A recent antitrust investigation conducted by Connecticut’s attorney general Richard Blumenthal ended in a victory for patients suffering from chronic Lyme disease. The Infectious Diseases Society of America has agreed to review its guidelines, which currently contend that no evidence exists to prove that long-term antibiotics are an effective treatment or even that Lyme disease, as a condition exists. The agreement calls for the doctors group to form a panel of experts and review the current standards for diagnosing and treating Lyme disease. Pat Smith, president of the Lyme Disease Association said, "It's a great victory for patients. It's time that Lyme patients got the respect they deserve." Blumenthal said he launched the investigation to see that standards were being considered free of conflict of interest. An earlier investigation found that some of the 14 experts who approved the 2006 guidelines got consulting fees, research grants and stock ownership from drug companies and other businesses that have a stake in the treatment and diagnosis of Lyme disease.1
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Additional articles and resources on this topic:
1. Doctors to Reassess Antibiotics for ‘Chronic Lyme’ Disease, Dave Collins, Associated Press, 3 May 2008