Write to your senators - Lyme Disease Message Board

lyme5 · 08-25-2004, 10:02 AM

it is very important that we write to our senators and let them know we have lyme. A lot of the time it goes all together unreported and that makes it easier for them to keep saying lyme isn't easy to get, or that it doesn't exsist in your particular part of the country. Let them know how long you have had it and that it requires longer treatment than the four weeks doctors are allowed to treat it for. Doctors are punished for treating lyme patients longer than the "required" time frame. Write today and let them know this problem exists and they need to do something about it. Insurance companies are getting away with not treating patients correctly for time they need to fully recover. Doctors also need to be educated about lyme. All to often most of us that have been diagnosed with lyme can testify we know more about the symptoms than the average doctor out there, and how to treat it. So, doctors need education and government needs to be aware. So let's write today.

ticker · 08-25-2004, 03:59 PM

Lyme5, this is very important information.

People also need to report their tickborne illness(es) to their local health department and request the information be documented for the CDC. If tickborne illnesses are not reported, it will continue to be falsely believed that they are not prevalent.

deejavu · 08-26-2004, 03:22 AM

Lyme5,

I don't know about writing to Senators as I don't think they care.

As far as Doctor's being punished, I totally disagree because they went to Medical School and part of their job is to keep updated on all diseases. There is plenty of information for Doctors to keep learning, so I blame these doctors for not learning about Lymes and other diseases. As I have said previously in other Posts, I have seen over 100 doctors on Long Island and 99% of them are completely ignorant about Lymes.

A person makes an appointment, has to wait over 1 hour to see the Doctor and all the Doctor wants is to get you out of their office as soon as possible.

One experience I had with a Doctor was asking him if he knew about Ehrlichiosis and he went to his Medical Book to look it up, duhhhhhh! Then he said to me that he is just starting to read about it.

What is the purpose of being a Doctor if they don't take time to update themselves on Illnesses? When new laws are created, lawyers learn about the new laws, why doesn't that apply to Doctors? Does not make sense to me. I think they are too lazy to read and update themselves on these illnesses. Shame on them!

Deejavu

lyme5 · 08-26-2004, 08:31 AM

It doesn't matter if they care. The thing is, every person that writes in represents several thousand people. They have to respond. Things get recorded and changed. That's how this government works. Believe me, I feel like you..like they don't care, but they have to. There's too many of us that need answers.
Doctor's do get punished by insurance companies for giving more treatment that was is so called "required". That came from my doctor. He told me that. That's why he is not part of the "Network". He's independent.
You're absolutely right about doctor's being ignorant about lyme. In this country they are. But even though we are the number one country in the world, doctors in mexico and England are way more educated on lyme and parasites than doctors here. Why? It's easy to get...more than they are saying. Plus, they don't know how long you may need treatment. Insurance companies really love that. Not to mention, medicines for parasites (this is another topic) are so cheap even drug companies don't want to make them because they make no money off of them.
I've had my share of ignorant doctors. And you're right, shame on them. I bet if they had this sickness they would do whatever it took to get better.