ACTION ALERT UPDATE: March 23, 2000

[Guest guest]

ACTION ALERT UPDATE:

March 23, 2000

(NOTE: New targets added since last alert)

Many of you have asked for an update on what you could be doing to help

the efforts here in NY regarding the investigations of physicians treating

Lyme Disease. LYMEPAC, the coalition of 12 NY State regional Lyme groups,

and Albany lobbyist have been working together over the past

several months to coordinate our objection to the investigations of these

physicians, primarily Dr. Burrascano and Dr. Horowitz two of the best

known LLMD's. reported at the last NYS LYMEPAC meeting that

our letters are having a powerful effect on the legislators. We are also

beginning to get more media coverage, for example, see

http://www.nymag.com/page.cfm?page_id=2225

We MUST keep up our efforts in this fight to defend our LLMD's (Lyme

Literate Medical Doctors) and our right to treatment. New York State must

be the focus for Lyme disease patients throughout the country, because if

our most well-known physicians go down, LLMD's throughout the country will

be picked off one by one. Your letters will not only help today's Lyme

patients, but future Lyme patients and sufferers of other illnesses as

well. Those patients could be yourself or people in your family.

Below you will find the up-to-date action suggestions in our fight. These

requests are for everyone, no matter where you live. Thank you for your

efforts thus far.

RECAP:

In December, Dr. Ansel Marks, Executive Secretary of the Office of

Professional Medical conduct, in response to our protests against the OPMC

investigations of physicians treating Lyme patients, wrote that 2-3 weeks

of antibiotics is adequate to cure Lyme. This letter makes it clear that

the OPMC considers the prescribing of more than 2-3 weeks of antibiotics

to be medical misconduct. They are investigating AND CHARGING doctors who

violate this extremely biased and unscientific standard of care. Our

action alert is aimed at urging the New York State legislature to hold

legislative hearings into the bias of the OPMC so that our LLMD's do not

have to be face hearings in a kangaroo court.

LETTERS TO LEGISLATORS:

Below is a list of legislators to be writing to. Some have just been added

to the list, some were on previous lists. It is time to write to some new

people. What is most important from the grass roots is to bring passion

to the issues. It is your letters that WILL overcome the resistance of

lawmakers. Your letters are extremely important. If you can, get your

friends and family to write as well.

Your letters can include any or all of the following:

1. Request for public hearings into the diagnosis and treatment of tick

borne diseases.

2. Your story

3. Your objection to the DOH limiting treatment to 2-3 weeks

4. Your struggles with insurance companies over treatment coverage

5. The details of having one doctor dismiss a diagnosis or treatment

followed by positive lab confirmation with another doctor.

If your letter includes #4 and/or #5, (insurance issues and/or

diagnosis/treatment denial by a physician) please send a copy of your

letter to FAIM (Foundation for the Advancement of Innovative Medicine) at

the following address:

FAIM

PO Box 410

Kinderhook, NY

attn:

FAX: 518.758.7967

@...

ADDRESSES OF LEGISLATORS:

Lobbyist writes, " Please write original letters. Tell your

story and why this matters to you. Your personal words are valued more

than a hundred form letters... Snail mail is preferred but use email if

you must. At this time, please focus on the following lawmakers " . Focus

only on those in the list below to whom you have not yet written. Dates

are only included to help those who have written previously recognize the

new additions.

ADDED MARCH 14:

Hon. J. Bonacic

New York Senate

Delaware, Greene, Sullivan, parts of Orange, Ulster

815 LOB

Albany, NY 12247

BONACIC@...

Hon. Owen H.

New York Senate

Part of Suffolk District

811 LOB

Albany, NY 12247

OJOHNSON@...

Hon. Carl L. Marcellino

New York Senate

Parts of Nassau, Suffolk District

812 LOB

Albany, NY 12247

MARCELLI@...

