NY’s Gov. Cuomo includes Lyme in 2018 “State of State” agenda
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo this week laid out a wide-ranging agenda that included specific provisions related to Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.
Here’s the text of what he proposed in his State of the State book:
Proposal: Implement a Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Control Plan
In August 2017, the New York State Department of Health launched a multi-faceted initiative to safeguard New Yorkers from tick-borne diseases with expanded tick surveillance and an aggressive awareness and outreach campaign in collaboration with the Department of Environmental Conservation.
However, in some part of New York State, tick-borne diseases are on the rise, posing a threat to both individual New Yorkers and our regional economies that rely on outdoor recreation. Each year, there are approximately 8,000 cases of Lyme disease, 700 cases of 266 anaplasmosis, 400 cases of babesiosis, 100 cases of ehrlichiosis, and 30 cases of other tick-borne illnesses reported to the Department of Health—with many other cases going unreported. And 2017 also brought deadly cases of the rare tick-borne disease Powassan.
In 2018, Governor Cuomo will launch an aggressive initiative to reduce the incidence of Lyme Disease and other tick-borne illnesses in New York State, by controlling tick populations on public lands, advancing research on diagnostics and treatment, and further increasing public awareness.
First, the Governor will direct the Departments of Health and Environmental Conservation, and the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to launch a tick reduction strategy targeting priority counties and public lands with the highest risk of tick exposure and Lyme disease. Tick control methods will include strategic application of ecofriendly tick control treatments to high traffic trails and facilities, as well the expanded use of 4-poster tickicide stations to treat deer and traps to treat rodents.
Second, the Governor will direct the Commissioner of Health to establish a new working group on Lyme and other tickborne diseases to review current strategies and improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of tick-borne diseases in New York State.
The DOH Wadsworth Center will work with private partners to explore ways to improve diagnostic testing and treatment for Lyme and other tick-borne diseases, as better solutions are needed to protect New Yorkers. Third, the Department of Health will continue its robust public outreach campaigns and also convene a tick-borne disease summit this spring, bringing together national experts, members of the new working group and local health departments to review New York’s existing initiatives, and to make recommendations for future policy actions.
Thank you Governor Cuomo. Now make Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Emblem GHI, SHIP and other insurance offered to NYS employees PAY for our TBIs Treatments. Put together a working committee to look into this important matter.
I recently participated in a special assessment for direct detection of Borrelia burgdorferi in whole human blood samples which was organized by the State of New York, Department of Health, Wadsworth Center, the first of its kind by a regulatory agency. I hereby recommend that the NYS DOH expand this pilot assessment program to include other clinical laboratories as a general proficiency test for the detection of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Borrelia miyamotoi, Borrelia lonestari, Borrelia hermsii and Borrelia mayonii to encourage development of direct detection tests for the diagnosis of early borrelial infections at the Lyme disease endemic areas.
Dr. Lee……know of you…you are good people…Yes and yes again! We need ACCURATE testing. Not only do we have the different strains of BB but also not to forget the Bartonella and other Co-infections. Over 10 yrs ago, I went to a booth that was held by the NYSDept of Health…I was given a sheet(that was behind the booth, the guy at the booth wanted me to go away, cuz I was commenting how poor the info he was giving out about Lyme was) Well……this hidden paper showed NYS awareness of ticks, what they carried and the severeness of what they carried… What really hurts me and Millions of others…was on this sheet was the “woodchuck” tick also known as the Powassan Virus …YET…..NOTHING….was done or even any effort made to warn people or even TickRid programs set in motion…they years later….. everyone acted “stupid” when several people died from it… Dr. Lee I pray that these “people” in these gov’t positions who harm other people will step up to the plate FAST and start doing what’s right for the sake of their brothers and sisters! The past decade that has passed…(I know it’s more than one) but just this past decade….should NEVER have passed…so much was known…so much was ignored intentionally…..so much more suffering…more death……how much more are we going to allow?
Thank you Governor Cuomo for the help we need here in NY. I live in Sands Point and Have Chronic Lyme Disease going on my 3rd YEAR!! It’s a nightmare physically and mentally. My symptoms are constant and I am being treated by a Lyme literate P.A, highly respected in the Lyme community. The costs are out of reach for most people, and as a senior the costs come from my savings as the treatments are not covered by Medicare.My lab exams go across the country and to varied tri states, my culture I had to go to Stamford Ct. We need help here in New York. We need more Lyme literate health care workers. Too many say they are, and truly do not have the expertise needed to become Lyme literate practitioners. As a person who is suffering all these years and a health care provider who also sees Lyme patients, this is a nightmare for us!. Thank you for your help..The sooner the better!. Sincerely, Dr. Marlene Levy
Thank you Dr. Levy…….so well said……so well…. know first hand exactly what you said…so do MILLIONS OF OTHERS infected and more on the way! As for Cuomo I pray that he will do something…..but his past ignorance and how us Lyme+ Victims have been treated by those we elected in office…..I just don’t know anymore…With my insurance refusing to cover …with the local Oathless Doctors that my insurance does cover are refusing to treat me….even the IDSA Doctors! You said it..it’s a NIGHTMARE!
Thank you Governor Cuomo for recognizing that Lyme and other tick infections are a very serious problem. Prevention, testing and better treatment needs to be made a priority as many people including children are suffering. The medical community needs to be educated on TBI to help their patients. Most mainstream doctors don’t recognize the symptoms and many don’t even think chronic Lyme exists. The CDC is lagging in this field. Thank you for caring about us as many feel forgotten.
