NEWS: Smith introduces bill and forms Lyme Caucus in Congress
Rep. Chris Smith has introduced Lyme legislation and officially registered a bipartisan Lyme disease caucus in Congress.
Press release from the office of Congressman Chris Smith:
Washington, Feb 12 – Gearing up to renew the fight to improve Lyme disease research, diagnostics and treatments, earlier today, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Rep. Collin Peterson (D-MN) formally registered the bipartisan Lyme Disease Caucus in the 113th Congress and introduced legislation to establish a federal Tick-Borne Diseases Advisory Committee.
“I am so pleased that Collin has agreed to Co-Chair the Lyme Caucus with me,” said Smith, whose home state of New Jersey is one of the most heavily impacted states and who has worked on Lyme Disease since the early 1990s. “We’ve got a lot of work to do to help families across the country suffering from this disease. I am confident that Collin will be a hard working and dedicated member of our team.”
Under the legislation, H.R. 610, the Advisory Committee would be tasked with enhancing communication among federal agencies, medical professionals, and patients/patient advocates and to ensure that a broad spectrum of scientific viewpoints is represented in public health policy decisions. The bill also requires that the information disseminated to the public and physicians is balanced. There has been great concern over the last several years that meritorious analyses and opinions regarding “chronic” Lyme have been withheld from doctors, patients and insurers.
In 2011, 96 percent of Lyme disease cases were reported from 13 states, including New Jersey and Minnesota.
“In the last 25 years, more than 15,000 Minnesotans have been reported to have Lyme Disease, with those numbers dramatically increasing in recent years,” Peterson said. “My hope is that the Lyme Disease Caucus can help to spread awareness, and I look forward to working with Chris and others on this important issue.”
The Lyme Disease Caucus is dedicated to educating Members of Congress and staff about Lyme and other tick-borne diseases, as well as advancing initiatives that are designed to help the estimated 275,000 Americans who develop Lyme disease each year and all of those living with the disease.
The other heavily impacted states include Virginia and New York, and Co-chair Rep. Frank Wolf (VA-10) and Rep. Chris Gibson (NY-19) have agreed to become original cosponsors of the legislation to continue their advocacy in support of greater federal efforts to treat and care for individuals suffering from Lyme in their states and districts.
“Lyme disease is a serious and dangerous threat that many who enjoy our beautiful natural resources don’t even know exists,” Wolf said. “When I first learned about this devastating illness a few years ago, it was being referred to as an epidemic in northern Virginia. Now the Commonwealth’s epidemiologist says its endemic. That’s why I’ve held numerous forums with community groups to raise awareness. We must do all that we can to educate ourselves about the disease. These bills will help protect our community, children and grandchildren from Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases.”
“I have heard firsthand from family, friends, and constituents about the impact Lyme disease has had on their lives and the lives of their loved ones. Particularly in Upstate New York, where the incidence of Lyme is among the highest in the country, it is imperative that we improve the ways we detect and care for individuals suffering from tick borne illnesses. I am pleased to join with a bipartisan group of my colleagues to once again introduce legislation to establish a federal Tick-Borne Diseases Advisory Committee, which would be an important step forward in that effort,” said Congressman Gibson.
Lyme is the most prevalent vector-borne disease in the U.S. today. If not diagnosed and treated early, Lyme disease can lead to disseminated infection and can affect every system in the body, including the central nervous system. Later symptoms of Lyme disease include arthritis of weight-bearing joints; neurological problems, such as facial paralysis, encephalopathy, memory problems, weakness of the extremities; and heart symptoms, such as heart block and inflammation of the heart muscle. Lyme has been reported in every U.S. state and is becoming more prevalent.
“We do not have a good grasp on Lyme, much less the myriad co-infections that greatly compound and confound diagnosis and treatment,” said Smith. “Our caucus is committed to redoubling our efforts to help patients in need of real solutions.”
