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Tick-borne diseases outreach program at Governors Garden

Please come out and learn more about ticks and diseases at the Governor's Garden in Jefferson City Missouri from 10 - 10:30 AM on Thursday, June 19th

Lyme Disease Spread by Ticks Now Drug Resistant

Researchers say the lyme disease bloodsucking ticks spread, can also conceal itself in the body. This means that people who have already been treated for the disease can start showing symptoms of the malady again.

Click here to read the article.

Lyme and tick-borne disease awareness day rally live on KSDK TV downtown St. Louis

Join us us Friday May 23 in downtown St. Louis, at KSDK plaza, 1000 Market St. at 10^th St. at 2:30 PM for the Lyme and tick-borne disease awareness rally.

We are responsible for parking at a meter or in a lot. KSDK does not provide parking. One may also want to consider taking the metro into downtown to avoid parking. However parking is not that bad in that area. Also we will be have a car pool plan setup also.

We are welcome to bring signs and props to accentuate our window appearance. We are responsible for disposing of any materials at the end of the show.

Due to security restrictions, they cannot allow window groups to wait inside the station. Furthermore, there are no public restroom facilities available for use.

They will be on the air from 3:00-3:30pm. We will be in the background during the show. Waving and smiling is allowed at all times during the show; noise is allowed EXCEPT when a reporter goes live at the window.

Click here for a map to the event.

Tick-Borne Disease Prevention Day at Babler State Park May 25th.

Join us at Babler State Park at 12:30 before the kite flying event for information and presentations on ways to reduce the risks of tick bites and proper removal of ticks to reduce the chance of being infected with a tick-borne disease like Lyme. Click here for Babler State Park Home Page

Volunteers Please try to arrive by 12:00 PM. Remember to bring plenty of sun screen, and dress appropriately, especially those suffering from Lyme or Lyme like tick borne diseases.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 1, 2008

CONTACT:
Nicole Rodgers 202-822-5200

Hartford, CT – Patients’ rights groups today hailed Connecticut Attorney
General Blumenthal’s announcement of a settlement in a landmark
antitrust investigation into the Lyme treatment guidelines of the
Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).

“My office uncovered undisclosed financial interests held by several of
the most powerful IDSA panelists,” said Blumenthal. “The IDSA’s
guideline panel improperly ignored, or minimized, consideration of
alternative medical opinion and evidence regarding chronic Lyme disease,
potentially raising serious questions about whether the recommendations
reflected all relevant science.”

The groundbreaking settlement announced today forces a complete review
of the IDSA guidelines by a new panel free from conflicts of interest,
specifically excluding previous panel members. This panel will consider
a range of scientific evidence in a public forum broadcast live over the
internet and will be overseen by a specialist in financial conflicts of
interest in medicine.

“This settlement makes it clear that the IDSA guideline development
process was corrupted by a commercially driven panel that excluded
evidence supporting longer term treatment of Lyme disease,” said
attorney Lorraine Johnson, Executive Director of the California Lyme
Disease Association (CALDA). “This settlement allows suppressed
scientific viewpoints and evidence to be heard, and it is promising news
for patients.”

This is the first-ever antitrust investigation against a medical
society’s guidelines development process.

“We congratulate Attorney General Blumenthal for exposing the IDSA’s
conflicts of interest and helping reduce the suffering of Lyme patients
everywhere,” said Pat Smith, president of the national Lyme Disease
Association (LDA). “The IDSA guidelines are dangerous for patients who
suffer longer-term Lyme symptoms that do not fall within the IDSA’s
narrow disease definition.”

The IDSA guidelines are treated as mandatory within the medical
community. More than 50 physicians who use longer-term treatment
approaches have been investigated or sanctioned by state medical boards.
The guidelines can also result in financial problems for patients, since
insurance companies refuse to reimburse for longer-term treatment and
pharmacies may refuse to fill prescriptions.

The majority of individuals involved in the IDSA guidelines development
process held direct or indirect commercial interests related to Lyme
vaccines, patents, and/or test kits, and did not take the opinions or
experiences of the competing Lyme groups into account.
While the announcement of a settlement comes as a huge relief to
suffering Lyme patients, the case has much broader implications for a
health care system that often contends with conflicts-of-interest in
guideline processes – guidelines which are often used by insurance
companies to limit diagnosis and treatment options.

“Today’s settlement marks an important victory for all patients who
suffer Lyme disease, but it is also a victory for anyone concerned about
health care,” said Johnson. “Commercially driven guidelines that limit
patient treatment options are a major issue today in healthcare, and
this decision marks an important step towards addressing it.”

The national Lyme Disease Association, (LDA), CALDA, and Time for Lyme
are non-profit organizations that were founded by individuals who had
personal experience with Lyme disease, in order to address the lack of
education and support services available for this newly emerging infection.