The e-Petition Recycled
The Der Bedrosian Family
Kathleen wrote:
I am sending this around again in case
you all want to use it or part of it. It was
sent out to NY politicians, state senators in the
Tri-State area, Pataki, Spitzer and all those
people this Summer. It was also sent to the press.Now, you see this lastest JAMA atrticle
was an exact rebuttal to the premise of
this petition:We say we want funding for a cure.
They say, there is nothing to cure.So, why have a vaccine?
Why be funded for research and development of
test kits and vaccines? I think if no one
gets very ill or it is rare, then why do we need
billions spent on this research?Shapiro, Steere, the ALDF are so Stucking Fupid.
This JAMA article is really gonna backfire on them.Subject:
e-Petition, Part II
Date:
Wed, 01 Sep 1999 07:43:09 -0400
From:
"Kathleen M. Dickson" <kathleen...@snet.net>
Organization:
SeCT Chronic Lyme Group
Newsgroups:
sci.med.diseases.lymee-Petition to the U.S Government to stop funding University-based
Rheumatologists, Immunologists, and other researchers (UBRs) whose
endeavors have taken them away from the study of TREATMENT modalities
for Lyme disease and instead leads them to the profitability in
DIAGNOSTICS and PREVENTION:We contend that we immediately need a CURE, and that the US Govt
should stop funding UBRs whose endeavors we will describe.Recently some of these UBRS in New York have initiated an
attempt to have licenses revoked of some Lyme-Literate Physicians
(LLMDs -Those who understand the disease and try to help the
patients recover) in New York. This presents a problem because
there are few in the northeast, as elsewehere, who have the
courage to face the harrassment of these SUNY-based UBRs, as well
as insurance companies, in order to treat Lyme disease patients. These
Lyme-Literate Physicians, the ones criticized by these highly funded
researchers, are the ones who have the experience and expertise that
reflects the state of current knowledge of treatment.
We herein point out that the efforts and focus of these highly
funded UBRs' is in discovering molecules of interest to vaccine
manufacturers and for sale in diagnostic test kits. The evidence
follows. We contend that A. Barbour, R. Dattwyler, B. Luft, L. Sigal,
E. Fikrig and Allen Steere, R. Schoen, J. Evans and others who claim
Lyme is Overdiagnosed and Overtreated; the self-proclaimed experts
who are getting most of the funding regarding Lyme disease, are
interested in the commercial value of this disease and not in curing
patients. We seek a review of the results of government (NIH, CDC)
funding to these UBRs who seek molecules and diagnostic methods to
patent for profit, as we question the ethics and legality of such
endeavors.
Many of the above group of people (UBRs) claim Lyme disease becomes an
autoimmune disease for which antibiotics do not cure, and/or from
whom a diagnosis of NOT LYME benefits insurance companies and is
more profitable, per-patient-minute, than treating Lyme disease
patients. There is no proof yet of Lyme causing an autoimmune
disease.
------Patents and Grants $$$$$$$$
__Alan Barbour (of the ALDF)___ Barbour owns a patent for a rOSP A
(one of the two vaccines for Lyme) and then some. Alan Barbour had
this to say about Claire Fraser's publication of a Borrelia
burgdorferi genome in Nature Dec 1997:
"...But those who expecting to find in B.b. a rich vein of gold in which
to mine virulence determinants have to be disappointed.....The results
encourage study of a more metabolically competent spirochete, such as
the
Spirocheta aurentia, for a better understanding of how this ancient
group of bacteria evolved, and to identify catalytic molecule of
industrial
importance."... [What he is suggesting is that we don't study at a
spirochete that causes a disease and why, but rather one that does NOT
cause disease because it may have commercial value.]
