| NATIONAL NEWS |
| IOWA NEWS |
| Iowa Lyme Disease Association Provides Free Education
entitled “Be Aware-Not Scared” at Lake Okoboji. Over 200 healthcare professionals came to the session which also featured former Senator Berkley Burdell. May was National Lyme Awareness month and in an effort to educate professionals treating the disease the Iowa Lyme Disease Association prepared handouts and brochures educating individuals on the various signs and symptoms of the disease. Current treatment guidelines were also discussed. Incidents in Lyme Disease cases has been on the increase in Iowa’s neighboring states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Missouri. Without effective diagnostic tools the Center for Disease Control (CDC) believes that Lyme Disease is underreported in many states such as Iowa.
anyone else interested in discussing Lyme issues. Want to find out how others are being treated? Is someone else afflicted with the same symptom? You are not alone, dealing with this disease. Let's help each other!
to educate Iowan's. Contact us for more information.
information, all in a plastic vial. Protect yourself this fall. Ticks remain active until a hard freeze. |
Investigation of Lyme Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Guidelines
s Settlement in Anti-trust Case Against Powerful Medical Society Hartford, CT, May 1, 2008 – Patients’ rights groups today hailed Connecticut Attorney General Blumenthal’s announcement of a settlement in a landmark antitrust investigation into the Lyme treatment guidelines of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). “My office uncovered undisclosed financial interests held by several of the most powerful IDSA panelists,” said Blumenthal. “The IDSA’s guideline panel improperly ignored, or minimized, consideration of alternative medical opinion and evidence regarding chronic Lyme disease, potentially raising serious questions about whether the recommendations reflected all relevant science.” The groundbreaking settlement announced today forces a complete review of the IDSA guidelines by a new panel free from conflicts of interest, specifically excluding previous panel members. This panel will consider a range of scientific evidence in a public forum broadcast live over the internet and will be overseen by a specialist in financial conflicts of interest in medicine. “This settlement makes it clear that the IDSA guideline development process was corrupted by a commercially driven panel that excluded evidence supporting longer term treatment of Lyme disease,” said attorney Lorraine Johnson, Executive Director of the California Lyme Disease Association (CALDA). “This settlement allows suppressed scientific viewpoints and evidence to be heard, and it is promising news for patients.” This is the first-ever antitrust investigation against a medical society’s guidelines development process. “We congratulate Attorney General Blumenthal for exposing the IDSA’s conflicts of interest and helping reduce the suffering of Lyme patients everywhere,” said Pat Smith, president of the national Lyme Disease Association (LDA). Diane Blanchard, co-president of Time for Lyme adds, “The IDSA guidelines are dangerous for patients who suffer longer-term Lyme symptoms that do not fall within the IDSA’s narrow disease definition.” The IDSA guidelines are treated as mandatory within the medical community. More than 50 physicians who use longer-term treatment approaches have been investigated or sanctioned by state medical boards. The guidelines can also result in financial problems for patients, since insurance companies refuse to reimburse for longer-term treatment and pharmacies may refuse to fill prescriptions. The majority of individuals involved in the IDSA guidelines development process held direct or indirect commercial interests related to Lyme vaccines, patents, and/or test kits, and did not take the opinions or experiences of the competing Lyme groups into account. While the announcement of a settlement comes as a huge relief to suffering Lyme patients, the case has much broader implications for a health care system that often contends with conflicts-of-interest in guideline processes – guidelines which are often used by insurance companies to limit diagnosis and treatment options. “Today’s settlement marks an important victory for all patients who suffer Lyme disease, but it is also a victory for anyone concerned about health care,” said Johnson. “Commercially driven guidelines that limit patient treatment options are a major issue today in healthcare, and this decision marks an important step towards addressing it.” |
PHYSICIAN LISTING
another state? Does your local physician need to consult with a more knowledgeable doctor? Currently, there are two sources online that provide physician referrals. Links are provided below: Lyme Disease Association: Lyme Disease Foundation: Lyme Disease Foundation Doctor Referral |
| ***Disclaimer: The information provided on this web site should not take the place of any quality medical care. It is provided for patient information only. ILDA does not engage in rendering medical services. |
| $100 Million Proposed for Lyme Disease
Prevention, Education, and Research Act of 2005". On Tuesday July 26, 2005, Congressman Christopher Smith (R-NJ) a longtime friend of the Lyme community for himself and for Congresswoman Sue Kelly (NY) introduced the identical companion bill (H.R.3427) into the U.S. House of Representatives. We need your IMMEDIATE action to help these bills become law. Both bills focus on research but also contain an effective advisory committee that will have input into the expenditure of the monies and provide the Lyme community a strong public voice and balanced scientific viewpoint in regard to tick-borne diseases in Washington, DC. The committee will include a selection of doctors and scientists who support chronic Lyme disease and also patients and representatives from patient advocacy groups. The new bills will:
PLEASE ACT NOW! DELAY CAN COST US THIS MUCH NEEDED BILL. Please fax, email, or call your Senators and Representatives today. Tell your Representatives in the House that you strongly support H.R.3427 and you’re counting on their support. Also tell your Senators that you strongly support S.1479. Write your own or follow the link below to a sample letter. This site also contains a link to the bills and contact information for our representatives. Lyme Disease Association |
| LYME NEWS |
