Embedded Files
TWO DOCUMENTS
TESTIMONY
SB 950 & HB 1266
PART I
Maryland SB 950 & HB 1266
A precedent has been established. In 2012 the State of Maryland officially approved (Commission & Circuit Court) the following “alternative” treatments consisting of an assortment of additional, long-term antibiotics, OTC medications, supplements, medical supplies and reimbursements for the ongoing and life long treatment of chronic Lyme and tick borne diseases. The passing of SB 950 and HB 1266 will permit Maryland physicians to use these alternative treatments as and if needed when treating their own Lyme disease patients, without fear of repercussions.
State of Maryland
Workers Compensation Commission
November 14, 2012
“The Injured Workers’ Insurance Fund is further ORDERED to reimburse the claimant and/or authorize all medications for Lyme’s disease that are recommended by Dr. X and/or Dr. XX, including, but not limited to the following:
In addition, it is ORDERED that the employer and insurer reimburse the claimant and authorize “as needed items” referred to in the July 2, 2012 report of Dr. X and listed on page 279 and 280 of claimant’s post hearing correspondence. All of the above items are to be authorize for as long as recommended by Dr. X.”
July 2, 2012
To be purchased on as “as needed” basis:
1. Acidophilus Pearls- 1 x day
2. Alka-Seltzer Gold- 1-2 tablets, 2 x day
3. Alpha Lipolic Acid- 300 mg.1 pill 2 X day
4. Amoxicillin- 500 mg 1 every 8 hours
5. Bromelain- 500 mg. 2 x per day
6. C-Medi Summer Gel- 1 teaspoon as needed
7. Co Q-10- 100 mg. 3 x day
8. Deplin- 7.5 mg.- 1 x day
9. Doxycycline- 100 mg. 2 every 12 hours
10. Epi-Pen- Adult 0.3 dose
11. Erythromycin Ophthalmic Ointment- ¼ inch to eye lids at bedtime
12. Glucosimine Chrondroitin MSM RX Joint Cream- 16 oz.- Apply 2 x day
13. Glutathione Cream- 500 mg/2 ml. 120 ml. 2 x day to arms and legs
14. Glutathione- 200 mg/ml x 10 cc. 10 vials. Use 2 x week
15. Ibuprofen- 800 mg. 4 x day
16. Ketofin eye drops- 1 each eye 2 x day
17. Losartan/Cozaar- 25 mg. 1 per day
18. Lugol’s- 3 dabs, 3 ml. nightly
19. Melatonin TR Source Naturals- 3 mg. 1-2 per night
20. Metformin- 500 mg. 1 pill 3 x day
21. Mepron- 2 T day
22. Monolaurin- 600 mg. 1 tablet, 3 x day
23. N- acetyl cysteine- 500 mg. 1-2 pills 2 x day
24. Naltrexone- 1-3 per day
25. Nattokinase- 2 per day
26. Nordic Natural Fish Oil Omega 3-6-9. Use 2 capsules 2 x day
27. Nystatin 100,000 units- 1 teasp. 4 x day
28. Optiva eye drops- 6 x day each eye
29. Phosphatidyl serine- 100 mg.- 1 per day
30. Probenecid- 500 mg. 1 tablet 2 x day
31. Progesterone TR- 50 mg/ 1 cap 4 x day
32. Quercetin- 500 mg. 2 per day
33. Sudafed- 120 mg. 1 tablet 2 x day
34. Terconazole 4% Apply nightly 1 applicator
35. VSL #3- 1 packet, 1-2 x day
36. Vitamin D3- 5,000 IU. 1 per day
37. Wobenzym N- start w/ 1, 2, 3- for 3 x day
38. Zithromax (Azithromycin)- 250 mg. 1 tablet 2 x day
39. Amino Acids (liquid)- 2 T. dose
40. Clay Muscle Rubs and Clay Powder- 4 Tablespoons- 2 -3 x day
41. Ciprofloxin
42. Cream- Rooibos- 1-2 Tablespoons per day
43. Doxycycline (same as above)- 100 mg.- 2 pills, 2 x day
44. Epsom Salts- Use 2- 4 cups per bath
45. Garlic- Consume 2-4 Tablespoons per day
46. Glucosimine Chondroitin MSM Ultra RX Joint Cream
47. Hand Sanitizer- 1 Teaspoon as needed
48. Headache Relief- Roll On Aromatherapy
49. Honey, Wholesome Organic Raw- 1-2 Tablespoons, 4 x day
50. Hydrogen Peroxide
