copy of my letter to governor, CMEB, newsprint for Dr

[Guest guest]

Copy of this letter was sent on CHOICE letterhead to the Governor, the

CMEB, and all the media......I sent the board/governor via email and hard copy

CERTIFIED mail.

Heming

Founder

CHOICE

Consumers of Healthcare Options with Independence, Choice, and Experience

XXXXXX XXXXXX â–ª Sun City, AZ 85351

623-XXX-XXXX

December 14, 2007

Dr. Dennis G. O'Neill, Chairman, CT Medical Examining Board

10 Capitol Avenue, MS #13 PHO

P. O. Box 340308

Hartford, CT 06134-0308

Dear Dr. O'Neill and Board members:

I am contacting you on behalf of CHOICE. We are a non-profit organization

of doctors and patients in Arizona who protect the right to choose a variety

of different options in healthcare. Increasingly, such protective

organizations are forming in each state to ensure availability of health care

options.

A one-size-fits all approach to healthcare may be advantageous for some

special interest groups, but not for patients. Nor for doctors. Medical history

is replete with examples of farsighted doctors who were ridiculed or

persecuted by their mainstream peers as they pushed for new ways of doing

things, then

decades later the Nobel Prize acknowledged their contribution to medicine.

In Connecticut today, a special interest group persecutes Dr. Ray

because he does not believe as they do when it comes to treating Lyme

Disease. However, Dr. and thousands of patients want a treatment approach

to Lyme that is different than what IDSA (Infectious Diseases Society of

America) wants.

IDSA ignored guidelines published by other doctors who treat tick-borne

disease with longer-term therapies. IDSA then published guidelines that failed

to

include any experts with treatment opinions which differed from theirs.

Unfortunately, IDSA members have acted dishonorably, thus they are under

investigation by the Connecticut Attorney General for anti-trust practices.

Yet IDSA is bold. They want the Connecticut Medical Examining Board to

crucify Dr. On December 18th and thereby silence other doctors and

thousands

of patients who want relatively simple options that IDSA, in its hubris,

would deny them.

IDSA’s stand on treatment for chronic Lyme contrasts sharply with others:

" 95 percent of cases of Lyme disease are cured with 10 to 28 days of oral

antibiotics. "

– IDSA Guidelines, adopted November 2006

Another view, selected at random:

Most antibiotics inhibit the formation of cell walls and are effective only

when the bacteria are dividing with the formation of new cell wall. With the

slow replication time of Bb, an antibiotic would have to be present 24 hours

a day for one year and six months to be present during the cell wall

reproduction period._[1]_ (aoldb://mail/write/template.htm#_ftn1)

- As reported in Townsend Newsletter for Doctors and Patients,

Feb/March 2006: Biochemistry of Lyme Disease: Borrelia burgdorferi

Spirochete/Cyst by Prof. W. Bradford and Henry W.

You might say, “There's no rule that physicians must follow the IDSA's

ruling.†True. But the realities of life are that insurance companies often

base

their coverage on these types of guidelines. State medical boards could also

refer to the guidelines when investigating allegations of malpractice.

I don’t have to tell you at this point that the case of Dr. Ray

is likely to set precedent. The health and well being of many patients is

at stake.

The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta reports that " there is

considerable under-reporting " of Lyme disease, maintaining that the actual

infection

rate may be 1.8 million, 10 times higher than the 180,000 cases currently

reported. Dan Kinderleher, M.D., an expert on Lyme disease, stated that the

number

of cases may be 100 times higher (18 million in the United States alone)

than reported by the CDC. It is estimated that Lyme disease may be a

contributing factor in more than 50% of chronically ill people._[2]_

(aoldb://mail/write/template.htm#_ftn2)

There are potentially millions of people – and I am one – with chronic Lyme

infection and persistent symptoms that are often disabling. Without a wide

variety of treatment options, we face the possibility of leaving our careers

behind and joining the ranks of the disabled on government handouts. The

stress on family-life too often leads to break-ups. We need opportunities, not

denials.