http://164.195.100.11/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=0&f=S&l=50&TERM1=%22Barbour%2C+Alan%22&FIELD1=&co1=AND&TERM2=
&FIELD2=&d=pall
PAT. NO. Title
1-5,846,946 Compositions and methods for administering Borrelia DNA
2-5,777,095 Osp A and B Sequence of Borrelia burgdonferi strains ACA1
and IP90
3-5,688,512 Borrelia antigen
4-5,585,102 Flagella-less borrelia
5-5,582,990 DNA encoding borrelia burgdorferi OspA and a method for
diagnosing borrelia burgdorferi infection
6-5,571,718 Cloning and expression of soluble truncated variants of
Borrelia OspA, OspB and Vmp7
7-5,523,089 Borrelia antigen
8-5,436,000 Flagella-less borrelia
9-5,246,844 Virulence associated proteins in Borrelia burgdorferi (BB)
10-5,932,220 Diagnostic tests for a new spirochete, Borrelia lonestari
spp.
------------The Patents of EROL FIKRIG - Yale --------------
http://164.195.100.11/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=0&f=S&l=50&TERM1=%22Fikrig%2C+Erol%22&FIELD1=&co1=AND&TERM2=&
FIELD2=&d=pall
PAT. NO. Title
1- 5,807,685 OspE, OspF, and S1 polypeptides in Borrelia burgdorferi
2- 5,747,294 Compositions and methods for the prevention and diagnosis
of Lyme disease
3- 5,656,451 OspE, OspF, and S1 polypeptides in borrelia burgdorferi
4- 5,618,533 Flagellin-based polypeptides for the diagnosis of lyme
disease
-------The Endeavors of RAY DATTWYLER and BEN LUFT, SUNY Stony Brook
researchers who OWN **BROOK BIOTECHNOLOGIES**.
Patent Applications of Ben Luft, SUNY, Stony Brook.
1)LUFT,DR. BENJAMIN J. Spon: NI Allergy + Infectious Diseases
From: 19980901 To: 19990831 Direct: 311446
Indirect: 88834
VACCINE INTERVENTION FOR LYME BORRELIOSIS
2)LUFT,DR. BENJAMIN S pon: National Institutes of Health
From: 19990701 To: 20000630 Direct: 111148
Indirect: 40902
VACCINE INTERVENTION FOR LYME BORRELIOSISNIH Grants Fiscal Year 1997 for Dattwyler and Luft's Company
http://silk.nih.gov/silk/brownbooks/sbir/org/fy97
1)NEW YORK BROOK BIOTECHNOLOGIES, INC. # 1 $324,790
Fiscal year 1995 http://silk.nih.gov/silk/brownbooks/sbir/org/fy95
2)NEW YORK BROOK BIOTECHNOLOGIES, INC. # 1-$99,840
-----Funding for Raymond Dattwyler:
http://fundedresearch.cos.com/cgi-bin/NIH/getRec?P01NS340929002
Principal Investigator and Address: DATTWYLER, RAYMOND J
SUNY @ STONY BROOK HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER, T12-02
STONY BROOK, NY 11794-8121
Initial Review Group: ZNS Performing Organization:
STATE UNIVERSITY NEW YORK STONY BROOK
Grant Title: NEUROLOGIC ASPECTS OF LYME DISEASE IN NORTH AMERICA
Grant Expires in: 2 Year(s)
-----Grants that went to Luft:
http://fundedresearch.cos.com/cgi-bin/NIH/getRec?M01RR107100015
http://fundedresearch.cos.com/cgi-bin/NIH/getRec?R01AI37256
-----Funding received by Brook Biotechnologies in 1997
http://www.sba.gov/gopher/Innovation-And-Research/Awd97/awdny.txt
29146 HHS Brook Biotechnologies, Inc. *** $633,237 ***
Long Island High Tech Incubato 25 East Loo Phase: 2
Stony Brook NY 11790-335 Minority: Woman:
Topic: Recombinant Based Elisa--Diagnosis of Lyme Borreliosis
------Patents Pending for Ben Luft
http://www.research.sunysb.edu/research/data/pendaps.txt
1) LUFT,DR. BENJAMIN J. Spon: National Institutes of Health
From: 19981201 To: 19991130 Direct: 229409
Indirect: 90724
GENETIC IDENTIFICATION AND DELINEATION OF HUMAN
PATHOGENIC CLONES OF BORELIA BURGDORFERI
2) LUFT,DR. BENJAMIN J. Spon: NI Allergy + Infectious Diseases
From: 19980901 To: 19990831 Direct: ***$ 311446 ***
Indirect: 88834
VACCINE INTERVENTION FOR LYME BORRELIOSIS
3) LUFT,DR. BENJAMIN Spon: National Institutes of Health
From: 19990701 To: 20000630 Direct: 111148
Indirect: 40902 VACCINE INTERVENTION FOR LYME BORRELIOSIS
-------------------------------------------------
Molecular Mimicry, the battle cry of some of these UBRs, is the
concept that antibodies or the immune response against Borrelia
burgdorferi also fit a niche on host cells. This means that by
exposure to Bb, the human victim starts generating antibodies
against its own tissue and an inflammatory process evolves.