51. Kefir- Drink 1-2 cups per day
52. L-Glutamine 500 mg. 2 Tablespoons powder per day or 2 capsules
53. Lip Balms- Apply as needed
54. Mag-Tab SR- 84 mg. 1-2 tablets per day
55. Neosporin Ointment- 1 inch line as needed
56. Oil, Coconut- 4-6 Tablespoons per day
57. Oil, Flax Seed & Prim Rose- 1300 mg. 2 per day
58. Oil, Frankincense- ¼ teaspoon per day
59. Oil, Jojoba- 2-4 tablespoons per day
60. Oil, Lavender-15 drops per day
61. Oil, Lymphedema- 2 teaspoons per day
62. Oil, Myrrh- ¼ teaspoon per day
63. Oil, Omega Twin Flax/Borage- 2 Tablespoons per day
64. Oil, Peppermint- ¼ teaspoon per day
65. Oil, Tei-Fu- ¼ teaspoon per day
66. Oil, Tori's- ¼ teaspoon per day
67. Oil, Thieves- ½ teaspoon per day
68. Penicillin
69. Pepto-Bismol, Bismuth sub-salicylate- 1-2 Tablespoons up to 4 x day
70. Rice Milk- Drink as Milk Substitute 2-4 cups per day
71. Rubbing Alcohol
72. Sea Salt- up to ½ cup per tub
73. Soy Protein Powder- 2-4 scoops per day
74. Sublingual Liquid B-12 Complex- 2 droppers full per day
75. Sunscreen
76. Tea, Alvita Pau d' arco- Drink 2-4 cups of tea per day
77. Tea, Dandelion- Drink 2-4 cups per day
78. Tea, Decaf Green- Drink 2-4 cups per day
79. UTI- Cranberry & Buchu- 4-8 capsules per day
80. Vitamin E- 400 IU- 2 per day
81. Whey Protein Powder- 2-4 scoops per day
LB
PART II
Health Occupations
Treatment of Lyme Disease &
Other Tick Borne Diseases
Disciplinary Actions
HB 1266- Link Here
SB 0950- Link Here
PLEASE UNLEASH THE TIES THAT BIND!
HELP PATIENTS BY PROTECTING DOCTORS WHO
OFFER CHOICES WHEN STANDARD TREATMENT FAILS!
Lucy Barnes, Director
Lyme Disease Education & Support Groups of Maryland
631 Railroad Avenue
Centreville, MD 2167
FAVORABLE WITH NO AMENDMENTS- HB 1266 & SB 950
3/5/18- The following quotes are directly from the highly contested Infectious Diseases Society of America’s (IDSA) Lyme Disease Treatment Guidelines. Although pressured to use them for patients, the recommendations are not effective. Additionally, they recommend against all alternate forms of treatment. This leaves patients feeling hopeless (often suicidal), chronically ill, disabled and dying.
Health care provides who would like to individualize treatment plans to help their patients recover (and who have been very successful in doing so) have been brought up on charges for practicing outside the IDSA recommendations. In many cases medical charts were reviewed and “paperwork” oversights were utilized to harass Lyme treating providers, which often required legal fees to defend. Sometimes these injustices have forced doctors to retire early, move out of state, or pay fines. In the meantime, thousands of patients have lost access to their treating doctors.
Here is what chronically ill Lyme patients and their doctors have had to deal with over the years. The “system” and circumstances gets them coming and going. The QUOTES after my statements (in bold font) are from the IDSA guidelines.
1. NOTHING WORKS TO TOTALLY PREVENT SOMEONE FROM GETTING TICK BITES AND/OR CONTRACTING LYME & TICK BORNE DISEASES- The IDSA admits, “To date there is only limited evidence that any of the personal protective measures described above are effective in reducing the number of human cases of Lyme disease [19–22].” … “The best currently available method for preventing infection with B. burgdorferi and other Ixodes species–transmitted pathogens is to avoid exposure to vector ticks.”
