Legislation

State Legislation

California is one of the states that has successfully pursued legislative solutions, thanks in large part to the leadership of volunteer Legislative Advocate Herb Dorken, PhD, who had a long career with another organization before coming to CALDA. Dr. Dorken generously shared his experience with CALDA and despite physical handicaps, for years trekked to Sacramento with his volunteer assistant Mary Beth Faulkner to educate legislators about Lyme disease and promote legislation. Thanks to Dr. Dorken, CALDA was also able to accomplish other goals without legislation, such as direct lab reporting of Lyme disease. CALDA is the only Lyme patient advocacy organization to have had a volunteer lobbyist.

For details of California legislation, look at Legislation under the California menu. Click here to view.

Other states that have passed Lyme legislation include Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. Rhode Island is widely recognized as the only state to successfully pass a law providing mandatory insurance coverage for long-term antibiotic therapy. Other states have task forces or advisory committees, laws providing workers’ comp for certain workers who become infected with Lyme disease on the job; resolutions declaring Lyme disease awareness week or month; laws providing insurance coverage with certain limitations. Several states have conducted hearings and at least one legislator (in Massachusetts) has hosted a Lyme educational forum.

Many more bills have been proposed but have not passed. A dedicated group of New York activists worked for years to pass legislation to reform the Office of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC), the state’s disciplinary body, and although their bills did not pass, they did reach an agreement with the OPMC not to prosecute doctors who treat people with chronic Lyme disease with long-term antibiotics.

People interested in promoting legislation in their own states can benefit from the experiences, successes and failures alike, of activists in other states. Badly executed legislation can cause more harm than good, and the political waters are full of hazards. Please contact CALDA for referrals before you plunge in.

A complete history of political activity by patient groups is available in Marcus Cohen’s book, Lyme Disease Update: Science, Policy & Law, published by the Lyme Disease Association.

To order go to:
http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/Publication.html