Lyme disease sufferers experience headaches, fatigue, chills, fever and, in
advanced cases, heart and nervous system problems. The last thing they
needed was to have their pains burdened additionally by a segment of the
medical community that by recommending against long-term antibiotic use
essentially threatens to reduce the quality of care they receive.
...
The most contentious piece of the new IDSA guidelines is a claim that
long-term use of antibiotics is not a remedy and that they should not be
prescribed beyond initial preventive doses. Lyme patients and their doctors
are understandably shocked by this assertion. Their own experiences tell
them differently. And though adherence to the guidelines is voluntary, the
implications are that insurance companies and HMOs will refuse to pay for
further antibiotic treatment and that doctors, even against their better
judgment, will stop prescribing for fear of being brought up before medical
boards.
The small but powerful cabal, of which Gary Wormser is a part, has
spent years trying to diminish the authority of those who hold
divergent points of view. In much the same manner as the radical right took
over the US government, this cabal has achieved their dominance through
cronyism, bullying, intimidation, subterfuge and monopolistic activities.
Their goal is not to win in the marketplace of science and ideas, it is to
force their particular ideology on our society while at the same time grinding
those with opposing science and ideas into dust.
This has not been achived in a vacuum. The insurance industry and their
benefactors within the US government have played a huge role in tilting the
playing field.
In other words, the same kind of corruption and cronyism which enabled
companies like Enron and Halliburton to rob the US treasury is also enabling
the insurance industry and their greedy friends in the hallowed halls of
academia to steal away our health.
Lyme disease is not just a potentially chronic and life threatening illness,
it is also a political illness. What prevents it from having the kind of
visibility that other political illnesses, like AIDS, have had, is that most
people who have Lyme disease don't die from it, most will recover from
it, and those who don't recover will usually suffer their pain and
anguish in ways that are not easily recognized by others.
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