[Guest guest]

Hi folks,

First of all , I want to wish everyone a happy

holiday.

SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Most of you know the lobbyist that has

worked with us in NYS for the past five years to help

protect our doctors from harassment by the state

medical disciplinary board, the OPMC.

Although certainly gave her heart and soul to

helping us, her employer was actually the Foundation

for the Advancement of Innovative Medicine (FAIM) .

That organization was made up of alternative

physicians who had also been targeted by the OPMC.

I want to thank all of you who contributed to FAIM so

they could continue to employ to the point of

winning a victory with the OPMC.

When we started out fighting in NYS, most legislators

, frankly, thought we were nuts. taught us

how to talk with them and how to build support and

strategy as a grass roots organization. She herself

lobbied tirelessly, bringing some of the most

difficult legislators on board.

The combination of , the LDA, the grassroots

groups , and those three wonderful champions of Lyme

disease in the state assembly (Mayersohn, Bradley, and

), led us to a victory this year in the form of

the memo from the OPMC director protecting Lyme docs

from being targeted for their medical views.

The next step in New York will be to finally pass the

OPMC legislation so that the protection is nailed down

in law and we do not have to renegotiate with every

OPMC official in the future.

THE NEWS:

I'll give the bad news first , then follow with the

real good news.

1) The BAD news for us is that FAIM has been unable to

continue employing . She will no longer be a

lobbyist.

2) The good news for us is that will now be

working for the head of the Assembly health committee

, Gottfried. As you may know, Gottfried has

been a strong defender of Lyme disease patients.

Having , with her understanding of and

commitment to Lyme issues ,on the inside of the state

government should be good enough news to compensate

for losing her help as a lobbyist.

The announcement from is below.

Happy Holidays and much love to you all.

Ellen

ANNOUNCEMENT FROM MONICA

MILLER

I am joining the staff of New York Assemblyman

Gottfried, Chairman of the Health Committee,

where I will work on a range of health care

legislation in that committee. As you may recall, Mr.

Gottfried was our primary sponsor for both medical

necessity and OPMC reform. I am delighted to be able

to continue supporting freedom of treatment choice in

this new capacity.

My website Healthlobby.com will close on December 31

along with related email addresses. Old phone numbers

and mailing address will become private.  If you wish

to contact me on legislative business please use the

legislative office number, 518-455-4941.

May I please extend my best wishes to you

in this season of light renewing.