There is as yet no solid proof of molecular mimicry in Lyme disease.
Lyme disease is a persistent spirochetal infection. There is no
proof that one ever gets rid of any spirochetal infection.
---------------------------------------
Failed Attempts to Show Demonstrate Molecular mimicry by the UBRs:
(Article I of II:) Cell Immunol 1999 May 25;194(1):118-23
"Cross-reactivity of Borrelia burgdorferi and myelin basic
protein-specific T cells is not observed in borrelial encephalomyelitis.
Pohl-Koppe A, Logigian EL, Steere AC, Hafler DA
Center for Neurologic Diseases, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston,
Massachusetts, 02115, USA. Annette.P...@kk-i.med.uni-muenchen.de
"Borrelial encephalomyelitis, a rare manifestation of Lyme
borreliosis,
may present as a multiple sclerosis (MS)-like disease. It is postulated
that in MS, inflammation of the white matter is caused by a
T-cell response directed to myelin antigens. Here, we examined
whether a T-cell autoimmune response may play a pathogenetic
role in Borrelia-associated white matter disease mediated by
cross-reactivity between myelin basic protein (MBP) and B.
burgdorferi. We generated a total of 1760 short-term T-cell
lines against B. burgdorferi or MBP from two patients with
Borrelial encephalomyelitis and compared these with three
patients with late Lyme disease, one patient with transverse
myelitis, eight patients with MS, and four healthy controls.
While a few T-cell lines recognized both B. burgdorferi and
MBP, T-cell clones from these lines responded only to the
antigen of the original stimulation. Thus, our data do **not**
provide evidence for cross-reactivity between MBP and B.
burgdorferi. Copyright 1999 Academic Press."
___________________________________________________-
(Article II of II:) Science 1998 Jul 31;281(5377):703-6
"Identification of LFA-1 as a candidate autoantigen in
treatment-resistant Lyme arthritis.
Gross DM, Forsthuber T, Tary-Lehmann M, Etling C, Ito K, Nagy ZA,
Field JA, Steere AC, Huber BT
Department of Pathology, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111 USA.
Treatment-resistant Lyme arthritis is associated with immune
reactivity to outer surface protein A (OspA) of Borrelia burgdorferi,
the agent
of Lyme disease, and the major histocompatibility complex class II
allele DRB1*0401. The immunodominant epitope of OspA for T helper cells
was identified. A homology search revealed a peptide from human
leukocyte function-associated antigen-1 (hLFA-1) as a candidate
autoantigen. Individuals with treatment-resistant Lyme arthritis,
but not other forms of arthritis, generated responses to OspA,
hLFA-1, and their highly related peptide epitopes. Identification of the
initiating bacterial antigen and a cross-reactive autoantigen *may*
provide a model for development of autoimmune disease."
----
There is no evidence yet that Lyme disease becomes an auto-immune
disease, only more and more evidence that autoimmune diseases often
have an infectious origin. If these UBRs can change the surveillance
numbers by claiming that Lyme becomes an autoimmune disease, funding
for these Rheumo/autoimmune researchers will continue to exceed
that for curing Lyme as an infectious disease. They are abusing
the funding by developing test kits of commercial value and changing
their statements about the reliability of such testing, now that
they have a product to market from tehir private companies.