“Recognizing” Lyme+….huh….not so sure that would be Cuomo…this has been going on for some time…I saw next to “nill” support from him…I’ll say one thing…Congressman Chris Gibson put his best foot forward…he made the most effort out of any I ever saw…but in the end “they” wore him down….In the end “they” tried to change the words in a very important bill …Mr. Gibson was working on for us Lyme+ Victims…For once, but it was a battle that never should have had to be…us Lyme+Victims won!…We got the TBD Working Group through the 21st(no?)Care Act…and got the words to be as good as can be….. We had a little rocky road with this TBD WG…”they” tried to get a person on it who’s the reason MILLIONS are infected, untreated, improperly tested, etc There’s even a lawsuit of Lyme Victims against this Wormer guy…but moving on….we have “some” very AWESOME people on this Working Group…we have David Conner who wrote in the HuffPost and is keeping us TRUE to the facts!(he wrote about the 1st and 2nd meeting of the TBD Working Group) We have Carl Tuttle of change.org who’s also keeping things TRUE…..
Let me be clear…you are a Lyme+Victim? YOU WILL have to keep very close eye on everything that happens here and forward….you will have to baby sit and write letters to Cuomo and whom ever you want to listen when they are not…It’s gone on way too long….. We have CDC for MANY DECADES has promised….CDC= Center disease CONTROL(have not seen any, you?) and PREVENTION….24/7 SAVING LIVES and PROTECTING PEOPLE…..I’ve only seen MILLIONS MORE suffering and dying and getting infected! How about you? IDSA asked us a few years back for our input…only to shut down the site and intentionally erase HUNDREDS of Lyme+Victims plea’s..asking for help…..These are the kind of people we are dealing with…yup…people of our own very flesh and blood! Speakin’ of blood…..DO NOT DONATE…our organ and blood supply are not accurately tested! see…..we are in a very serious situation here…there’s so much more…..we get it……but do “they”?
Thank you very much Governor Cuomo. As a mother of a teenager dat got Lyme disease in 2013 in our visit to New York.
And how about making sure the state medical board does not find devious ways to still go after the handful of lyme doctors that will still treat chronic cases in NY.
NYS Legislators tried to increase the budget for Lyme and TBD which was far less than even one million dollars. The Governor as I recall rejected that. So, I ask is this rhetoric for his upcomming 2018 election? What meaningful can be done with so little money? Maybe use the 4 poster and TCS systems in LI where they are allowed?
We should all think who and how we are going to vote! Also consider starting class action suits. WE are TAXPAYERS, WE have the power. WE just have to get together and become vocal and demanding, rather than doing what we have been doing which I think is next to nothing.
We need affordable treatment and doctors who do not dismiss Lyme using the CDC criteria only. Only a small percentage of people can pay the large sums that Lyme Literate doctors charge. This leaves the rest of us without proper diagnosis and treatment. People should not have to go broke to be treated for a widespread disease. Insurance Companies need to cover treatments and Medicare needs to do the same. Thank you, Gov. Cuomo for looking into the Lyme situation in our state.
Great to see Andrew Como and others legislating for prevention and research on Lyme disease. Everyone is at risk and diagnosis and treatment relies on educated guesses.
I am interested in whether Governor Cuomo’s agenda to combat Lyme disease and treatment for those suffering will cross from the State of New York to other states such as MN, in my case, known to be highly epidemic for tick borne illness. Will there be collaboration, and will the stigma of “Lyme ” disease be changed in description to each of it’s own unique variations of illness. Certain bands diagnose Lyme, but does not address the many co-infections included in the saliva of an infected tick. Testing for the co-infections is just as important, and in some cases, more important as strains, such as Powassan virus and others, are deadly with no known potentially life saving treatment. Guidelines that are outdated must be changed immediately. Not in a congressional hearing that may or may not ever occur in a government that can’t agree on measures to improve a health system that currently makes large amounts of money as long as people remain sick, costing taxpayers billions per year. Legislation powered by each states own executive orders to free physicians limitations set by medical boards, giving them the education they currently do not have and taking the drugs needed help those suffering, out of the tier one status or labeled experimental so insurance companie’s can use that status as a basis do deny coverage, currently making it unaffordable to many that have had financial stress due to someone in their family affected by tick borne illnesses. Lastly, a nationwide awareness that tick borne illness is here and has been for decades but has been treated like no other chronic illness, as if it doesn’t exist. It’s a win-win for legislators to pull back the curtain, provide what is needed to attack this problem putting funds into all of the categories addressed by Governor Cuomo’s initiative, give states the ability to fund, research and recognize Lyme disease is currently costing as much money to taxpayers as it would to finally help thousands become productive to society, instead of a burden, as they remain sick due to no fault of their own. There isn’t time to wait the years it takes to get action through legislation, and legislative hearings that seem to talk the talk but don’t walk the walk. People are suffering and dying. Admit once and for all that this will become a problem that as hard as the power’s that be want to keep this under wraps, to protect their own conflict’s of interest and patents, will become so big and expensive, there will no longer be any way for anyone currently standing in the way, to hold their own self serving, corrupted ground, any longer. Be aware this epidemic will eventually be in every home, sooner than later.