LYMEPOLICYWONK: CALDA CALLS ON TRIBUNE TO PRINT OP ED REBUTTAL TO BIASED ARTICLE

Patients think that the IDSA guidelines are harmful to their health because physicians, hospitals, and insurers rely on them to deny patients access to the care they vitally need to restore their health. Patients believe that the IDSA guidelines violate one of the cardinal rules of medicine, “First do no harm.” Depriving seriously ill patients of treatment is an egregious harm. But do the IDSA guidelines violate their own rules? Indeed, they do.

Merrill Goozner continues his insightful beat on conflict of interest articles by JAMA this year. Count them, one, two, three by JAMA–THIS YEAR–SO FAR–AND ITS ONLY MARCH! Does this mark a trend? A turning point for conflicts of interest in Lyme disease? In medicine? Do medical societies have an obligation to hold certain truths to be self evident–that patient concerns come before industry interests and ties?

There is a fabulous article on the importance of patient choice in universal health care in the Wall Street Journal. The article, "Sorting Fact from Fiction," is by Groopman . I recommend that you take the time to read this important piece, which identifies many of the issues Lyme patients have been raising for some time.

I posted a comment to the article drawing the analogies to Lyme disease, which follows. You may want to weigh in on this important topic.