2. BEFORE PRESCRIBING ONE DOSE, I REPEAT ONE DOSE OF AN ANTIBIOTIC (ONE PILL) TO TRY TO PREVENT LYME DISEASE AFTER A TICK BITE (it isn’t effective, but it is the recommendation- a full treatment course is necessary)… at minimum the IDSA expects all medical providers to be trained as entomologists- to be able to correctly identify ticks of varying species, identify the ticks stage (larva, nymphs, adults), and to determine the degree (percentage) of engorgement, as well as the duration of feeding time for each individual tick, even when the IDSA admits methods for doing so have never been standardized. The IDSA also expects treating providers to know the current rate of infection in ticks (percentage); and recommends against testing ticks for pathogens and against testing patients too.
QUOTE- “The option of selectively treating persons with “high-risk” tick bites to prevent Lyme disease assumes that the species, stage, and degree of engorgement of the tick can be ascertained. This requires special expertise.Nevertheless, health care practitioners can be taught to identify ticks and to estimate the degree of engorgement for use as a marker of the duration of feeding in a clinical setting. Independent assessment by the health care practitioner is necessary because in areas where exposure to ticks is frequent, the patient's own estimate of the duration of attachment is unreliable and usually is shorter than the actual duration of attachment [68, 86].
QUOTE- “Methods for determining the B. burgdorferi infection status of ticks removed from patients are not standardized, and the results do not necessarily correlate with the risk of infection [68]. Testing of ticks removed from patients for B. burgdorferi is, therefore, not recommended except in research studies.”
QUOTE- “For prevention of Lyme disease after a recognized tick bite, routine use of antimicrobial prophylaxis or serologic testing is not recommended (E-III). A single dose of doxycycline may be offered to adult patients (200 mg dose) and to children ⩾8 years of age (4 mg/kg, up to a maximum dose of 200 mg) (B-I) when all of the following circumstances exist: (a) the attached tick can be reliably identified as an adult or nymphal I. scapularis tick that is estimated to have been attached for ⩾36 h on the basis of the degree of engorgement of the tick with blood or on certainty about the time of exposure to the tick, (b) prophylaxis can be started within 72 h of the time that the tick was removed, (c) ecologic information indicates that the local rate of infection of these ticks with B. burgdorferi is ⩾20%, and (d) doxycycline is not contraindicated.”
3. MILLIONS OF DOLLARS AND DECADES LATER, THE MUCH AWAITED LYME VACCINE FAILED TO WORK AND/OR HALT THE LYME DISEASE EPIDEMIC.
QUOTE- “Protective immunity produced by the recombinant OspA Lyme disease vaccine is not long lasting [105]. A history of having received the vaccine should not alter the recommendations above, because it is unlikely that previous vaccinations will still have a protective effect against Lyme disease.”
4. WHEN PATIENTS ARE NOT CURED & STILL HAVE SYMPTOMS AFTER THE STANDARD ANTIBIOTIC PROTOCOL (CHEAPEST), THE IDSA REPEATEDLY & FALSELY STATES THAT THIS ISN’T THE CASE AND EVEN IF IT WERE TRUE THAT CHRONIC LYME EXISTS, THERE IS NO SUPPORT FOR ANY FURTHER TREATMENT OF ANY KIND. “There is no convincing biologic evidence for the existence of symptomatic chronic B. burgdorferi infection among patients after receipt of recommended treatment regimens for Lyme disease.”
5. IDSA STATES DOCTORS & PATIENTS SHOULD USE THE LAB TESTS THAT HAVE BEEN PROVEN TO MISS 74.9% OF THOSE INFECTED- NO CHOICES. (Remember, the President of the IDSA and editor of the IDSA guidelines- Dr. Paul Auwaerter from Johns Hopkins- is also on the FDA panel that validates blood tests.) “Furthermore, when laboratory testing is done to support the original diagnosis of Lyme disease, it is essential that it be performed by well-qualified and reputable laboratories that use recommended and appropriately validated testing methods and interpretive criteria. Unvalidated test methods (such as urine antigen tests or blood microscopy for Borrelia species) should not be used.”
