September 1st, 2009 | Author: admin | Edit

Lyme disease

The causative agent of Lyme disease was discovered by Willy Burgdofer in 1982 and he earned the name to have the bacterial infection named after him, Borrelia Burgdoferi. Ever since the disease has been a controversial illness, how reliable the tests are? How to treat it? How the cases are reported.

Medical Guidelines have profound and powerful consequences for countless lives, driving doctor’s treatment decisions and insurance company coverage determinations.

On July 30^th 2009 a hearing took place in Washington DC.  The Infectious disease Society of America (IDSA) Lyme disease review panel hosted an all-day hearing as an opportunity for patients, physicians and scientists to present information relevant to the 2006 IDSA Lyme Disease Treatment Guidelines. This is part of a settlement reached by the State Attorney General of Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal who launched an antitrust and conflict of interest investigation after he uncovered serious flaws in the IDSA 2006 Treatment Guidelines for Lyme disease.

In this very eye-opening hearing, the presenters below brought attention to inconsistencies in studies.

The presenters presented issues in regards of testing reliability problems, studies in the persistence of Lyme disease, studies in early treatment failure rates, the denial of insurance coverage and the States that our own legislators have had to  pass laws to protect our own Health Care Providers to treat persistent Lyme disease and provide access to treatment to patients. (California in one to them Bill AB592 passed in 8-29-2005).

This is the Link were you can watch the IDSA hearing presenters broadcast Video.

http://lymewebcast.idsociety.org/

This is the link of the official PDF submitted power point presentations to the IDSA Hearing panel of each speakers and transcripts.

http://www.idsociety.org/Content.aspx?id=15026

The Review Panel is to issue its final report by the end of the year.

However the Infectious Disease Society of America state that:

It is important to realize that guidelines cannot always account for individual variation among patients. They are not intended to supplant physician judgment with respect to particular patients or special clinical situations. IDSA considers adherence to the guidelines  to be voluntary, with the ultimate determination regarding their application to be made by the physician in the light of each patient’s individual circumstances.

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