posted
This is an emergency appeal for donations to Dr. Jones' Legal Defense Fund.
Remember, this is the fund that will enable Dr. Jones to protect himself against the CT medical board's attempts to revoke his medical license.
Since Dr. Jones is so beloved by the Lyme community, I'm trying to figure out why contributions are not pouring in.
( I know the financial situation of Lyme patients is not good. But with other legal defense funds in the past, there have been enough of us to compensate for that.)
SO I'm thinking there are some specific problems and misconceptions:
MISCONCEPTION 1: There is no need to contact other Lyme patients since they already know about the problem.
REALITY: Every day I find people who are learning about this emergency for the first time. So please start actively spreading the word. Lyme patients often have to hear things a few times before we get it. ------------------------------------ MISCONCEPTION 2: Other people with more money have been contributing to the fund..
REALITY: I'm here to tell you that not nearly enough have done so, so it's up to us. ------------------------------------ MISCONCEPTION 3: Fundraisers are planned that should take care of the problem.
REALITY: I know that some people have run fundraisers and will continue to run them. These are wonderful!! But fundraisers bring in only a few hundred or, at most, a few thousand dollars. They alone can't bring in nearly enough to solve the problem. So don't wait for those. Donate now. ------------------------------------ MISCONCEPTION 4: Not that much is at stake. Dr. Jones cannot lose his license. After all, both Dr.Jemsek and Dr. Burrascano had medical board hearings and are still practicing.
REALITY: Please understand that these were both GOOD conclusions to hearings when compared to what happens in the majority of cases in states like NC, NY and CT where the law does not require a high level of proof to revoke a doctor's license.
A guilty verdict in Dr. Jones' case could well mean his license is revoked. __________________________________________
MISCONCEPTION 5: Most of us will not be affected if Dr. Jones loses his license.
REALITY: The ripple effect of Dr. Jones losing his case will be that fewer and fewer doctors will be willing to risk their licenses to treat Chronic Lyme disease. We have trouble finding doctors now as it is.
Plus, if you have children, there will be no one there to treat them if they get Lyme.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: 1) Please give whatever you can today.
2) Please get the word out to all Lyme patients you know that Dr. Jones is in need of these contributions immediately.
3) Please write to friends and family asking them to contribute. I know this isn't easy to do, but MUCH is at stake here.
A SAMPLE LETTER TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY MIGHT BE - Dear ------ I know you've been aware of my family's fight with chronic Lyme disease.
I hate to have to ask you for additional help, but there is a very serious problem that threatens both my own family and all Lyme patients present and future.
Dr. Charles Ray Jones, the pediatrician who has devoted his whole life to saving kids with Lyme disease, has been brought up on charges before the CT state medical board. For all intents and purposes, he is the only pediatrician in the country treating chronic Lyme disease.
(If Dr. Jones has helped your child, please describe that here.)
As you might be aware, medical politics has been such that doctors across the country who treat chronic Lyme disease have been targeted for attempts to revoke their medical licenses. l If Dr. Jones loses his license, most doctors will get the message and be too afraid to treat chronic Lyme disease. This would be disastrous.
Again, I would not be asking for your help here if I didn't think this was an emergency Please give whatever you can to the Charles Ray Jones Defense Fund.
HOW TO CONTRIBUTE:
1) Checks can be mailed to:
The Dr. Charles Ray Jones Legal Defense Fund" C/O George Heath, III (CPA) 26 Fairlawn Drive Wallingford, CT 06492
Please make your checks out to the "Charles Ray Jones Legal Defense Fund" and be sure to write "GIFT" in the memo section of the check.
The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:
The
Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey 907 Pebble Creek Court,
Pennington,
NJ08534USA http://www.lymenet.org/
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