PA Special-Ed-Med apparently has never heard of science
Mort Zuckerman
ca...@drcarolgoodheart.com, lPick...@cdc.gov, Durlan...@yale.edu,
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Stanle...@fiu.edu, emcsw...@niaid.nih.gov, afa...@niaid.nih.gov,
Spin...@yahoogroups.com, kshe...@calea.org, fit...@gmail.com,
patrick.f...@usdoj.gov, model...@sbcglobal.net,
jdr...@nejm.org, let...@courant.com, Jgerb...@cdc.gov,
michae...@po.state.ct.us, con...@po.state.ct.us, executive-
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nati...@nytimes.com, dv...@cdc.gov, brigidc...@optonline.net,
tr...@hotmail.com, illino...@aol.com, jle...@courant.com,
tinaj...@yahoo.com, jhorn...@fff.org, thomas...@usdoj.gov,
thoma...@po.state.ct.us, kur...@washpost.com,
georg...@washpost.com, p...@allegorypress.com,
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vts...@comcast.net, o...@po.state.ct.us, freet...@charter.net,
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attorney...@po.state.ct.us, randall...@usdoj.gov,
Robert....@yale.edu, edi...@greenwich-post.com,
harol...@yale.edu, sedm...@nswbc.org, rrmcg...@aol.com,
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Subject: PA Special-Ed-Med apparently has never heard of science
Date: Jun 30, 2010 6:04 AM
Awww. What a shame.
Maybe Obama can ax Congress to
fund Special Education Medicine.
Or, maybe the children of Special Ed
MDs can hold a fund-raiser:
"Hepp are daddyes do lernin!!"
KMDickson
http://www.actionlyme.org
http://www.relapsingfever.org
===========================================
http://thebulletin.us/articles/2010/06/29/commentary/op-eds/doc4c2a372456ae1297854540.txt
Docs Oppose SB 1199 On Lyme Disease
By CHUCK MORAN, For The Bulletin
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
On Tuesday, June 22, 2010, Daniel B. Kimball, MD, testified on behalf
of the Pennsylvania Medical Society in front of the Pennsylvania
Senate Banking and Insurance Committee on SB 1199, a bill that could
be harmful to those with Lyme disease. The following is the testimony.
“Chairman White and members of the Senate Banking and Insurance
Committee, I am Dr. Dan Kimball, a board-certified specialist in
internal medicine from Reading. In addition, I am a member of the
Pennsylvania Medical Society’s Board of Trustees.
“I thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today on a
topic that I believe merits your careful consideration. To begin, I
tell you that the Pennsylvania Medical Society opposes Senate Bill
1199.
“In a nutshell, Senate Bill 1199 attempts to come to the aid of those
with Lyme disease. If passed, this bill would create the Lyme and
Related Tick-Bourne Education, Prevention, and Treatment Act. While
the desire to help these patients is laudable, the bill, as written,
may actually be harmful to those with the disease. As a result, the
Pennsylvania Medical Society opposes it.
“Within the bill is language that would statutorily endorse the use of
long-term antibiotic therapy for the treatment of Lyme disease.
Unfortunately, this type of treatment is not evidence-based and the
overwhelming consensus of the medical community does not agree with
it. Ironically, more and more physicians are significantly curbing the
unnecessary use of antibiotics given the serious and growing problem
of antimicrobial resistance.
“The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is an excellent resource for
information regarding the prevention, symptoms, and diagnosis and
treatment of Lyme disease. Similarly, the National Institutes of
Health (NIH) and the Infectious Disease Society of America (ISDA) have
done a great deal of research on Lyme disease and should be referenced
when considering the merits of Senate Bill 1199. All three of these
respected organizations continue to recommend treating Lyme disease
with a relatively short course of antibiotics such as doxycycline,
amoxicillin or cefuroxime axetil. Nowhere do these organizations
endorse the long-term use of these medications for treating Lyme
disease.
