911 NIGHTLINE LYME

[Guest guest]

Hello Everyone!

This is Eve in California. I am trying to be a productive member in this

group, but no one, except SNAKECHARMER has tried to help me find an LLMD

in the area. Larry do you have one in NEVADA? What about COLORADO

anyone? Somewhere close to Calif. would be helpful. PLEASE HELP! Jack

and Nurse Deb? Got any ideas for me?

And, also does anyone go to Mexico to get their antibiotics? I am

paying 23 dollars now on my insurance for Augmentin for a mere 10 day

supply. Would it be cheaper in Mexico? And where?

NOW HERE IS THE PRODUCTIVE part of me; an excerpt from tonights

discussion Thurs. July 5 on ABC nightline which is on about 11:30pm but

check your local listings. REQUIRED VIEWING: PLEASE cut and paste and

SEND TO EVERYONE you know!

With Love, Eve alldat@... SEE BELOW

EXCERPT: " We've asked the former editor of the New England Journal of

Medicine, Dr. Marcia Angell and the head of the White House Commission

on Complementary and Alternative Medicine to help us frame the larger

questions. "

NOTE: Angell's ties with the " Junk Science " Campaign seriously

undermines

her credibility.

Tonight (7/5/01) on ABC's Nightline broadcast...

A preview by Nightline Producer :

You want a specific treatment for an illness not officially recognized

by

the medical establishment but it's hard to find a doctor willing to

provide it. How much latitude should doctors have in treating patients

to ease their suffering, when the medical establishment and insurance

companies are lined up against them?

----

It was nearly twenty years ago when I first heard of Lyme disease. We

were visiting close friends in Westchester County, just north of New

York City, not terribly far from Lyme, Connecticut where the disease was

first discovered. The wooded neighborhood was overrun with deer, tame

and unafraid of the homeowners who were becoming increasingly annoyed at

their uninvited guests. Little did our friends know it wasn't the deer

rummaging

through their vegetable gardens they needed to fear, but the tiny deer

tick, so small most people aren't aware it has burrowed into their skin.

By 1984 when my friend was three months pregnant with her first child,

she

began having symptoms of something she didn't understand, including

Bell's

palsy, which causes sudden facial drooping. Four years later, during a

routine physical she was tested for Lyme Disease and the results came

back

positive. She was put on an IV antibiotic for ten days, developed a rash

and stopped. To this day, she's not sure whether she still has some of

the

symptoms of Lyme. But she's one of the lucky ones.

About a year ago, a Washington, D.C. communications lawyer called to

inform me his wife had what he called " chronic Lyme disease " and

NIGHTLINE

should do a program. Neither chronic Lyme, nor the treatment --

long-term

antibiotics -- are officially recognized by the medical establishment.

Indeed, a study published last month in the New England Journal of

Medicine indicated long-term antibiotics did not prove effective in

treating Lyme. But tell that to the increasingly vocal Lyme patients who

believe they have been helped by the few doctors willing to put their

medical practice at risk by treating them with more than 30 days of

antibiotics. They will question the methodology of the study.

All of this is part of a battle royal being fought in chat rooms and in

rallies, much of it beneath the media radar screen. On one side are the

patients and doctors who believe in chronic Lyme and the expensive

treatment of long-term antibiotics. On the other: the medical

establishment which questions the very existence of chronic Lyme and the

antibiotic treatment popular among the patients who have managed to get

it.

As one doctor told me recently, " This is about science versus junk

science. " Nothing is quite that simple and neither is this story.

As lay journalists, we can't hope to mediate the dispute or pretend to

know where the truth really lies. After reporting on the deep divisions

in

the medical community over Lyme, we will move on to a central issue

facing

those in the Lyme debate and many others who ask whether medicince

should

only follow a strict scientific protocol.

We've asked the former editor of

the New England Journal of Medicine, Dr. Marcia Angell and the head of

the

White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine to help

us frame the larger questions.

You don't need to have Lyme disease and

know anybody with it to appreciate tonight's discussion.

When you ask your doctor for help for your suffering, what should you

expect?

One footnote: This broadcast has been postponed several times for

editorial and production reasons. There are many people who suffer from

Lyme disease or know someone who suffers who have been waiting for the

program to air. We sincerely appreciate your patience and look forward

to

your feedback.

Tomorrow on our Friday Night Special, Krulwich goes fishing. Wait

'til you see what he catches.

NOTE FROM Eve: (What does he catch? Lyme?)

Senior Producer

NIGHTLINE Offices

Washington, D.C.