July 26, 2009
Law Approved To Protect Lyme Doctors
There's been a surge of encouraging momentum and positive developments building recently for patients suffering from chronic Lyme disease, and for the doctors who treat them. Signaling what many hope is a harbinger of commonsense legislative action that will eventually sweep across the country, Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell last month signed into law a bill that allows physicians to prescribe long-term antibiotics in the treatment of persistent Lyme disease.
House Bill 6200 unanimously passed through both sides of the Connecticut General Assembly. The bill allows doctors to treat for Lyme disease outside standard guidelines, which were established by the Infectious Diseases Society of America and recommend against treating Lyme disease more than a few weeks.
The IDSA guidelines, however, have come under intense fire. In May, the Connecticut Attorney General found that the panel responsible for writing the Lyme guidelines had conflicts of interest, engaged in exclusionary conduct, and suppressed scientific evidence. The Attorney General's investigation resulted in a settlement forcing the IDSA to form a new panel to review and revise the guidelines. That process is ongoing, however, and doctors across the country who currently treat long term for chronic Lyme still do so at great risk to their medical licenses.
In that light, the legislation recently approved and signed into law by Gov. Rell in Connecticut comes as welcome news. The bill allows doctors to prescribe long-term antibiotics as a way to treat patients with Lyme disease, if a licensed physician has documented the patient's clinical diagnosis of the disease and treatment. The bill also prevents the state health department from taking disciplinary action against any physician who prescribes long-term antibiotics to Lyme patients.
"This is positive step forward in bringing the possibility for renewed health to chronic Lyme patients who have suffered terribly under the flawed guidelines issued by the IDSA," said Dr. Joseph Jemsek, a infectious disease specialist who two years ago was disciplined by the North Carolina Medical Board, for treating Lyme patients outside the IDSA guidelines. The medical board's ruling was immediately stayed, and Dr. Jemsek continues to successfully treat Lyme patients from across the country and the globe, from his clinic in Fort Mill, SC.
"It is my sincere hope that doctors everywhere will one day be able to enjoy the same protections now afforded physicians in Connecticut," Dr. Jemsek said, "to provide chronic Lyme patients with the best possible care."
Gov. Rell shared those sentiments.
"Doctors in Connecticut - the absolute epicenter of Lyme disease - can continue to do what is best for their patients suffering from this complex illness," Gov. Rell said. "I think most people know someone who has been infected. The bill also recognizes that Lyme disease patients must have the freedom to choose which remedy or regimen best meets their needs.
"Doctors will have the right to use treatment guidelines based on their clinical experience and best medical judgment," she said. "This bill does not, however, shield any physician who provides substandard care."
The newly approved legislation is already drawing high praise from Lyme advocates and patients' rights groups across the nation.
"Justice has been served," Pat Smith, president of the national Lyme Disease Association, told Connecticut's Wilton Villager newspaper. "Human health has finally triumphed over vested interest in the Lyme capital of the world. Lyme patients and treating physicians in Connecticut can breathe a collective sigh of relief. For years, they have not only been battling the disease, but also battling the politics which have prevented patients from getting treatment and physicians from treating. Gov. Rell and the Legislature have come down on the side of the people."