FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE:
CONNECTICUT
HEARS COMPLAINTS ON LYME DISEASE
ILADS PRESIDENT INVITED TO
TESTIFY
Hartford,
CT January 28, 2004 —
International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) president, Dr.
Steven Phillips, has been invited to express his views on Lyme disease at
a hearing by the Connecticut Attorney General and the state’s Department
of Public Health tomorrow in Hartford. The hearing was called after officials
received numerous complaints from patients who say they cannot get adequate
treatment for Lyme disease despite the devastating impact the disease has
had on their lives.
The hearing urges
an exchange of information from patients, healthcare providers, scientists
and government officials. It features a patients panel, a physicians and
laboratory panel, and it welcomes participation of the public.
Dr. Phillips will
present documented evidence that proves short term treatment is ineffective
and inappropriate in many cases of the disease. He will also address the
need for more education. He hopes his testimony will lead to mandatory
education for Connecticut physicians.
Yale-trained, with
articles published in Infection and in the American Medical Journal, Dr.
Phillips has helped change state law before. He has testified on similar
panels in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York, and has been an outspoken
advocate for Lyme disease patients.
Dr. Phillip’s
testimony in Connecticut comes as ILADS is preparing to release new international
guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease. These guidelines
will be the first comprehensive guidelines that provide physicians with
solid direction on which Lyme patients to evaluate, which tests to order,
what antibiotics to use, and what steps to take to ensure concerns over
antibiotic use are addressed.
For
more information and a copy of the guidelines go to:
ILADS’
website: www.ilads.org
Patients
and medical experts available for interviews.
ILADS
thanks Turn the Corner Foundation and the LDA for their
non-profit financial support of the guidelines.
To purchase
the guidelines, you may download
the order form. This requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, which
may be obtained by clicking below on the Get Acrobat Reader icon:
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