Hot Off The Press!
News from Across the Nation
September
2011
It Looks Like Lyme, But It's Not
September 24, 2011 Ticks responsible for transmitting Lyme disease may carry an organism that can cause prolonged, relapsing illness in humans. A study to be released in October 2011, Humans infected with relapsing fever spirochete Borrelia miyamotoi, Russia, by Platonov AE, et al. states the infection is responsible for a relapsing disease that may last for months. No tests are commercially available, and a curative treatment protocol, if one exists, has yet to be established. More here...
https://sites.google.com/site/marylandlyme/tick-borne-diseases/borrelia-miyamotoi
August
2011
Please let us never forget those who have passed away after suffering from Lyme and tick borne diseases. The National Lyme Disease Memorial Site- www.LymeMemorial.org
Maryland Memorial https://sites.google.com/site/marylandlyme/memorial-page
July
2011
Congress Addresses Lyme Disease Issues
July 20, 2011. The all volunteer Lyme Disease Education and Support Groups of Maryland are pleased to announce the introduction of two bills that focus attention on the growing concerns surrounding Lyme and tick borne diseases. More HERE
June
2011
Three Cheers for Maryland Public TV!
The airing of Under Our Skin on Maryland Public TV (MPT) was 'touch and go' for a few months, due in part to opposition from the "other side". Thankfully, MPT did not bow to the pressure and aired the show anyway! Three thumbs up for MPT!
However, unhappy IDSA supporters wanted time to share their views. As a result MPT provided a few of them some time on the show, "Direct Connections". To watch the ½ hour show, click HERE
Eugene Shapiro (working to bring down Dr. Jones and his kids), Robert Edelman (University of Maryland Vaccine Division- Lyme vaccine trials) and Mandy from Under Our Skin were the main guests. Mandy was great! Paul Auwaerter (Johns Hopkins Infectious Diseases and 2006 IDSA Guideline editor) had to have his say and was quoted.
If you would like to thank Maryland Public TV for airing Under Our Skin, please do! Hopefully they will do it again!
Call 410-581-4097
Or email them- comments@mpt.org
Dan Rodricks' nasty Baltimore Sun article, quoting IDSA supporter Phil Baker of the American Lyme Disease Foundation (ALDF), was seen by MPT staff, and MPT showed the film anyway! To read the Rodrick article (his 2nd one trashing Under Our Skin- his most recent), click HERE
To see Usha Nellore’s (Bel Air, Maryland) attempt to quash/censor Under Our Skin, click HERE
And, IMAGINE THAT- the Infectious Diseases Society of AMERICA trying to censor a film! Ouch!
Better luck next time, boys!
May
2011
May 1, 2011- The 'May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month' theme this year is “Get it Right, Treat the Bite!” We encourage everyone to think about Lyme and tick borne diseases when they are bitten by a tick and to seek preventative medical treatment. Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Ehrlichia, Bartonella, Mycoplasma, Anaplasma, Tularemia and a host of known and unknown infectious organism can be found in ticks, so why wait?
After all, prevention is the best medicine! Read more...
Lyme Disease Awareness Month Programs
May 1, 2011- Maryland volunteers across the State are busy working to help educate the public about Lyme and tick borne disease. Neighboring states have also prepared Lyme Disease Awareness programs that may be of interest to our residents. To check out the special events and program list, please click HERE.
April
2011
Control Freaks or Genuine Concern?
April 28, 2011- Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) supporters recently entered a familiar arena that reluctantly permitted a few outsiders “in” to give the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Lyme disease workshop the appearance of being "fair and balanced". The temporarily tolerated IDSA adversaries felt sure by attending the event they could build the proverbial bridge over troubled waters, imaging that people on both sides of the Lyme disease controversy would simply come together in loving peace and harmony. It would be a new beginning they claimed. Read more...
March 2011. The race is on! The Toyota Sponsafier contest is helping us Race Lyme Disease Awareness with a newly designed race car featuring the "Get it Right, Treat the Bite" theme. To vote for our Lyme disease awareness car and follow the action, go to the Racing Update page located on the website dedicated to Dr. Charles R. Jones and his kids. Read more....
March
2011
Lyme Disease Awareness Race Car- Gentlemen, START YOUR ENGINES!
