The letter also quotes Dr. Willy Burgdorfer, formerly of the National Institutes of Health and discoverer of the Lyme spirochete: “The controversy in Lyme disease research is a shameful affair. And I say that because the whole thing is politically tainted. Money goes to people that have for the past 30 years produced the same thing— nothing.”
You can contact Lorraine Johnson, JD, MBA at lbjohnson@lymedisease.org.
We are all concerned about the latest report from the IDSA statement that they plan to issue their final report regarding the IDSA guidelines review panel by the end of April. We are particularly concerned about whether the IDSA has corrected its voting violations. There may be other actions for the community to take as this unfolds, but right now, it is critical that we continue keeping the pressure on for other state AG’s to send letters to the IDSA (IMPORTANT: cc the CT AG) expressing concern about the voting violations and asking for compliance. Letters from legislators would also help spotlight the importance of the issue. Information on how to do this is posted on CALDA’s website along with the press release issued by CALDA, TFL and the LDA.
A recent article in the Greenwich Times addressing the "improper voting procedure” of the IDSA review panel contains a response from IDSA spokesman John Heys that the IDSA is "committed to ensuring the review panel conducts its review to the requirements of that action plan." Sounds a little boiler plate, huh? The next statement by Blumenthal though is more telling. He says that his office has yet to receive a response to the letter. That does not sound like much of a commitment. One has to wonder why it was necessary to write the letter of non-compliance in the first place and why the IDSA's only response to date has been to the press? "We hope there will be a response forthcoming shortly," Blumenthal said. So do we, so do we. . .
Please refer back to this site for new post on the hearings
The IDSA has now posted links to all of the presentation videos. I decided to retape my video outside the hearing so that it will not be subject to the IDSA's decisions about how long to post or keep the archive. The video on the IDSA site includes the Q&A and reflects the proceedings that day.
Most patients know that they should be told the risks and benefits of different treatment…
When the CDC increased its surveillance numbers from 30,000 to 300,000, they said the increased case numbers meant we needed to do more about prevention and their emphasis is on avoiding the tick bite. But is prevention in the form of tucking your pants in on the hike, enough? Not by a long shot.
