MA Bill H1148 update

You may recall that I testified in front of the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Public Health this past September. As my previous posts noted, I've been pretty out of it since then. I do belong to a couple of online Lyme support groups where these issues are discussed, however. As I emerged from my prolonged stupor, I was dismayed to realize that I had not heard of any action on this bill since that hearing. So, I inquired.


The reason I haven't heard of any action is that there has been none. The bill is stuck in committee. I will have to make further official inquiries to find out why, but word on the street is that the Chair of the committee doesn't want to "legislate medical care". I'm unclear as to whether this is the House Chair (Representative Sanchez) or the Senate Chair (Susan Fargo). If you are a constituent of either one, please call and ask them to support H1148 and ask why, if they don't.

This infuriates me. Medical care is currently being de-facto legislated by an unelected group which is ethically compromised. (Update on the latest IDSA shenanigans coming soon.) The point to this bill is to allow doctors to decide the best care for their patients. Not insurers and unelected panelists who have financial - and I believe personal legal - interests in the matter.  Lets face it, hundreds of thousands of people have suffered, many have died, because they have suppressed data and protected their own interests. I don't believe for one minute that their big concern is that patients will be given too many antibiotics. There are plenty of ailments that get treated with long-term antibiotics. There are also plenty of ailments where patients and their doctors are in control of what risks they are willing to take in order to find a path to health. I heard one doctor state that he thought the only route to end this debacle was to offer amnesty to the panelists. Wow. By doing so, we would be acknowledging that these people were given power over people's lives, that they abused that power, that people suffered, but that we won't make them accountable. That seems to be the modern American way and I feel ashamed our country for choosing that option time and time again, as it only encourages future abuse of power. Anyway, at this stage in the game, the IDSA panelists have powerful personal motives to fight to the bitter end to keep their guidelines sanctioned.

Let's be clear here, H1148 does not legislate any particular treatment plan. It doesn't require that a doctor give long-term antibiotics. It doesn't require that a doctor do anything. What this bill does is give the power of determining what the patient needs back to the doctor. It is the doctor's discretion. Not dictated by a law. Not dictated by some far away panel. And, most importantly, not controlled by insurance companies whose primary interest is healthy profits, not healthy patients. This bill is the opposite of legislating medicine. It is a bill that is required because we have a corrupt medical system where corporate profit motives dictate how we define, test for and treat illnesses. Lyme Disease is not the first medical condition that has required legislation to protect doctors and patients. Until we see real health care reform, where the profit motive is removed or significantly reduced from the dispensation of medical care, more and more laws like this will have to be enacted. It is the only path that patients have to fight for their right to health care.

Please, look at the list of Senators and Representatives on the Massachusetts Joint Committee on Public Health . If you're a constituent of any of them, call or write to urge them to move H1148 along. If your State Representative or Senator is not on the committee, find out if they have supported H1148. Ask them to sign onto the bill and to help get this bill passed. Many lives are depending on it.

Thank you!