I suggest

• everyone fill it out, and
• then mail a copy
• to NYS and
• also one to me
• (and keep one for yourself).

My mailing address is :

J.J. Burrascano Jr. M.D.
139 Springs Fireplace Road
East Hampton, NY 11937

Have all your contacts who have Lyme fill this out also, because the more surveys we have, the more valid the statistics.

Many, many thanks!
JJB.............!

(1) The point is,

1. now we must send in articles that support our viewpoint.
• Anything sent in will be made a permanent part of the hearing record.
• Annotate them- that is, place a note on the front of each article that states its significance.
2. Also send in your testimony. Tell
• about mis-diagnosis, no diagnosis, "Lyme doesn't exist here", etc.,
• about the unreliability of your blood tests for Lyme,
• about the overreliance on serologies, and ignoring the clinical diagnosis,
• about the recommendation
• that you need mental help,
• that you just need a vacation,
• about the misdiagnosis
• that you have chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia, or
• that you should ignore it and get on with your life,
• how many doctors you had to see before proper diagnosis,
• about co-infections and how their discovery made a major difference to you.
3. Tell them about
• the inadequate treatments,
• the statement that you cannot still have Lyme, because you had your four weeks of therapy,
• how antibiotics make you feel better, with objective benefit, thus disproving placebo effect,
• how the insurance companies have made pronouncements about your diagnosis and treatment, without ever having had their MD's even see or examine you (malpractice in any other circumstance).
4. Then spell out the human side of this:
• how Lyme has changed your life, and that of your friends and family.
• Let them see that no State Board has the right to restrict how your personal doctor treats your Lyme, because
• every patient with Lyme is different, and
• there, rightly so, is no absolute standard for diagnosis or teatment that should apply to every patient and every MD.
5. Tell them that the whole world is looking to New York State to cut through the BS and advocate on the side of the Lyme patients.

You may want

• to summarize this briefly in one paragraph, or
• with buillet points on the first page

• then go on to tell your story in as much detail as you want, and
• don't withold anything, just
• be careful not to slander anyone or do anything else that may come back to bite you.

Let's not waste this opportunity.

Dr. B.............!

P.S.-the idea also is that (2) we need 1,000 people to show up in Albany!
You may use the "public hearing reply form" available at Lyme Disease: NYS Leg Hearing.  I understand it is on the FAIM website.