“Please consider the following two excerpts from an article entitled
‘Inaccurate Information About Lyme Disease on the Internet,’ published
in The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, Volume 23, Number 12,
December 2004:
‘Persistent B. burgdorferi infection in patients with chronic Lyme
encephalitis has not been demonstrated. Chronic subjective problems
such as fatigue, headache, irritability, poor concentration, poor
memory, arthralgias or myalgias do not indicate chronic Lyme disease.
Some of these subjective symptoms may occur after Lyme disease and may
be termed ‘post-Lyme syndrome.’ These symptoms may be unrelated to
Lyme disease and have not been shown to respond to antibiotic
treatment.
‘The Infectious Diseases Society of America practice guidelines do not
include treatment options for chronic Lyme disease because persistent
infection has not been demonstrated. Combinations of antibiotics,
prolonged courses of antibiotics or unusually high antibiotic doses
should not be used to treat Lyme disease, because they may be harmful
and have not been shown to be more effective than standard therapy.’
“Information from the CDC’s Division of Vector-Bourne Infectious
Diseases indicates that while patients treated with antibiotics in the
early stages of the infection usually recover and a few patients may
benefit from a second four-week course of therapy, ‘longer courses of
antibiotic treatment have not been shown to be beneficial and have
been linked to serious complications, including death.’
“So, up front, if we want to do what’s best for the patient, we better
be sure that we prescribe the correct treatment that is evidenced-
based. Until then, this bill holds great potential of putting patients
at risk.
“Equally important, we believe legislative attempts to practice
medicine should be avoided. The medical community must have the
flexibility to prescribe treatments as new medications and procedures
are discovered and then proven. Dictating medical treatment plans
through legislation for Lyme disease or any other disease will only
slow down appropriate newer treatment protocols for patients because
physicians and other providers will have their hands tied by
previously passed legislation.
“Let’s not put a wedge between patients and physicians through
legislation dictating medical treatments that eventually will be
outdated. Physicians need to act in the best interest of their
patients without such statutory barriers.
“On a more positive note, there is one element within Senate Bill 1199
that the Pennsylvania Medical Society would support with some changes.
The bill calls for the establishment of a task force focused on
education and prevention of Lyme disease. The Pennsylvania Medical
Society applauds that section and would welcome being a resource to
help educate both the public and physicians about Lyme disease.
“However, we are concerned with the provision that requires the
panel’s two physicians to be members of the International Lyme and
Associated Diseases Society (ILADS). To our knowledge, this is the
only group that supports the use of long-term antibiotic therapy for
the treatment of Lyme disease. It is also an organization that,
according to the above-cited article in The Pediatric Infectious
Disease Journal, provides inaccurate information about Lyme disease.
In order to assure that the majority viewpoint is adequately
represented, we recommend that the task force include at least three
physicians, with no more than one affiliated with ILADS.”
Chuck Moran is the Director of Media Relations for the Pennsylvania
Medical Society (www.pamedsoc.org).
"[Real] scientists are *fiercely* independent. That's the good
news."-- NIH's Top Fool, Anthony Fauci
Lipanj
> To: cmo...@pamedsoc.org, dwhe...@forbes.com,
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> inqu...@aldf.com, l...@idsociety.org, meganmcar...@theatlantic.com
>
> Subject: PA Special-Ed-Med apparently has never heard of science
>
> Date: Jun 30, 2010 6:04 AM
>
> Awww. What a shame.
>
> Maybe Obama can ax Congress to
> fund Special Education Medicine.
>
> Or, maybe the children of Special Ed
> MDs can hold a fund-raiser:
> "Hepp are daddyes do lernin!!"
>
> KMDicksonhttp://www.actionlyme.orghttp://www.relapsingfever.org
player.....I saw the jerk --It is very evident he is receiving pay
offs from the insurance cos...plus the guy there from Blue Cross &
Shield - what a jerk--stuttering around. You said it Kathleen