_____________________________________
More About Where Steere’s Endeavor Lead Him:
https://www-commons.cit.nih.gov/crisp/
Grant Number: 5R03TW00514-03PI
Name: STEERE, ALLEN C.PI Title: Project
Title: LYME BORRELIOSIS IN RUSSIA
Abstract: DESCRIPTION (adapted from investigator's abstract): The
specific aims of the parent grant are to describe the clinical
manifestations of Lyme Disease in patients in New England, to
develop specific diagnostic tests, and to determine appropriate
treatment regimens for the illness. Since 1986, Dr. Steere, the
Principal Investigator of the parent grant, has participated in a
cooperative exchange with physicians at the Rheumatology Institute
in Moscow under the auspices of the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Biological
Health Agreement. It is now known that a considerable portion
of the worldwide nosoarea of Lyme borreliosis is situated within
the former Soviet Union. The infection there may be caused by any of the
three currently identified groups of the B. burgdorferi sensu latu
complex, including B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. garinii, and B.
afzelii.
However, the characteristics of the disease, particularly the late
manifestations of the illness, are incompletely described in Russia,
and for the most part, accurate diagnostic testing is not yet available
there. In the proposed study, the clinical manifestations of Lyme
borreliosis in Russian patients will be described based on a referral
network of patients seen at the Rheumatology and Neurology Institutes in
Moscow, and patients seen at the Lyme Disease Center at Ekaterinburg, a
highly endemic area in the Ural Mountains, about 1,000 miles east of
Moscow.
A Lyme disease diagnostic laboratory will be developed in
Moscow, and sensitive and specific diagnostic criteria for ELISA
and Western blotting tests will be developed, based on Russian case and
control subjects. Skin biopsy samples of erythema migrans skin lesions
will be cultured, and joint fluid and cerebrospinal fluid samples will
be tested by PCR in an effort to identify the groups of the B.
borrelia burgdorferi sensu latu complex which cause this infection in
Russia. Finally, the clinical data will be correlated with the
laboratory information in an attempt to determine whether particular
spirochetal groups cause different clinical pictures with different
serologic responses in Russia. These studies are important both to
understand variations of this infection in different parts of the
world and to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of Russian patients
with this curableinfection.
Institution: NEW ENGLAND MEDICAL CENTER
750 WASHINGTON ST BOSTON, MA 02111
Fiscal Year: 1997 Department: Project Start: 30-SEP-95
Project End: 29-SEP-99
ICD: FOGARTY INTERNATIONAL CENTER IRG: ICP
____________________________________________
Did the Russians have to purchase an agreement to license
Steere’s methods? Lyme disease is not always a "cureable infection”
at this point in time, or he others like him would not be getting
millions of dollars in grant money to study it.
____________________________________________Before Lyme disease was a Rich Vein of Gold from
which to mine diagnostic and vaccine biomolecules of commercial/
industrial value, Ray Dattwyler and SUNY had this to say about
testing for Lyme disease:
"Seronegative Lyme disease. Dissociation of specific T- and
B-lymphocyte responses to Borrelia burgdorferi [see comments]
***Dattwyler RJ***, Volkman DJ, Luft BJ, Halperin JJ, Thomas J,
Golightly MG N Engl J Med 1988 Dec 1 319:22 1441-6
ABSTRACT: The diagnosis of Lyme disease often depends on the
measurement
of serum antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi, the spirochete that causes
this disorder. Although prompt treatment with antibiotics may
abrogate the antibody response to the infection, symptoms persist in
some patients. We studied 17 patientsvwho had presented with acute
Lyme disease and received prompt treatment with oral antibiotics, but in
whom chronic Lyme disease subsequently developed. Although these
patients had clinically active disease, none had diagnostic levels
of antibodies to B. burgdorferi on either a standard enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay or immunofluorescence assay. On Western blot
analysis, the level of immunoglobulin reactivity against B. burgdorferi
in serum from these patients was no greater than that in serum from
normal controls. The patients had a vigorous T-cell proliferative
response to whole B. burgdorferi, with a mean ( +/- SEM) stimulation
index of 17.8 +/- 3.3, similar to that (15.8 +/- 3.2) in 18 patients
with chronic Lyme disease who had detectable antibodies. The T-cell
response of both groups was greater than that of a control group of
healthy subjects (3.1 +/- 0.5; P less than 0.001).
