1.  Lyme is caused by a virus.  

WRONG!  It is caused by bacteria.

2.  Lyme should not be treated with antibiotics.

WRONG!  Lyme is a bacterial infection which, like other bacterial infections, is susceptible to appropriate antibiotic therapy.

3.  If you continue to have Lyme symptoms after contracting Lyme disease and have been treated with the federally recommended (CDC, HHS, NIH) short course of antibiotics, no additional antibiotics are necessary.

WRONG!  Standard antibiotic protocols have been found to be extremely unreliable in producing a cure for Lyme disease.  Retreatment has been proven to considerably improve the patient's condition in many circumstances.

4.  Blood tests the IDSA and its partners developed (and patented for profit), that are promoted by the CDC and NIH, are accurate.

WRONG!  The tests have been proven to miss up to 75% of people who are infected.

5.  There are many false-positive test results.

WRONG!  There are an extraordinary amount of false-negative test results.

6.  Lyme disease is easy to diagnose and cure.

WRONG!  Lyme disease can mimic countless medical conditions and a cure has never been established or developed.

7.  Reporting practices are sufficient and give us a good picture of the spread of Lyme disease.

WRONG!  The actual numbers of Lyme cases is over 10 timeswhat is currently reported.

8.  After treatment people do not have Lyme disease- they have the "aches and pains" of daily living.

WRONG!  Countless people have become chronically ill, disabled and many have died.

9.  There is no evidence chronic Lyme exists.

WRONG!  There are over 1,000 scientific studies and countless chronically ill patients proving it does.

10.  The federally supported IDSA Lyme Disease Guidelines represent the best of the science.

WRONG!  They were developed by a handful of people found to be riddled with conflicts of interest, contain disproven theories that are over a decade old and have never been without conflict or considered to be successful at curing Lyme disease.

11.  Lyme disease can not be passed from mother to fetus. 

WRONG!  The literature indicates simple complications to still births and death are possible.

12.  There is no Lyme here in - fill in the blank with your State’s name- so you can't possibly have Lyme disease. 

WRONG!  Absence of evidence isn’t proof of anything.  Until all sites are throughly tested for the presence of Lyme and tick borne diseases the IDSA/CDC can not accurately claim there is no Lyme in a certain area or state.

13.  Even after being called on the carpet for wrong-doing, the IDSA continues to claim they have no conflicts of interest.

WRONG!  May 1, 2008- The CT Attorney General’s investigation proved otherwise.

14.  A tick must be attached for 24 or 36 or 48 hours to transmit Lyme disease.

WRONG!  Studies prove otherwise and have shown transmission can occur in less than a few hours after a person is bitten by an infected tick.

15.  Two pills of Doxycycline taken within 3 days of a tick bite will prevent/cure Lyme disease.

WRONG!  Lyme disease can disseminate throughout the body within a manner of hours and multiple studies have proven this theory is not at all accurate.

16.  We care about sick patients and want to work with doctors to help them.

WRONG!  You just need to ask anyone who was denied treatment and developed the late chronic stages of Lyme disease what they think, or better yet, read the horrible attacks on patients, volunteer groups and doctors that have been published in journals. 

17. The standard, federally supported 2-3 weeks of Doxycycline protocol cures most cases of Lyme disease.

WRONG!  Thousands of studies, along with thousands of chronically ill patients prove otherwise. 

18.  You can not have more than one tick borne disease at a time.

WRONG!  People can be multiply infected with a number of various organisms.

19.  The Lyme vaccine is safe and effective.

WRONG!  It was pulled from the market after reports of injury began soaring and law suits were filed by those who had been injured.

20. Lyme disease can not be sexually transmitted.

WRONG!  Multiple studies have found evidence of the spirochete in bodily secretions from both men and women. 

21. Only certain ticks carry certain diseases.  

WRONG!  Each year more new discoveries are made proving that theory wrong.

22. Steroids are a viable treatment for those with Lyme disease.

WRONG!  Steroids are contraindicated in all but the most severe complications for those who have Lyme disease.

23.  Some exercise, visits to psychiatrists and over the counter anti-inflammatories are all that are needed if symptoms remain or become worse after treatment.

WRONG!  Coinfections and other sources for the symptoms need to be explored, diagnosed and treated.

24.  Prevention efforts are working.

WRONG!  Federally funded studies and the exploding number of new cases of Lyme disease proves otherwise.

25.  Blood donations can be safely made by those who were treated for Lyme disease.

WRONG!  The Red Cross and others have proven spirochetes can remain active even through the heating and freezing of blood products experienced by blood storage conditions.

26.  Doxycycline is the best antibiotic to use for treating Lyme disease.

WRONG!  There are 165 different antibiotics on the market that have been proven to be more effective.

Wrong, wrong, wrong...

The CDC – “In most cases, the tick must be attached for 36 to 48 hours or more before the Lyme disease bacterium can be transmitted.”   IDSA- “To infect its host, a tick typically must be attached to the skin for at least 36 hours.”

Truth-  A review of the scientific literature proves otherwise, with transmission times reported to be as low as a few hours after a tick bite.  "The claims that removal of ticks within 24 hours or 48 hours of attachment will effectively prevent LB are not supported by the published data, and the minimum tick attachment time for transmission of LB in humans has never been established."