PRESS RELEASE - November 29, 2006:
CONNECTICUT ATTORNEY GENERAL RICHARD BLUMENTHAL HAS BEGUN A CIVIL INVESTIGATIVE DEMAND INTO THE RECENTLY UPDATED AND PUBLISHED LYME DISEASE TREATMENT GUIDELINES ISSUED BY THE INFECTIOUS DISEASES SOCIETY OF AMERICA (IDSA).
THE INVESTIGATION IS BEING CONDUCTED DUE TO THE ANTICOMPETITIVE EFFECT THE NEW GUIDELINES HAVE UPON COMPETING FORMS OF DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT.
A RALLY IS SCHEDULED FOR THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2006 OUTSIDE WESTCHESTER MEDICAL CENTER IN VALHALIA, NEW YORK. WESTCHESTER MEDICAL CENTER IS WHERE THREE OF THE IDSA GUIDELINE AUTHORS ARE EMPLOYED. THE RALLY IS ON BEHALF OF LYME DISEASE PATIENTS NATIONWIDE WHO ARE PROTESTING THE NEW IDSA GUIDELINES. PATIENTS CLAIM THE IDSA GUIDELINES ARE PREVENTING ADEQUATE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT. A NUMBER OF PATIENTS HAVE HAD THEIR ANTIBIOTICS CUT SHORT BY THEIR INSURANCE COMPANIES FOLLOWING THE PUBLISHING OF THE IDSA GUIDELINES.
“IT’S AN UNCONSCIONABLE SITUATION FOR LYME PATIENTS NATIONWIDE,” STATES TINA GARCIA OF L.E.A.P. ARIZONA, LYME EDUCATION AWARENESS PROGRAM IN MESA. “WHAT’S WORSE IS THAT THE CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION HAVE ONLY THE IDSA GUIDELINES POSTED ON THEIR LYME DISEASE WEBSITE. THE CDC REFUSES TO POST ANOTHER SET OF GUIDELINES THAT IS ALSO A STANDARD OF CARE FOR PATIENTS. THESE OTHER PUBLISHED GUIDELINES ARE FROM THE INTERNATIONAL LYME AND ASSOCIATED DISEASES SOCIETY, ILADS. THE ILADS GUIDELINES ARE THE PREFERRED CHOICE OF TREATMENT FOR MOST PATIENTS, BUT THE CDC IS FAILING TO PROVIDE INFORMED CONSENT TO PHYSICIANS AND PATIENTS BY MAKING AVAILABLE AND PROMOTING ONLY THE IDSA GUIDELINES.”
THE LYME CONTROVERSY HAS BEEN RAGING FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS, BUT IT SEEMS TO HAVE REACHED THE BOILING POINT FOR PATIENTS. ALTHOUGH THE INFECTIOUS DISEASES SOCIETY OF AMERICA VIEW THEIR GUIDELINES AS RECOMMENDATIONS ONLY, IT IS THE ONLY SET OF GUIDELINES THAT ARE BEING PROVIDED TO PHYSICIANS BY THE CDC AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALISTS ARE GENERALLY CONFINING THEIR PATIENTS’ TREATMENT OPTIONS TO ONLY THE IDSA GUIDELINES.
GARCIA SAYS THAT THE 2000 IDSA GUIDELINES WERE BAD ENOUGH, BUT THE NEW UPDATED IDSA GUIDELINES ARE “SENTENCING PATIENTS TO PRISON FOR THE CHRONICALLY ILL.”
Contact Information:
L.E.A.P. Arizona -- Lyme Education Awareness Program
P.O. Box 2654 Mesa, Arizona
Phone: 480-219-6869 Fax: 480-830-2788
tinajgarcia@yahoo.com
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