Lyme Disease - Senator Schumer Announces 3-point Plan for LD

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Senator Schumer Announces 3-point Plan for LD

JWissmille

2004-09-21, 2:36 am

http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWe...leases/2004/PR0
2869.WetchesterLyme091004.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 10, 2004

SCHUMER: WESTCHESTER & ROCKLAND COUNTIES ARE AT THE EPICENTER OF LYME
DISEASE THIS SEPTEMBER – FEDS MUST HELP COMBAT PROBLEM

Stats show Hudson Valley tops in the nation for incidence of Lyme disease;
Westchester and Rockland reported cases have nearly doubled

Schumer 3-point plan to help crack down on the illness includes federal
money for research and prevention, launching national campaign to increase
awareness

Westchester and Rockland County are at the epicenter of Lyme Disease for the
entire country, US Senator Charles E. Schumer warned today during a visit in
Hartsdale to unveil his new plan to tackle the problem. This summer,
thousands of Americans have been infected with Lyme Disease and other
tick-borne illnesses that, improperly diagnosed or treated, can cause
serious life-long handicaps.

“The last thing parents should have to worry about when their kids play in
the backyard is that they’ll contract Lyme Disease from ticks they may not
even be able to see on their child’s skin,” Schumer said. “We need to
start
funding the research and technology needed to better diagnose Lyme Disease
and we need to train residents throughout the region to look for the warning
signs of this horrible disease.”

Lyme Disease, which is spread through ticks the size of a pin point, is on
the rise throughout the United States. The official number of Lyme Disease
cases nationwide rose from 17,029 in 2001 to 23,763 in 2002, a jump of 40%
according to the CDC.

Lyme Disease is found in 49 states, but approximately 95% of reported cases
are from Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Delaware, Rhode Island, Maine,
Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Hampshire and Wisconsin.
The disease is most prevalent in suburban and rural communities in the
Northeast such as Hartsdale. The Hudson Valley now has the highest incidence
of Lyme Disease in the country and the rate of reported cases in Westchester
and Rockland County has nearly doubled, increasing from 340 to 624 in
Westchester from 2002 to 2003 (the last year for which data is available)
and 124 to 169 in Rockland during the same period.

Lyme Disease, though highly curable if it is detected in its early stages,
is difficult to diagnose as its symptoms are similar to the common flu. The
“bull’s eye” rash that accompanies infection of the disease at the site
of
the tick bite often goes undetected especially on darker skin tones, and
there is not a reliable blood test for the disease. In addition, there is no
vaccine, and medical authorities disagree over how to treat the illness,
particularly when it persists after short-term antibiotic treatment.

Schumer said that the Lyme Disease epidemic has reached a crisis point in
upstate New York and called for federal action to protect New Yorkers from
this disease. To increase Lyme Disease awareness and improve research for
medical diagnostics and treatment of the disease, Schumer unveiled a new
three-point plan:

• $10 million in additional funding for Lyme Disease research and
prevention: Lyme Disease is the most prevalent vector-borne disease,
accounting for 90% of reported cases, yet it receives a small fraction of
CDC and NIH spending on those illnesses. Schumer today wrote a letter to the
Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Labor/Health and Human Services
Appropriations Subcommittee urging them to increase funding for Lyme Disease
prevention and research programs at the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
by $7 million and at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) by $3 million.
The increased funding would be used to fund several initiatives including
the development of a test to determine who is infected; research into
expanded treatment options; investigation into ways to identify habitats of
greatest risk; broader prevention strategies including biological and
chemical controls to halt the spread of the tick; and education of the
public and physicians, particularly in places where tick-borne diseases are
emerging.

• A new federal Tick-Borne Disorders Advisory Committee: Schumer is
co-sponsoring legislation (S-1527) that would create the Tick-Borne
Disorders Advisory Committee within the Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS). The Committee would serve to monitor trends in the spreading
of Lyme Disease and coordinate local and national efforts to combat the
disease. The Committee would compile local and state data to improve
information about the disease.

• Targeted educational campaign: Schumer is also urging the CDC to launch an
awareness campaign educating susceptible people to the hazards of Lyme
Disease and how to avoid it. The campaign would work with communities
afflicted by the disease such as Westchester and Rockland counties and
especially target communities where the disease is emerging as a threat.
Advertising as well as educational programs for schools and community groups
would be used and all information provided would be bilingual so that the
message reaches the maximum audience.

Schumer was joined today by Pat Smith, President, Lyme Disease Association;
Jill Auerbach, chairperson, Hudson Valley Lyme Disease Association; Suzanne
Sugar, Mid-Westchester Lyme Disease Support Group; Ruchana White, president,
Rockland County Lyme Disease Support Group; David Weld, executive director,
American Lyme Disease Foundation; Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner;
and Dr. Tom Daniels, associate research scientist, Louis Calder Center of
Fordham University, in Armonk.

derdrittemann

2004-09-21, 2:36 am

jwissmille@aol.com (JWissmille) wrote in message news:<20040916213130.21321.00000576@mb-m15.aol.com>...
> http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWe...leases/2004/PR0
> 2869.WetchesterLyme091004.html
>
>

>
> "Schumer was joined today by Pat Smith, President, Lyme Disease Association;...
>... David Weld, executive director,
> American Lyme Disease Foundation;..."

Well, that SOUNDS good...in and of itself.

I suppose one is tempted to shout "hooray"...after all, $10 million
for research is not bad...

....but the skeptic in me wonders whether we're not most likely going
to wind up channelling that $10 million through the same NIH/CDC
controlled process that has so far been seemingly engaged in denying
the disease and patients' needs...in other words, the "gang of usual
suspects"...and the usual suspect results and data.

I think what is desperately needed is a more or less independent
"auditing" of the situation...from outside. A fresh perspective. An
independent review outside of Yale, Tufts, Harvard...or wherever else
the faculty has been "steered".

The participants...Pat Smith, et al, should be careful...it is a
well-worn and time-honored mwethod of placating and co-opting
"activists" to bring them "inside" and give them meaningless titles on
do-nothing committees.

And...it works.