Focus – Opinions and Features

At their annual meeting a few years ago, the Infectious Diseases Society of America adopted a policy of opposing patient-sponsored legislation. They have been true to their word. They have opposed legislation in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Connecticut and have lobbied for... Read More »

There’s good news for the Lyme community in a House Appropriations bill that just emerged from committee. Although the economic downturn has forced many programs covered by the bill to be reduced or even cut out entirely, the measure increases the Lyme disease budget of the... Read More »

Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell has signed a bill protecting doctors who prescribe long-term antibiotics for Lyme disease. Read More »

Newtown, CT, May 29, 2009 − Patient groups across Connecticut and the nation were jubilant as the Connecticut Senate passed the Lyme disease doctor protection bill today, 36-0, following its unanimous passage in the Connecticut House of Representatives on April 30, 2009. Read More »

Members of East Bay L.E.A.P.S. (Lyme Education And Patient Support) have drafted an excellent letter to the IDSA Lyme guidelines review panel. You can have your name added to it as a signer if you'd like. Read More »

You never pass legislation in a vacuum. The backdrop for the ongoing efforts to pass the Lyme bills included, in August 2005, Hurricane Katrina. In September, 150,000 people gathered in Washington DC to protest the Iraq war and the US death toll approached 2,000. Then in October,... Read More »

It was 2005, the first session of the 109th Congress. There were two competing bills in the House, and no Senate bill. No one knew what the senators would do. All we could do was wait... and hope. Finally, we had our answer, but the landscape was shifting. It might be impossible... Read More »

Some advocates had not been satisfied with the amended LIFT bill that had passed the Senate on consent in 2002. Since many people seemed unclear on the exact provisions of the different versions of the Lyme bills, LDA president Pat Smith wrote a letter clarifying differences... Read More »

The Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases Prevention, Education and Research Act of 2009, HR 1179, was introduced into the US House of Representatives by New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith on February 25. The bill authorizes creation of an advisory committee guaranteeing patients a seat... Read More »