March 2011. The race is on! The Toyota Sponsafier contest is helping us Race Lyme Disease Awareness with a newly designed race car featuring the "Get it Right, Treat the Bite" theme. To vote for our Lyme disease awareness car and follow the action, go to the Racing Update page located on the website dedicated to Dr. Charles R. Jones and his kids. To read more click here.
February
2011
February 14, 2011. NASCAR’s Bobby Labonte, his team mates and JTG Daugherty are ‘Racing Awareness’ for Lyme doctor Joe Jemsek’s daughter. According to her mother Kay, six-year old Jordon Jemsek has been in the hospital battling a rare form of leukemia (Acute Myeloblastic Leukemia- AML). The little girl requires a bone marrow transplant in order to survive and to date no exact matched donors have been found. Read more...
CDC & IDSA - The Hypocritical Oath?
The CDC's recent letter to patients confirms the fact that the CDC opposes treatment options for sick Lyme patients, with the lame excuse that there is no data to support any other treatment recommendations than its own. Not only do the CDC and its partner, the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), recommend against additional treatment that has helped tens of thousands of patients, the CDC and the IDSA’s cohort, the American Lyme Disease Foundation (ALDF), insist patients conduct their own scientific research studies to prove additional treatment is warranted. Read more...
January
2011
Rub a Dub Dub Three Men in a Tub- Who Do You Think They Be?
The Butcher, the Baker and Candlestick Maker, along with their anonymous “independent working group” recently slopped together what they refer to as an ‘Independent Appraisal and Review of ILADS 2004 guidelines on Lyme disease’. The poorly written document- 7 years in the making- was most likely rejected by the British tabloids for being too bizarre, and rather than being tossed in the trash bin it ended up on a makeshift web page. The British Butcher, a non-treating Lyme illiterate professor with absolutely no scientific or clinical background, attempted to chew his way through well-established and successful American based Lyme disease Guidelines with the sole intent of discrediting them. Better luck next time.
Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) Guidelines NOT Supported By High Quality Evidence.
"More than half of the current recommendations of the IDSA are based on level III evidence only. Until more data from well-designed controlled clinical trials become available, physicians should remain cautious when using current guidelines as the sole source guiding patient care decisions."
01/06/2011- Triad Group, a manufacturer of over-the-counter products and FDA notified healthcare professionals and patients of the recall involving all lots of alcohol prep pads, alcohol swabs, and alcohol swabsticks manufactured by Triad but sold as private labels at the consumer level. This recall has been initiated due to concerns about potential contamination of the products with Bacillus cereus.
Winona, Minnesota- Influenced by the near-by Mayo Clinic and Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), Winona Health officials are preparing to vote on eliminating the option for patients to obtain potentially life-saving treatment if they have been infected with Lyme and tick borne diseases. They plan to adopt the highly contested IDSA Lyme disease treatment guidelines, authored by Gary Wormser, et al. The IDSA guideline development process was investigated by the Attorney General in Connecticut who found the authors to be "extremely biased" and "riddled with conflicts of interest". The Winona Daily News reports,"If Winona Health adopts the guidelines, they would bar doctors from treating Lyme disease with antibiotics beyond the initial 28-day treatment period."
Take a Tick to Lunch, Literally...
NIH, Bethesda Maryland- A division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is looking for volunteers to take a couple dozen ticks to lunch, your treat! Program Director, Linden Hu, of Tufts University School of Medicine is recruiting Lyme patients willing to attach 20-30 live ticks to themselves for a period of 4-6 days. Should you volunteer for this tax-payer funded study, for your valiant effort you will be rewarded with a punch biopsy of the skin, a blood draw and an invitation to return a month later for another blood draw. The good news- after having dined with, slept with and possibly spent a night on the town with your new tick friends, participants can at least be assured they will get a follow-up phone call two months later.
Poster Boys for Ethical Activism?
Journal of Medical Ethics- When a group of federal employees and doctors recommend against treating patients who are sick, or brutally harass them for years on end in an attempt to silence and discredit them, then publish on how others should be ethical when they are called on the carpet for their wrong-doings, it makes people wonder who taught the ethics classes at Johns Hopkins, the devil himself? Read more...