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Please forward to everyone you know! While this action is needed from MA residents, supporters outside the state are urged to contact anyone they may know in MA to encourage their participation. Many thanks! ACTION ALERT re: MASS. PHYSICIAN PROTECTION LEGISLATION In Brief (detailed explanation available below): The time has now come to contact Governor Deval Patrick! Language to protect physicians who treat Lyme disease has been included in an outside section of the FY11 Budget. Help us make the Governor aware of our (or a friend or family member's) difficulties in finding appropriate treatment for Lyme disease in Massachusetts and our need for this legislation! 1. We must ALL urge Governor Patrick to sign the Budget, with this section intact. The IDSA has opposed this legislation at every turn and we fully expect that they will be pressuring Governor Patrick to veto this section of the Budget Bill. We have already been told that the Legislature will not have enough votes to overturn such a veto. Please send letters, fax, call or email Gov. Patrick (contact info below, including a sample and some tips for your letter) to let him know how important this is to so many of his constituents. Politicians DO take notice when they receive many letters and calls on the same topic - so help us get his attention! Governor Deval Patrick
Massachusetts State House Office of the Governor Room 280 Boston, MA 02133 Phone: 617.725.4005 888.870.7770 (in state) Fax: 617.727.9725 TTY: 617.727.3666
Or use this link to email Gov. Patrick: _http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=gov3utilities&sid=Agov3&U=Agov3_contact_us_ (http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=gov3utilities&sid=Agov3&U=Agov3_contact_us) 1. We have also been encouraged to contact the Commissioner of the Department of Public Health, John Auerbach (contact info below), as Governor Patrick is likely to seek his opinion on the matter. If you send a letter or fax to Gov. Patrick, you can just send a copy to Commissioner Auerbach as well. We need Commissioner Auerbach on our side. Commissioner John Auerbach Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health
250 Washington Street Boston, MA 02108 Telephone: (617) 624-6000 TTY/TDD (617) 624-6001
Here's the link to the form to send an email to Commissioner Auerbach: _http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=eohhs2terminal&L=4&L0=Home&L1=Government&L2=Dep artments+and+Divisions&L3=Department+of+Public+Health&sid=Eeohhs2&b=terminal content&f=dph_g_feedback_form&csid=Eeohhs2_ (http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=eohhs2terminal&L=4&L0=Home&L1=Government&L2=Departm\ ents+and+Divisions&L3=Depart ment+of+Public+Health&sid=Eeohhs2&b=terminalcontent&f=dph_g_feedback_form&cs id=Eeohhs2) 3. It would also be helpful to send a copy of your letter to your own State Senator and State Representative (find yours at: _http://www.mass.gov/legis/city_town.htm_ (http://www.mass.gov/legis/city_town.htm) ), so that they also are aware of the large number of us that want and need this legislation to pass. It is an election year, after all - and they can also urge the Governor to sign. 4. If you are emailing the Governor and have any trouble sending your message with the online form, just email a copy to lymebill at gmail dot come_ (mailto:lymebill@...) and we will be sure that the Governor receives a hard copy of your letter. Any letters that are emailed to _lymebill@..._ (mailto:lymebill@...) will be printed and submitted to the Governor and Commissioner Auerbach TIPS FOR YOUR LETTER TO THE GOVERNOR: Please personalize your letter -- don't just copy the sample and send it, if at all possible! Form letters are not taken as seriously as a personal letter. However, a form letter MUCH better than nothing, if that's all you can manage right now. Keep your letter brief and to the point - no more than one page! As much as we'd like them to, they won't read all the way through our long, very sad and usually infuriating stories. If you are writing about yourself, and particularly if you are writing about a child under 18, please consider the fact that this is not private correspondence. You do not need to mention your child's name, your doctor's name, or any specifics about your treatment. Be sure to include your full name and address. Good points to mention: · If you (or a family member or friend) were unable to find a doctor in Massachusetts to diagnose or treat you appropriately for Lyme disease - and especially if any Massachusetts doctor indicated that they couldn't or wouldn't diagnose or treat you for Lyme disease because they were afraid of the consequences, or because they needed to follow the IDSA guidelines. Please don't mention names. · If you went to a physician out of state because of this. · If long-term antibiotics helped you. · If the delay in treatment caused additional health problems. · It's also good to mention the financial toll this has taken on you and your family overall. · Your desire to be able to choose a treatment which is alternative to those prescribed in the IDSA guidelines. SAMPLE LETTER TO GOVERNOR: The Honorable Deval Patrick Governor of Massachusetts Massachusetts State House Room 280 Boston, MA 02133 RE: The Outside section of the Conference Committee Report of the FY11 Budget pertaining to long-term treatment of Lyme disease Dear Governor Patrick: I want to urge you to sign the FY11 Budget with the section pertaining to long-term treatment of Lyme disease intact. This is extremely important legislation for my family and our state. (INSERT YOUR SHORT STORY HERE) This Legislation will allow physicians to clinically diagnose a patient with Lyme disease and will enable very ill MA residents to choose treatment options that best meet their needs, while the medical community works to find better consensus on LD treatment guidelines. Please sign it into law and allow the citizens of Massachusetts a choice in the treatment of Lyme disease. Sincerely, Jane Doe 435 Maple Street Anytown, MA 00022 If you would like a Microsoft Word template for this letter to be emailed to you, send an email to lymebill at gmail dot come with the word TEMPLATE in the subject field.
