Author | LymeDisease.org
During his interview with NPR’s Terry Gross on Fresh Air, journalist Michael Specter got a key piece of information WRONG: that a tick must be attached for at least 36 hours before it can transmit infection.
Guest blogger Phyllis Mervine pays tribute to all the people “Touched by Lyme” who have used their knowledge and experience to lend a hand to others struggling on their Lyme journey. Phyllis is the founder and president of LymeDisease.org and the Editor-in-Chief of The Lyme Times.
In his interview with Terry Gross on Fresh Air, journalist Michael Specter says that patients are desperate and that “chronic Lyme” is “more comforting” for them to grab onto than a vague, incurable diagnosis of post-treatment Lyme disease, the preferred IDSA terminology – and a concept that is “recognized,” he points out. He thinks he is being sympathetic and doesn’t seem to realize how condescending and very offensive this sounds to Lyme patients.
The organized medical community doesn’t believe in chronic Lyme disease, said Michael Specter in a recent interview on NPR’s Fresh Air, and he appears to buy into this myth, too. We do know that some people don’t get better after treatment, he said, but the term “chronic Lyme” is vague, Besides, it’s hard to say you have the disease if there’s no evidence of the disease, he said.
When journalist Michel Specter was interviewed by NPR’s Terry Gross on Fresh Air, he got a few things right, but he also repeated some of the inaccurate information he presented in his recent New Yorker article. That information came from the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) propaganda mill.
Guest blogger Jennifer Crystal responds to recent media coverage in by reporters from the Boston Globe and the New Yorker.
Guest blogger Jon Katz, an American author and photographer, is known for book about dogs, animals and rural life, including “The Dogs of Bedlam Farm” and “Running to the Mountain.” Here, he writes about his personal experience with Lyme disease.
This Lyme advocate had to miss a planned meeting with CDC officials because she had a stroke. She delivered her presentation to them from her hospital bed, via telephone. Here’s what she said.
The agency stubbornly adheres to its party line, denying care to suffering Lyme patients.
Dr. Lyle Petersen of the CDC wrote an editorial for the Poughkeepsie Journal in response to the remarkable series of articles by Mary Beth Pfeiffer on Lyme Disease. In his letter, Dr. Petersen restates the IDSA/CDC perspective patients have long heard. Lyme disease is easy to diagnose and treat, but for those with chronic Lyme treatment is both ineffective and dangerous. He proposed that we work on preventing Lyme disease and early diagnosis and treatment—both laudable goals, but not at the expense of treating seriously ill patients. My response to his letter, which I posted on the Poughkeepsie website (and encourage you to respond there as well) follows.
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