We conclude that the presence of chronic Lyme disease cannot be
excluded by the absence of antibodies against B. burgdorferi and
that a specific T-cell blastogenic response to B. burgdorferi is
evidence of infection in seronegative patients with clinical
indications of chronic Lyme disease."NOW Dattwyler has this to say:
Chembio Takes Lead In Rapid-Test Race / First to get FDA
OK online disease kit By Michael Unger. STAFF WRITER
Biotechnology executive Tom Haendler says he knew he was in the right
business when even the monster movie he watched on a TransAtlantic jet
portrayed home pregnancy tests like the one his Long Island company
manufactures. While watching "Godzilla" as he returned from a
medical technology show in Europe last year, the picture's hero goes
into a drugstore and buys over-the-counter home pregnancy tests to
determine whether the monster terrorizing New York City is pregnant.
Said Haendler, president of Chembio Diagnostics Systems, "If this
[pregnancy test] made the movie, then I'm sure we're on the right
track."
Now, privately held Chembio of Medford, in its latest venture into
the rapidly growing diagnostic-test industry, has a deal with a large
pharmaceutical company in New Jersey, Carter Wallace, to market the
first rapid Lyme disease test.
The worldwide market for rapid diagnostic tests for both home and
professional use is far more than $2 billion, analysts say. And while
it is far from being alone in the market of fast tests,Chembio has made
rapid biotech pregnancy test kits for both the home market and doctors'
offices, hospitals and clinics for several years. Now it has taken the
lead in quick tests for Lyme disease.
The company, formed with venture capital investors headed by
company chairman Lawrence Siebert, has developed numerous other rapid
tests for tuberculosis, ulcers and newly emerging diseases and parasites
now sometimes found in the United States, such as malaria, Chaga's
disease and Dengue Fever.
Just last week, Chembio became the first company to win the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration's approval to market a simple test to show
whether someone has been bitten by a tick infected with Lyme disease.
The test shows positive or negative for the presence of antibody
markers for the Lyme organism within 20 minutes. It also gives doctors
a signal whether to start crucial antibiotic treatment immediately
instead of potential delays at an outside laboratory. Even so, the
FDA recommends that positive Lyme results on the Chembio rapid blood
test be confirmed with a second test at a clinical laboratory.
For the moment, Chembio is alone in the field with its Lyme test;
but other companies are hot on the trail. Chembio's Lyme test is better
than 95 percent accurate, according to clinical tests, and is the first
rapid Lyme test to pass FDA muster. It will be marketed starting in
April, Chembio says, for doctors' offices, hospitals, clinics and
reference laboratories. An over-the-counter version for consumers'
home use is in the works. The price has not been determined.
The test uses technology developed by Lyme disease experts at the
State University at Stony Brook medical school and Brookhaven National
Laboratory. It was developed jointly by Chembio and by Brook
Biotechnologies Inc. in the Long Island High Technology Incubator in
Stony Brook.
"That's our test," said Dr. Raymond J. Dattwyler, president of
Brook Biotechnologies who also heads the Lyme Disease Center at the
State University at Stony Brook's Health Sciences Center. Dattwyler and
Dr. Benjamin J. Luft, chairman of medicine at Stony Brook, are the
inventors, along with Dr. John Dunn of the Brookhaven National
Laboratory Biology Department. The patents are owned by the State
University and Brookhaven National Laboratory.