Hon. Suzi Oppenheimer

New York Senate

Part of Westchester

515 LOB

Albany, NY 12247

OPPENHEI@...

Hon. Dean G. Skelos

New York Senate

Part of Nassau District

503 LOB

Albany, NY 12247

SKELOS@...

ADDED FEBRUARY 29:

Hon. L. Leibell

New York Senate

Putnam, parts of Dutchess (eastern), Westchester (northern) District:

802 LOB

Albany, NY 12247

LEIBELL@...

Hon. M. Saland

New York Senate

Columbia, part of Dutchess

946 LOB

Albany, NY 12247

SALAND@...

Hon. A. Spano

New York Senate

Part of Westchester District

509 LOB

Albany, NY 12247

SPANO@...

Hon. P. Morahan

New York Senate

Rockland and part of Orange District

808 LOB

Albany, NY 12247

MORAHAN@...

Hon. J. Larkin, Jr.

New York Senate

Parts of Orange, Ulster District:

915 LOB

Albany, NY 12247

LARKIN@...

ON LIST PRIOR TO FEBRUARY 29:

Hon. A.L. Balboni

New York Senate

( Part of Nassau District)

Room 803 LOB

Albany, NY 12247

BALBONI@...

Hon. D.D.S.

New York Assembly

Room 531 LOB

Albany, NY 12248

MILLERJ@...

Hon. Kemp Hannon

Chairman Senate Health Committee

Room 609 LOB

Albany, NY 12247

HANNON@...

Hon. Gottfried

Chairman Assembly Health Committee

Room 822 LOB

Albany, NY 12248

GOTTFRR@...

Hon. Sam Colman

New York Assembly

(He authored the 1994 NYS alt med law)

Room 939 LOB

Albany, NY 12248

COLMANS@...

LETTERS TO EDITORS:

" Letters to the editor are impossible to overuse. We clip them and

circulate them through the office like gossip sheets of what's going on.

The press represents an overall buzz in the community. "

-Congressional Aide

We must create that buzz!

Please continue to write letters to the editors of various newspapers and

magazines. Some addresses are found below. Your letter may get

published, but regardless it will put the pressure on for the paper to do

a full story. A newspaper that receives hundreds of requests for a story

might just get interested. Your letters should be unique for each paper.

ONLY DR. BURRASCANO HAS GIVEN PERMISSION FOR HIS NAME TO GO TO THE PRESS.

You can also distribute the Press Release found at:

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104 & STORY=/www/story/02-21-200\

0/0001145629 & EDATE=

ADDRESSES OF NY MEDIA:

These addresses are just some suggestions. Please write to other papers

as well. It would be useful to organize a letter to the editor writing

campaign to local newspapers wherever you live.

Editor, New York Newsday

235 Pinelawn Road

Melville, NY 11747-4250

Editor, New York Daily News

450 West 33rd Street

New York, NY 10001

Editor, The New York Post

1211 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10036

The Village Voice

36 Square

New York, NY 10003

Att: Ron Plotkin

MEETINGS WITH LEGISLATORS:

We still need people to be meeting with their legislators. The numbers of

LYME-PAC are small, and we need much more help. Pretty please, if you

live in NY State, email us about meeting with your assemblyperson or

senator. If you do not, you can still arrange to meet with your

representatives to discuss the Lyme issues and tell your story. After

meeting with your local reps, you can keep them informed of new

developments or the stories of other people.

REQUEST:

Those who received reply letters from NY senators and assemblymembers,

please send to at: @... or at the above

address for FAIM.

Thank you everyone for your work so far. Please keep it up, we are only

in the beginning stages and need to continue making our requests known.

Ellen and Cheryl

Ellenlu@...

Cheryl@...

UPDATES FOUND AT:

http://www.faim.org/lymefight.htm

INFO ON OTHER EFFORTS IN THE LYME COMMUNITY AT:

http://www.aerovision.net/~cheryl/activism.html