When is an open hearing not an open hearing? How do you give the appearance of being open without, well, actually being open? How do you deal with the issue of public accountability in Lyme disease guidelines when you would rather not? I'd say the IDSA open hearing, which excludes the public from participating, but allows them to "view" the proceeds from a safe distance probably fits the bill. And that, my friends, is what the IDSA intends to do. Hold a public hearing that fits the "form" but not the "substance" of a public hearing. In this way–the IDSA does not have to face the patients whose lives it is destroying. This is a one sided communication device–something the patients are quite used to, but something the IDSA should set aside in favor of accountable transparency. If you are going to talk the talk , you ought to walk the walk. Let's call this hearing what it is– one more way to "silence the sick".