6. THE STANDARD (CHEAPEST) ANTIBIOTIC THERAPY IS RECOMMENDED BY THE IDSA TO TREAT EARLY LYME DISEASE. ACCORDING TO THE IDSA, PERSISTENT, CHRONIC AND LATE STAGE LYME DISEASE IS NOT TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED OR TREATED. ADDITIONALLY, THE MORE EXPENSIVE ANTIBIOTICS OR ALTERNATIVE METHODS FOR TREATING THE INFECTION AND THE RESULTING SYMPTOMS ARE NOT RECOMMENDED. WHAT IS A PATIENT AND THEIR DOCTOR TO DO?
QUOTE- “Antibiotic therapy has not proven to be useful and is not recommended for patients with chronic (⩾6 months) subjective symptoms after recommended treatment regimens for Lyme disease (E-I)… Because of a lack of biologic plausibility, lack of efficacy, absence of supporting data, or the potential for harm to the patient, the following are not recommended for treatment of patients with any manifestation of Lyme disease: first-generation cephalosporins, fluoroquinolones, carbapenems, vancomycin, metronidazole, tinidazole, amantadine, ketolides, isoniazid, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, fluconazole, benzathine penicillin G, combinations of antimicrobials, pulsed-dosing (i.e., dosing on some days but not others), long-term antibiotic therapy, anti-Bartonella therapies, hyperbaric oxygen, ozone, fever therapy, intravenous immunoglobulin, cholestyramine, intravenous hydrogen peroxide, specific nutritional supplements, and others (see table 4) (E-III).” Source
Summary
There is no way to totally prevent someone from being bitten by a tick and contracting Lyme disease. The best prevention method is to treat immediately and that treatment is limited to only a special few who fit into a tight little box the IDSA guidelines describe. Only IF patients meet the strict criteria are they prescribed ONE dose of an antibiotic (one pill), a treatment proven to be unsuccessful in most cases.
Patients who become ill and are not cured with 2-4 weeks of antibiotics end up with an insidious disease that the guidelines claim doesn’t exist. There are no totally accurate tests for Lyme disease and using alternative tests that may show the infection is not recommend by the guideline authors. The authors also state ticks that can be tested for pathogens shouldn’t be. And patients shouldn’t be tested when bitten by a tick- they should wait until the disease has taken hold and they get symptoms before being tested. (Referred to as the “wait till it’s too late” method.)
Instead of using research funds to develop an accurate test and find a cure, millions of dollars were wasted when a few people decided to file for patents and rush to market with what was suppose to be an effective Lyme vaccine. It failed miserably and was pulled from the market shortly after it appeared and since that time the research has been stymied.
IDSA guideline authors are deeply invested in the “profits before patients” mind set, and along with insurers are tied to the disease financially, not morally or ethically. As a result, they have not only recommended a minimal treatment for patients that they know won’t them in many cases, they have gone as far as to recommend against using any other type of treatment available that is often used successfully for many other conditions.
The most asked question of all time (for the past 30 years) from people with Lyme disease is, “Where can I find a doctor to treat me?” Today, unlike when Lyme disease was first discovered, we do have a few doctors in Maryland willing and able to treat their Lyme and co-infected patients. The majority, however, will not treat for fear of retaliation from those who want the status quo to remain unchanged.
Doctors are justly concerned they, like many before them, will lose their licenses if they try stepping out of the box and prescribe a different antibiotic for example, as is done with most if not all other infectious diseases when the first antibiotic is not curative. They hesitate (or refuse) to document Lyme symptoms not found on the IDSA’s “official list” even though the science supports the connection and the symptoms require treatment.
This ineffective way of treating Lyme patients is shameful. This is not how the “system” is suppose to work. The Maryland Board of Physicians is not suppose to be used by insurers or revengeful IDSA supporters as a punitive entity; it was designed to protect patients. Patient “protection” is not accomplished when doctors, out of fear of retaliation, refuse to treat their sick patients and send them packing instead.
If passed, Maryland bills HB 1266 and SB 950 will offer health care professionals the protection required so they can work closely with their patients to produce the best outcomes. And we all want Lyme patients to recover- that is our main goal.
Thank you for listening, and don’t forget, do a tick check!
Lucy
Lucy Barnes, Director
Lyme Disease Education & Support Groups of Maryland
613 Railroad Avenue
Centreville, MD 21617
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