The Details: *Text of the proposed legislation: Chapter 112 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 12CC the following section:- Section 12DD. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings:- “Long-term antibiotic therapy” the administration of oral, intramuscular or intravenous antibiotics singly or in combination, for periods of time in excess of 4 weeks. “Lyme disease” the clinical diagnosis of a patient by a physician, licensed under section 2 of chapter 112 of the presence of signs or symptoms compatible with acute infection with Borrelia burgdorferi; late stage, persistent or chronic infection with Borrelia burgdorferi; complications related to such infection or with such other strains of Borrelia that after adoption of this bill, are recognized by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a cause of Lyme disease. “Lyme disease” shall also include an infection that meets the surveillance criteria set forth by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and a clinical diagnosis of Lyme disease that does not meet the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention surveillance criteria but presents other acute and chronic signs or symptoms of Lyme disease as determined by the treating physician. Such clinical diagnosis shall be based on knowledge obtained through medical history and physical examination only, or in conjunction with testing that provides supportive data for such clinical diagnosis. (b) A licensed physician may prescribe, administer or dispense long-term antibiotic therapy for a therapeutic purpose to eliminate infection or to control a patient's symptoms upon making a clinical diagnosis that the patient has Lyme disease or displays symptoms consistent with a clinical diagnosis of Lyme disease, if such clinical diagnosis and treatment are documented in the patient's medical record by the prescribing licensed physician.
** H1148: An Act relative to the treatment of chronic Lyme disease, filed by Representative Robert Hargraves last year, had been stalled and changed in various committees as it made its way through the legislature and we were running out of time to get that bill passed during the current legislative session. Senator Frederick Berry worked with Rep. Hargraves to attach identical language (which is similar to the CT law) to both the Senate and House versions of the Budget. The Senate and House versions of the FY 2011 Budget have both been passed in their respective chambers and are currently in Conference Committee, where any discrepancies will be negotiated. Because both versions of the budget contain the identical physician protection language, that section will remain the same in the final Budget that is presented to the Governor, which will probably be on or around June 19th (Please try to contact the Governor before then!) This is our very best chance to see this become law and the only possibility of it becoming law this year.
Posts: 4 | From Massachusetts, USA | Registered: Mar 2009
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posted
This is a BIG deal...Can we also post this under all discussions since this is that critical and most people on this site go under "medical questions and general support"? Maybe a link on home page? and please, please take 5 minutes to write a small letter and email, mail, fax or call. Very short time period on this. I wish good health to all...
Posts: 7 | From Boston | Registered: Jan 2010
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posted
I HONESTLY believe this belongs on the home page since it is coming up this week. and should also be on top of every section. Im from MA, but would help anyone in any state w/ this matter. Thank you!!!! Can somone? Moderator, admin please see about this. All legislation signings, votes, etc..should be the first thing people see. The more people speaking up, the more people listen.
Posts: 7 | From Boston | Registered: Jan 2010
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posted
I sent my letter via email to the Governor. This bill would mean great things for those of us with Lyme in MA. Especially with it being a highly endemic area for tick-borne infections.
Hopefully (at least in my best dreams) this might have a domino effect with the insurance companies in MA, whereby the Governor's recognition of this legislation would cause them to be more open to approving treatments, especially the more "high-end" types like long-term antibiotic IV.
Posts: 10 | From Western Massachusetts | Registered: Mar 2010
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bcb1200
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 25745
posted
Sent mine in 2 weeks ago.
-------------------- Bite date ? 2/10 symptoms began 5/10 dx'd, after 3 months numerous test and doctors
IgM Igenex +/CDC + + 23/25, 30, 31, 34, 41, 83/93
Currently on:
Currently at around 95% +/- most days. Posts: 3134 | From Massachusetts | Registered: May 2010
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