How to watch archives of IDSA hearing

How is it possible for the IDSA to have a public guidelines review on Lyme Disease hearing date set for April 27th when it hasn’t notified speakers that they will be speaking at the hearing? When it hasn’t even selected speakers? When it hasn’t even posted applications for speakers on its website? When it hasn’t reserved a room for the event? You’d think this group had never held a conference before—but wait— it holds annual conferences! So this organization KNOWS how to prepare for and hold a big event that will have a number of speakers; it knows how to reserve a room; and even how to select speakers and give them time to prepare. In fact, it has already worked out all of these details for its own annual meeting in October, which is more than 6 months away. They have a list of speakers, the assigned topics and reserved facilities— the whole nine yards.

During 2010, Dr. Stricker and I published nine articles or letters on Lyme disease. Shortly after the New Year, another publication by us came out. This post lists these 10 publications and tells you how to access those that are available without charge. More after the jump. . .

Doing a guideline review process correctly and vigilantly is important. It is also a difficult goal to pull off. The 2006 IDSA guideline development process was flawed, as Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal found in the antitrust investigation. That panel was hand-picked to represent a particular viewpoint on treating Lyme disease and it cherry- picked the evidence or interpreting the evidence in a manner that supported a preconceived viewpoint. When science is unclear or unfolding rather than acknowledging that fact, guidelines sometimes rely on 'expert opinion' to fill the evidence gaps. This is a big problem because evidence based guidelines are presumed to be based on evidence, not opinion. Substituting the 'expert opinion' of someone on a guideline panel is no better, (actually, it is worse) than leaving the matter open and allowing the treating physician to use their own expert opinion.

Antibiotic resistant infections killed more than 65,000 people in the US in 2009. But 70% of antibiotics, which can make animals grow faster, went to cows, chickens and pigs last year. Antibiotics in livestock provide a breeding ground for antibiotic resistant infections that can be passed on to humans. According to a recent AP article, animal fed antibiotics “can develop germs that are immune to the antibiotics. The germs then rub into scratches on farmworkers' arms, causing oozing infections. They blow into neighboring communities in dust clouds, run off into lakes and rivers during heavy rains, and are sliced into roasts, chops and hocks and sent to our dinner tables.”

My recent post on MUS (medically unexplained syndrome) and why that doesn't apply so much to a disease of known etiology drew an interesting comment from a reader. This person says that maybe other (more creative) acronyms are appropriate. Do you have a favorite acronym for Lyme? The post follows.

Have you ever wondered how many patients with Lyme disease have a rash? You would think the answer would be straight-forward. It’s not. Estimates range from 27-80%.