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I pray more will follow. My daughter has suffered for 16 months with lyme and 2 coinfections. never saw a tick or rash so no doctor would say it was lyme. 4 lyme tests came back negative with only 1 showing 2 forms of bacteria. Still all the doctor would give her were pain pills. Now she suffers daily with pain, fatigue, hair loss, hearing loss, nightmares, fever, swollen glands numbness around her mouth etc. we are now paying large amounts of money to a lyme literate doctor but at least we are getting some where. She lost her job, may loose her home and needs help with her 3 children. All because months ago when we told doctors we live in tick infested area and her symtoms matched they just turned their heads!!!!
Please help us that suffer, there are minimal Lyme literate MDs locally. I am myself a 25 year health care professional, and owner of 2 business. Now reduced to apply for public assistance, denied the social security benifits I worked so many years for. Lost my husband, now the constant threats of foreclosure on my 14 y/o son and my home. The doctor I finally found does not take any form of insurance. Please help us that suffer.
It is important for people to realize why certain people might endorse something. There are very clear links to republican profit gain through this kind of stuff. They might have been sitting on a cure for a long time just waiting for the right moment to act on the “sick” public to make them ready to vote… What I’m trying to say is – Be careful where you place your vote. Imagine, this would be a great way to erase pretty much ALL preexisting conditions there are by confirming our Lyme… I want Lyme to be seen and confirmed but not with the wrong outcome. I’ve been sick since birth – I’m 35.
Thank you for attempting to help all those who suffer with lyme disease. There are so many who suffer and are not able to afford the luxury of the benefit of going to a lyme literate doctor that is not under an insurance plan. It is difficult to get the needed help when your entire family’s financial future is affected by the thousands of dollars a chronic lyme disease patient can incur in one year, let alone the many years that are requently needed. Please focus on all stages of lyme but heed the need for chronic sufferers.
So far, the CDC considers chronic Lyme Disease a psychological issue not a physical/medical issue. Unless, this has changed recently, “education” may be more harmful than good.
It is time for the CDC and NIH to start paying attention to the clinicians that actually work with Lyme patients. The medical powers-that-be are lost in the view of Lyme Disease from the 1970’s. The folks that have Lyme Disease or care for someone with Lyme know that Chronic Lyme is pernicious and requires much more aggessive treatment than CDC and NIH recommend.
Thank you from Rhode Island.
We are slowly winning, and the more light the better. Many thanks for your contribution and to great success in your venture.
Lane Poor
Newport, RI
Thank you Rep. Chris Smith. BigPharm makes money from one misdiagnosis to another.
Thank you for your courage!
This is a life and death matter!
THANKS CHRIS SMITH ALL THE WAY FROM TEXAS WHERE LYME DISEASE DOES EXIST CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF THAT ITS RARE HERE. SAD PART IS THAT I HAVE WATCHED CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS FROM 1993 – 20 YEARS AGO WHERE PROMISES WERE MADE BY TED KENNEDY AND NOTHING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WHILE PEOPLE CONTINUE TO SUFFER BEYOND ONES IMAGINATION.
My deepest gratitude to Representative Chris Smith for representing the untold numbers of this Lyme epidemic. I have served in the public schools for 34 years as a healthy person before becoming suddenly debilitated by these vectors. I do not have Lyme Disease but I show positive for Lyme. I have Morgellons (meaningless medical term), i.e. Lymphatic Filariasis caused by mosquitoes in Fort Myers Beach, FL. Congressman Smith, I humbly implore your representation to bring these neglected diseases into mainstream medicine. The future of our country depends on people like you. Thank you very much Congressman Smith!
Please appeal to those politicans in the Southeast Region of the country as well–emerging research, including by Dr. Kerry Clark PROVES that Lyme Disease IS DEFINETLY in this region, and who knows how long this has been true.
We need:
–Better testing to detect and isolate which organisms/coinfections a patient has
–More funding for potential treatments, as the current protocols are often insufficient
–Better education for not only prevention,
–Better training and education for acceptance of this disease by medical professionals, as seen in AIDS/HIV decades before
PEOPLE ARE SUFFERING NEEDLESSLY, WE CAN DO THIS!!!