June 22, 2015
There are requests floating around asking people to help Dr. Daniel Jaller in Rockville, MD fight the charges brought against him by the Maryland Board of Physicians by contacting Maryland legislators.
There is also mention of taking this action to Congress where any Lyme related bill would be eaten for breakfast by Congressman Andy Harris- a Johns Hopkins doctor who, while spending time as a Maryland legislator at the State level, completely gutted a good Lyme bill and twisted it around to be IDSA friendly and against patients and doctors.
PLEASE DO NOT DO THIS, AGAIN!
Why? First, the legislators are not even in session now, and won't be until next year (January 13, 2016). Dr. Jaller's disciplinary conference for the charges against him (unless there was an extension requested and granted) is in two days- on June 24, 2015, at 9 AM in Baltimore Maryland.
Second, Dr. Jaller did not ask in his blog for people to contact Maryland legislators this time. What he actually said on May 7, 2015, was...
"I am asking that current patients and former patients of mine to write me a letter of support describing their experiences with the medical system and their experiences with care I provided for them. For now only send these letters to me, by email or snail mail." http://lymemd.blogspot.com
The last time a handful of people jumped on this same type of bandwagon, ALL current and future Maryland patients and doctors lost out, BIG time!!! In spite of many pleas, facts presented and offers to help, a small group of people insisted on taking others down a road that led Dr. Jaller and a record-breaking number of other health care professionals to be charged by the Maryland Board of Physicians.
It has been reported that a lovely young lady, Brittany Goff, has supposedly written a bill for an unnamed Senator to sponsor and is actively enlisting help from the public to find a House member to sponsor a companion bill.
With all due respect... It is very admirable for a teenager to want to help her doctor, however, it is not clear how many legislative bills she has previously written or sponsored in the past, and it would probably be better to leave complex legislative issues like these to those with more experience since the outcome would be a law that affects millions of people's lives, with no going back if it makes the situation worse.
The main reason Dr. Jaller is now facing approximately 40 charges is because he and a handful of DC people (including Barbara Buckman of ILADS) went behind the scenes several years ago and tried to get legislators to pass what was determined by ILADS, LDA, CALDA and our Maryland groups, patients and doctors to be a unneeded, unwanted and dangerous bill.
When the bill was rightfully killed in the first House Committee, the bill promoters didn't listen, learn or care what the rest of the Lyme Community wanted, and instead continued pushing the legislator to make the Board of Physicians "do something" about doctor protection in Maryland.
These are the same "do something" kind of instructions being brought up again.
DON'T DO IT!!!
Don't make your situation worse!
The direct results of their previous interference included the Board of Physicians developing and adopting new rules that restricted Maryland doctors more than any other State in the country. We went from one of the best in doctor protection (after years of getting that accomplished) to the absolute worst almost overnight.
Because of the these past unfortunate actions the IDSA treatment guidelines are now considered to be "the standard of care" in Maryland where once we had options. And THIS is why Dr. Jaller is in trouble again. He continues to violate the very same rules he helped get put in place.
An uneducated and unorganized approach to legislation is extremely dangerous and should never be attempted.
The real tragedy is that since the 'Dr. Jaller inspired new rules' were implemented, thirteen other innocent health care professionals treating Maryland Lyme patients have been charged with violations relating to Lyme disease. Prior to that time, NO Maryland doctors had been charged for over diagnosing and over-treating Lyme disease. Now, in less than 4 years, nearly all have been charged.
Background- After multiple investigations ensued and Dr. Jaller was informed about why he was being investigated, another complaint came in from an insurer. As a result, his patient charts were reviewed for the Maryland Board of Physicians by Dr. Paul Auwaerter at Johns Hopkins and another infectious disease doctor.
Auwaerter has a long history of being the spokesperson for the IDSA and was the editor for the horrible 2006 IDSA Lyme treatment guidelines. He is currently listed on the most recent IDSA Lyme guideline panel that is developing a new set of Lyme disease guidelines expected to be even more horrible than the previous editions.
Auwaerter/Hopkins views on Lyme are supported by the Board of Physicians, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the NIH, various national and state medical organizations, the IDSA, MedChi and CDC; and the Governor is a big supporter of those institutions.
The guidelines are also the insurer's version of the Bible, a perfect way to get out of paying for your diagnostic costs and treatment.
A last minute bill being thrown together by people lacking experience in this field is not going to fix this problem. There are too many forces working against us in Maryland and if an attempt is going to be made to change policy, it must be an organized, well thought out situation.
Additionally, no one should take steps on their own to "help" doctors without first consulting with and getting permission from both the doctor and the attorneys representing the doctors.
Thank you for considering the above information. It is only shared to try to protect you and our doctors from being faced with more problems.
Lucy Barnes