patients who are ill and have been told their illness is due to ``chronic'' Lyme disease.
I do not doubt that these individuals are suffering, but many report non-specific symptoms that may be attributable to a number of medical conditions.
Therefore, I would strongly encourage patients who are diagnosed with ``chronic'' Lyme disease to seek an expert second opinion to enhance their opportunity for a correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment.
For more information on Lyme disease and the recommendations by the vast majority of experts in the field, please visit websites for IDSA (www.idsociety.org), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov), the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (www.niaid.gov), the American Academy of Neurology (www.aan.com) or the American College of Physicians (www.acponline.org).
Posts: 364 | From California | Registered: Sep 2005
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bettyg
Unregistered
posted
i just got done editing the one i got in my home mail and mailed to ALL MY LYME GROUP LIST and asked others to post on "OTHER LYME' BOARDS TOO!
we need THOUSANDS of folks to make these calls!
after all, there are 8,000 INFECTIOUS DRS. IN USA!*****************************************
that letter is HOG WASH! so upsetting...
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posted
And being that there are no such "experts" in the area of Lyme treatments, I'm just curious as to where this "expert second opinion" should come from.
-------------------- Craig Posts: 207 | From Tallahassee, Florida | Registered: Nov 2007
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bettyg
Unregistered
posted
I MADE MY 3 CALLS JUST NOW!! All were very receptive and NICE!! ***************************
Ted Kennedy's staff member said they've had at least 100 calls today!! *********************
Pallone's office said they were flooded. I told them I've had chronic lyme disease for 38 years; 34 yrs. MISDIAGNOSED by 50 drs.
Iowa doesn't have any chronic lyme literate drs. here so I was forced to go out of state for treatment costing me $1,000 travel expenses and $5,000 OUT OF POCKET MEDICAL.
Iowa's BCBS refuses to pay any LYME expenses.
Pallone's staff member ASKED FOR MY HOME ADDRESS! ************************************************
called energy no. who explained we are CALLING SEN. PRIVATE NO. THERE VS. ENERGY COMMISSION NO.
they've been flooded w/calls the last 2 days. before he transferred me over, I again told my above story.
he stated they are very SYMPATHETIC to us and have heard from all over USA on this problem.
got answering machine. I spelled out my name/address/state and told my above story.
in fact, at this time I WAS ON A ROLL and kept going until they said i had 15 seconds left. said bye...end of call. I WAS CUT OFF!
i mentioned we need to get a hearing to get both sides of the issues out there for chronic lyme vs. idsa.
we need more money and cut back money on WEST NILE VIRUS AND BIRD FLU $$$$. ******************************
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