OpEdNewsOriginal Content athttp://www.opednews.com/articles/life_a_edward_m_080507_advocacy___education.htm
May 7, 2008Advocacy - Education = Epidemic
By Edward McSweegan
Borrelia burgdorferi
, which is transmittedto people by the bite of a tiny deer tick. Last year, increased cases of Lyme disease were reportedin various parts of the U.S. The large number of cases has been attributed to various factors,including better reporting, more deer, more ticks due to global warming, and more outdoor activities bringing more people into contact with ticks. Another contributing factor may be theactivities of Lyme disease support groups.In 1977, scientists described an “epidemic arthritis” in Lyme, Connecticut and named thedisease after the town. Eleven years later, the first Lyme disease advocacy group wasformed. Other groups, both local and national, quickly appeared. Today there are dozens of advocacy groups across the country, and support groups in every state, including states that hadno endemic Lyme disease.One might think that with all these groups there would be fewer Lyme patients and less publicconfusion about this seasonal backyard infection. But that is not the case. The effective publiceducation campaigns that helped reduce the incidence of AIDS, cancer and smoking, for example, have been absent from Lyme advocacy.Instead of public education, Lyme activists have pursued a course of public confrontation withinfectious disease experts and public health officials. The confrontation devolved from importantquestions about imperfect diagnostic tests and the lingering symptoms—such as fatigue andarthritis—of some Lyme infections. But where there was plodding science and imperfectmedicine, many Lyme activists instead saw a conspiracy of academic physicians, public healthofficials and insurance companies bent on hiding the true scope and cost of a new tick-borneepidemic. And where there is aconspiracy,there must be conspirators.
Suspects were quickly identified. Accusations were made. Protests were organized. Scientificmeetings were disrupted. Scientists were stalked and threatened. Raucous personal attacks
continue today on Internet blogs. One of my colleagues (a regular target of activist venom)recently remarked in the
Hartford Courant
, "I don't know why they hate me so much."Advocacy groups coupled their shrill offensive with an equally aggressive defense of their personal beliefs about Lyme disease.Quack doctorsandalternative therapies are promoted at
activist meetings. People looking for Lyme disease advice are directed to certain “Lyme Literate”doctors and diagnostic companies,who in turn troll for new patients and customers at activistmeetings and sit on the advisory boards of activist organizations. Borrowing a page fromIntelligent Design advocates who seek to undermine the teaching of evolution by offeringdisingenuous “academic freedom” bills in state legislatures, Lyme disease activists also areurging legislatures to pass medical freedom bills to protect “Lyme Literate” doctors from state
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Evidently you and I have the two most popular Lyme disease articles on Scribd, so I thought I'd give yours a read. I like it. I planned on including something about the ridiculousness that's popped up on BOTH sides of the Lyme War, but since my article was about geography I relegated making fun of quack procedures to my Cracked article: http://www.cracked.com/funny-8343-lym...