Congress Gives Hope
Lyme Disease Education and Support Groups of Maryland
PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
Contact- Lucy Barnes
CONGRESSMEN GIVE GIFT OF HOPE TO CHRONICALLY ILL LYME PATIENTS
December 15, 2006- Shortly before returning home for the holidays, Maryland's Congressmen Gilchrest, Wynn, Bartlett, Van Hollen, Cummings, Ruppersberger, Cardin and Hoyer signed the Lyme Disease Member Letter, sponsored by Congressman Christopher Smith from New Jersey. Chronically ill Lyme patients across the state were encouraged and very thankful for the unanimous support from their state Congressional delegation.
The Lyme Disease Letter, addressed to Dr. Julia Julie Gerberding, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), expressed concern about the posting of the new Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) guidelines on the CDC’s website without adequate review by the CDC.
The IDSA guidelines limit a physician’s ability to clinically diagnose patients, limit adequate preventative and curative treatment protocols, and provide insurance companies a basis for the denial of services. In addition, they promote reliance on lab tests that have repeatedly been demonstrated to be unreliable and concentrate on short-term treatment protocols deemed “cost-effective” rather than necessarily curative or supported by solid science.
The letter follows a Civil Investigative Demand issued by the Attorney General of Connecticut to the IDSA, initiating an investigation of the IDSA’s use of exclusionary tactics in developing their guidelines. Both the national non-profit Lyme Disease Association representing patients and the International Lyme & Associated Diseases Society representing treating physicians requested input into the guidelines process and were denied.
Lyme disease is currently the most prevalent vector-borne disease, with over 230,000 new cases in the United States annually. The CDC estimates for every case reported in Maryland, 7-12 are being missed (CDC- Surveillance for Lyme
Disease, United States, 1992—1998, Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, National Center for Infectious Diseases). According to their estimated calculations, if current trends continue, by the year 2020 approximately 1/5 of Maryland's population will have been exposed to Lyme disease.
If Lyme is not properly diagnosed and adequately treated in the early stages, the spirochetal organism can affect every organ and system in the body. Arthritis, encephalopathy, neurocognative disorders, facial paralysis, muscle involvement and heart problems are some of the manifestations of chronic Lyme disease.
Maryland Lyme Disease Support Group leaders believe the IDSA guidelines are grossly inadequate and have the potential to severely affect those who are bitten and require rapid diagnosis and treatment, as well as those who are already chronically ill with tick borne infections.
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