At the Chembio plant on Horseblock Road, several dozen women in
blue pharmaceutical garb assemble the various kinds of test kits by
hand. The company's platform technology requires only a drop of blood,
urine or mucous on a treated membrane strip to show negative or positive
results. Chembio scientists Sat Nam S. Hanjan, Mewa Singh and Hema Mana
explain that the biochemical reactions begin to appear on the small
plastic indicators within a minute or two and usually take no more
than 15 or 20 minutes to fully develop and complete. The kits are
manufactured in the Medford plant in batches of 10,000 to 100,000.
"We're hoping that many of these tests eventually will be available
for consumer purchase for use at home," Hanjan said. Chembio recently
won a $100,000 research grant from the federal government to develop a
rapid biotech test for new strains of drug-resistant tuberculosis. A
rapid AIDS test also is in the works.
The company believes it is on the leading edge of the trend toward
ultra-fast testing. "It's the way everything is going to go," says Avi
Pelossof, Chembio's marketing director. "It's a great industry to
be in," said Haendler. "And we're in it at the right time." "We patients contend that these UBRS are not spending his time trying
to discover what works in terms of treatment for Lyme disease by
virtue of the time they must be spending at SUNY, ChemBio and Brook
Biotechnologies developing Test Kits. They changed their tune about
the adequacy of serology in diagnosis (95%) when they had a test
kit to sell.
--------------
Endeavors of Allen Steere:
Internal letter from a company in CT:
"Sent: Friday, July 02, 1999 2:59 PM
Subject: CDC Lyme Disease Study
"....Dr. Allen Steere will be
working on a CDC and NIH supported Lyme Disease study for which
they are seeking patient volunteers. This study has been approved by
Tufts/New England Medical Center's Institutional Review Board.
They are primarily interested in patients with physician diagnosed
erythema migrans, in whom they will be studying pathogenesis of
disease, histopathology, molecular and genetic diversity of Borrelia
burgdorferi isolates, cell-mediated immune factors, and serology, in the
setting of clinical presentation. These patients will have skin
biopsy of the lesion (small enough to be dressed with a
bandaid, no sutures) as well as bloodwork on the day of presentation.
Lyme disease treatment will be initiated at that time. Only one
follow-up visit is required for convalescent bloodwork, 2 to 4 weeks
later. The grant provides for a $100 payment to these volunteers..."Patients with Chronic Lyme disease contend that if Dr. Steere was truly
interested in the relative virulence, he would ask the patients to come
back at 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, etc., to see which strains have
the worst remaining effect on the patient.Steere is looking for new strains. If he finds one, he
can patent it, like the rest of the people who are making money
off of Lyme disease.Imugen, a lab in Norwood, MA, is in a partnership with CORIXA
another growing biotech company...Here's why:
http://www.corixa.com/parpro/partnered.asp
Target Product: Reference diagnostic for detection of certain
tick-borne diseases Status: Development
Partner: IMUGEN, Inc.
Corixa and others are looking for markers of infection; to patent
other commercially viable diagnostic test kit antibodies/ biomolecules.
-------------------------------------------------------
From a Corixa Press release, April 7, 1998...
"...The agreement provides Imugen with an exclusive license,
including the right to sub-license these recombinant antigens
for reference laboratory testing in the US and Canada
in exchange for a share of revenues from any diagnostics
kits or blood screening tests that are developed as a
result of this collaboration..."
---------------------------------------------------------
We are tired of all this greed and intrigue. We're sick, so
we're not even good candidates for vaccines... These people,
Steere, Barbour, Dattwyler, Luft, Fikrig, etc., biopsy our
rashes so thay can make money on a new antigen (vaccines) or
identify new antibodies to identify by test kit.Meanwhile, we Lyme Patients and the doctors that help us
try to keep the infection under control until a cure is found,
are the worthless by-products of their endeavors.We don't want them funded by the US Government any longer. Since
many now have their own independent research facilities, patents and
patents pending, they are financially capable of continuing
research without US Govt Grants.We want the majority of future funding for Lyme disease
to be focused upon requests for grants to study treatment
modalities and related science.