Lyme Disease Education and Support Groups of Maryland
PRESS RELEASE
August 13, 2009- As Maryland climbs to 5th in the nation with the highest number of Lyme disease cases, residents can be assured their Congressional Representatives in Washington, DC are taking steps to address the exploding Lyme and tick borne disease epidemic.
“We are fortunate and thankful that we have all of our Congressional Representatives cosponsoring and supporting the Lyme disease bills again this year,” commented Lucy Barnes, Director of the Lyme Disease Education and Support Groups of Maryland.
Senator’s Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski signed on to co-sponsor S-1352, the Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases Prevention, Education and Research Act of 2009, which was introduced by Senator Christopher Dodd (CT) on June 25, 2009. Senator Cardin signed on as an original cosponsor this year, making his commitment to the people of Maryland even stronger by taking it one step further.
Congressmen Chris Van Hollen was the first Congressional House Member in Maryland to sign on as a cosponsor, followed by Elijah Cummings, John Sarbanes, Steny Hoyer, Dutch Rupersberger, and Roscoe Bartlett. Congressman Frank Kratovil and Congresswoman Donna Edwards, our newest Members of Congress, also signed on, creating unanimous support for the bills. Chronically ill patients and health care professionals are thankful and feel confident they will give Lyme disease the attention it deserves.
The previous House version of bill HR-1179, introduced by Congressman Christopher Smith (NJ) last year, did not come to the Floor for a vote. It was kept under wraps by Congressman Frank Pallone (NJ), the head of the Health Subcommittee, according to Congressman Frank Wolf (VA). During a heated debate on the floor last fall, Wolf demanded answers from Pallone as to why he had been blocking the bill “for a long period of time.” Pallone, who receives a large portion of his campaign contributions from lobbyists and the insurance and pharmaceutical industries had no solid answers for Wolf as to why he blocked the bill and referred to those requesting answers from him and those doing the investigation into the IDSA corruption, as “grandstanding”.
Pallone, repeating the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) worn-out mantra, “no such thing as chronic Lyme disease”, stated certain treatment protocols were “mandated” in the bill and that is why he refused to bring it up or schedule hearings on the matter, after promising he would do so.
Smith countered, stating the bill included nothing about treatment and did not prescribe a protocol as Pallone suggested; it provided for an Advisory Committee that could take a close look at the scientific evidence and address what Smith referred to as a “cover-up” by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Pallone, obviously not having read the bill, stated he got advise about Lyme disease from some “neighbors” and complained when asked by Smith to be accountable for his lack of action on the issue, stating, “I deeply resent the fact he [Smith] is on the floor talking about it.”
Smith, a long-time supporter of patient’s rights, raised the concern that “not until it [Lyme] gets to a severe state [will] people realize they have it”. He is also concerned that people will be exposed to what he contends to be “egregiously flawed” Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) treatment guidelines. Smith is not alone. He entered in the record CT Attorney General Richard Blumenthal’s “scathing insightful report” based on a lengthy investigation into the IDSA Guidelines process and concluded the Lyme Disease Guidelines were “atrocious… [with] conflicts of interest everywhere.”
“Congressman Pallone should not rely solely on the word of a few members of a small medical society [IDSA] that doesn’t even treat chronic Lyme disease, and especially one that has been exposed for multiple wrong-doings and serious conflicts of interest”, stated Barnes. “He should not be encouraging the suppression of scientific research and expert medical opinions, as the IDSA has been found guilty of doing. By continuing to do so, he is aiding the IDSA in a cover up that leaves people sick and suffering. This has to stop.”
Contact person: Lucy Barnes, Lyme Disease Education and Support Groups of Maryland
Email: AfterTheBite@gmail.com
Video Clip:
http://wolf.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=84§iontree=8,84&itemid=1238