Focus – Opinions and Features

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 »

Sometimes Congress is busy with other matters, like wars and disasters. Early in 2003, Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry, killing all 7 astronauts onboard and then in March the United States invaded Iraq. So perhaps it was a minor miracle that on July 31, 2003,... Read More »

The Connecticut insurance law passed in 1999 is an example of how well-intended legislation can hurt. In response to numerous complaints received by his office from Lyme disease patients being denied insurance coverage for Lyme-related expenses, Connecticut Attorney General... Read More »

Rhode Island is the only state in the country requiring health insurance companies to cover longterm intravenous antibiotic treatment for Lyme-disease patients, no strings attached. The process stretched out over several years, with the creation of a Governor's Commission on Lyme... Read More »

Rhode Island was the first state in the nation to pass legislation protecting doctors who treat people with chronic Lyme disease from prosecution by state medical boards solely for that treatment. Rhode Island was also the first – and to date, only – state to reach an agreement... Read More »

The Lyme drama of 2001 was not confined to Washington, DC. In May the New England Journal of Medicine expedited publication for the Klempner trial, and in June major urban newspapers trumpeted the headlines, “Antibiotics don’t cure chronic Lyme disease.” The Fallon study was in... Read More »