Repost:NATIONAL ACTION ALERT #2 - UNIFIED ACTION

[Guest guest]

With so many letters to get done; we need to keep these actions on

the top so that others who may not be on for some time can see them

> (permission to post; please pass on immediately)

>

> Please read the following very carefully; it is very important

that

> we are not perceived as complaining: REMEMBER, we DON'T want to

give

> any credence to the statments in the press that this is

an " Epidemic

> of Anxiety " !! We must be very professional and cool in this action.

>

> THIS IS FOR EVERYONE: FRIENDS, FAMILY, CARETAKERS, PATIENTS,

SUPPORTS

>

> Sincerely,

> Regina

> neurochem1@a...

>

>

>

**********************************************************************

> *************************

>

> Unified Action Alert - LDF, LDA, ILADS, and Voices of Lyme:

>

> A Call for a Letter Writing Campaign to the Media

>

> RESPONSE to NEJM STUDIES ARTICLES

>

> (Keep the faith, the only thing insurmountable is traffic in New

York

> City J )

>

> Now that the governor's office campaign is almost through (ACTION

> #1), the next action needed, ACTION #2, is responses to

yesterday's

> New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and Good Morning

> America.

>

> Obviously, you all have other local media you can copy, but these

> Are important national pieces. Any who can write a separate letter

> to these national pieces should do so.

>

> (Letters to Washington Post must be exclusively addressed to Post,

> not a copy of Times letter)

>

> Suggestions for ACTION# 2 from LDA's publicist include the

following:

>

> 1. Write an INDIVIDUAL letter, not form

> 2. Keep it short as possible

> 3. Use a polite introduction (despite what all our inclinations

may

> be)

> 4. " Based on my experience and that of my own physician " language

> is a must.

> Bringing in physician brings in credibility. DO NOT use your

> doctor's name.

> 5. Patients' families, neighbors and friends should write from

> their perspective (the study said they found this, but I saw

> that in my relative,friend)

> 6. Show that you read the article by putting in a simple quote

such

> as " the article stated - " some text from the article here "

> 7. Rather than just destroying, try to build up, instead of

this,

> maybe that could be done

> 8. Keep in back of mind that letters are put into for/against

> piles, so let's make ours count

>

> Some of the study points include: length, dosage, type of

antibiotic

> treatment, exclusionary criteria in study design, role of co-

> infection Article conclusions: length of treatment, simplistic

> approach to disease, etc.

>

> Sample letter format:

>

> Editor: New York Times

>

> 1· Polite or neutral opening, do not attack reporter. You read

> article, do not agree with study, conclusions and/or article

> conclusions

> 2· Quote from section of article to show you read it (see above)

> 3· State several strong reasons why you disagree including personal

> experience backed by your medical interaction with your doctor

> (see above points)

> 4· Any accurate statistics/data you may possess which help make

your

> points

>

> Name

> Address/Phone (day)

> Cc: Good Morning America

> Viewer Comments

> 147 Columbus Ave.

> NY, NY 10023

>

>

> USA Today

> editor@u...)

>

>

> Washington Post

> (letters@w...)

> (PLEASE: directly address to Post, NOT Cc of NT Times letter)

>

>

>

>

**********************************************************************

> How to Submit An Article to the Op-Ed Page NY Times

>

> The New York Times accepts opinion articles on any topic. The

> suggested length

> is 650 words, but submissions of any length will be considered.

> Articles may be sent in any of these ways:

> By e-mail to: oped@n...

> By fax to: (212) 556-4100

>

> Or by mail to:

>

> The Op-Ed Page

> 229 West 43rd Street

> New York, NY 10036

>

> We read all submissions promptly and will contact you within 10

> business daysif we are going to run your piece. We regret that we

> cannot phone rejections. If you haven't heard from us within 10

ays,

> you can assume we are not able to use your article. We're sorry,

but

> the Times is not able to return submissions.

>

> Pat LDA