FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE:
ATTORNEY GENERAL
GETS EARFUL ON LYME DISEASE
CONNECTICUT HEARING COINCIDES
WITH NEW GUIDELINES ON LYME
Hartford,
CT January 30, 2004
—
Connecticut’s Attorney General and Department of Public Health officials
were barraged Thursday with complaints that Lyme disease is too often under
reported and misdiagnosed. A “patient’s panel” and an overflow
audience at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford was packed with
people who expressed their belief that Lyme is a grossly misunderstood disease
that is costing patients their livelihoods and their health.
The AG’s hearing
on Lyme disease came at a time when the International Lyme and Associated
Diseases Society (ILADS) has just published new peer reviewed guidelines
for diagnosing and treating Lyme disease to help physicians combat the
fastest growing vector-borne disease in the United States. By conservative
estimates, hundreds of thousands of US victims alone may be infected with
Lyme every year, yet there is no evidence-based comprehensive system for
diagnosing or treating Lyme disease, and there is no “standard of
care” for managing the disease.
The stories of Lyme
sufferers go from sad to tragic. Their symptoms range from headaches,
fatigue, and joint pain to the extremes of hallucinations, paralysis,
and blindness. The 13-page “evidence-based” guidelines provide
physicians solid direction on which patients to evaluate, which tests
to order, which medications to use, and how to address concerns about
antibiotic use.
According to ILADS
president, Dr. Steven Phillips, who testified at yesterday’s hearing,
“these guidelines will provide physicians with vital encouragement
and validation, as well as confidence they’ve sometimes lacked when
trying to detect and treat the disease. Misinformation and conflicting
views have caused inconsistencies and confusion; sometimes at great costs
to patients. ILADS’ guidelines come from some of the most respected,
published and experienced medical experts in the industry. These guidelines
should make a big and positive difference in patients’ lives.”
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:
[