As the Hartford Courant rightfully pointed out on 11/27/07, the decision,

if it punishes , could have broad implications. “It calls into question

the medical validity of treating patients who show symptoms of Lyme Disease --

such as aching joints and fatigue -- but don't meet the criteria established

by mainstream doctors.â€

To put it bluntly, IDSA does not have all the answers. Lyme Disease came out

of a bio-weapons facility. There is much the government has not shared about

it. Plus, we are always learning about disease. Until recently, every doctor

“knew†that ulcers were caused by stress and too much stomach acid. Then

two doctors – ridiculed initially by their peers – proved the causative

agent

to be the bacterium, H. pylori. The understanding and treatment of that

disease changed.

Yet IDSA is bold. One might remember the classic time bold medical

competition reared its head – when the American Medical Association declared

war on

its competitors, the doctors of chiropractic. The historic 1990 U.S. Supreme

Court decision found the AMA guilty of illegally boycotting and conspiring

against the chiropractic profession. Since then, chiropractors have largely

been

able to continue their practice without medical doctor interference.

And yet medical arrogance lives on. Why is IDSA so focused on pushing their

point of view when so many people disagree with them? Why deprive people of

long-term antibiotics if they feel it will help them? Watch television on any

given day and its full of ads – take a drug for restless leg syndrome, take a

drug for erectile dysfunction, etc,, and forget the dangerous side affects

as we show you pictures of smiling people. But IDSA would say no to rather

benign_[3]_ (aoldb://mail/write/template.htm#_ftn3) long-term antibiotic

therapy

even though it has been shown to be helpful. If the nature of the drugs in

question were addictive or hallucinogenic, we might understand IDSA’s

inflexible stance.

We are a long way from having all the answers for Lyme. Until then, let’s

not limit people’s choices and close the door on an option that seems to be

working for so many chronic Lyme sufferers.

Dr. Ray has acted responsibly. To make an example of Dr.

is to silence options, to deprive patients of the ability to choose for

themselves, and make a public crucifixion of a physician servant who has

dedicated his life to treating thousands of ill children - someone who is a

beloved

and sought-after pediatric Lyme specialist in the USA.

Dr. did not diagnose Lyme disease over the phone, nor did he prescribe

antibiotics for Lyme disease telephonically, prior to seeing the children

in question. What he did was to extend a prescription for zithromax for 5

days, for a paroxysmal cough. Maggie Shaw's children for Lyme Disease and all

got better. The complaint is not raised by the mother or the father, only

secondarily by the father at the urging of IDSA.

This is about politics and intimidation, not the making of good medicine.

The government should not facilitate one medical organization – with an

arrogant and competitive agenda – over the freedom of patients to choose what

they

think best for themselves and their children. We are a democratic society. We

ask that you enable choices in healthcare.

Sincerely,

Heming, Founder

CHOICE

Copy:

Elliott Pollack, Esquire

Collyer, Esquire

PULLMAN & COMLEY, LLC

ATTORNEYS AT LAW

90 State House Square

Hartford, CT 06103-3702

_ccollyer@..._ (mailto:ccollyer@...)

____________________________________

_[1]_ (aoldb://mail/write/template.htm#_ftnref1) Grier, T. The

Complexities of Lyme Disease, Lyme Disease Survival Manual, 1997.

_[2]_ (aoldb://mail/write/template.htm#_ftnref2)

http://www.springboard4health.com/notebook/health_lyme_disease.html

_[3]_ (aoldb://mail/write/template.htm#_ftnref3) Vioxx, an arthritis drug

heavily promoted in television ads, killed approximately 60,000 people. The

long-term antibiotic therapy proposed by the Lyme community has been shown to

have caused deaths.

**************************************See AOL's top rated recipes

(http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004)