From ILADS Facebook page link
CASE #09-CV-1039MCA GLIBOWSKI VS. U.S. OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MGMT. History was made, and has set a precedent, for all Lyme disease patients in a lawsuit, in which attorney, William L'Esperance, a longtime part of the Lyme Disease United Coalition, has won a case where the Office of Professional Management (OPM), on the side of the insurance company, has been overruled. The Lyme disease patient, in the lawsuit, submitted bills for hundreds of medical services, treatments, and tests. The court ruled that the Lyme disease patient wins the case without regard to the medical necessity of the patient; or whether the medical treatments or tests were medically necessary or experimental or investigative. The case is GLIBOWSKI VS. US OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MGMT., 09-CV-1039MCA (US DISTRICT COURT, DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO). The case is sealed. However, attorney William L'Esperance has filed the case and outcome with the United States Federal Courts to set precedence to aid all Lyme disease patients in lawsuits against their insurance companies, and OPM, for not covering the ILADS guidelines or Dr. Burrascano's guidelines in treatment of Lyme disease. What does this mean to each of us? 1. The door has opened for Lyme-treating doctors to accept insurance -- once all is established in U.S. Federal Court. (I will keep you posted about the advance of this outcome.) 2. You may now sue your insurance company for past bills not covered or reimbursed by insurance. The OPM cannot hold you back -- in other words, the IDSA'S guidelines are no longer accepted. To contact our hero, attorney Bill L'Esperance, e-mail: walesperance@wwdb.org William L'Esperance, Counselor at Law P.O. Box 90668 Albuquerque, NM 87199 __________________________________________________________________________________________ William L'Esperance does not want to take on new clients. He is willing to be a resource for out-or-state attorneys handling similar cases.
Resurgence of Persisting Non-Cultivable Borrelia burgdorferi following Antibiotic Treatment in Mice Plosone link
'The agent of Lyme borreliosis, Borrelia burgdorferi, evades host immunity and establishes persistent infections in its varied mammalian hosts. This persistent biology may pose challenges to effective antibiotic treatment.'
I posted an interesting presentation from Stephen Barthold previously here
Lyme Disease May Be Sexually Transmitted, Study Suggests
This study was an International collaboration link
“Our findings will change the way Lyme disease is viewed by doctors and patients,” said Marianne Middelveen, lead author of the study presented in Carmel.
“It explains why the disease is more common than one would think if only ticks were involved in transmission.”
“The presence of the Lyme spirochete in genital secretions and identical strains in married couples strongly suggests that sexual transmission of the disease occurs,” said Dr. Mayne.
“We don’t yet understand why women with Lyme disease have consistently positive vaginal secretions, whilst semen samples are more variable.
Obviously there is more work to be done here.” Dr. Stricker pointed to the unknown risks of contracting Lyme disease raised by the study.
“There is always some risk of getting Lyme disease from a tickbite in the woods,” he said. “But there may be a bigger risk of getting Lyme disease in the bedroom.”
Interesting comments re above study from Dr MacDonald on Lymenet Europe forum link
'These observations re-open for disusssion and critique the "sexul transmsiison" burgdorferi borrelia pathways in the human host and presumably in mammalian hosts in general. These observations constitute yet another "biological amplification " pathway for borrelia transmission, independent of Tick Salivary vehicles or hypostomes in the human dermis. The linkage of lichen sclerosus to burgdorferi borrelia infections by Eisendle, and colleagues, established the cognitive framework for urine containing borrelia to possibly directly traverse female Vulvar skin to establish a chronic Borrelia dermatosis [Lichen Sclerosus}
Latest News - Lyme Disease Action link
The latest one
On December 16th LDA had a meeting at the Department of Health. The purpose was to use cases documented through LDA’s help desk to highlight to the Department the shortcomings in the current provision of care for Lyme disease patients Read more under News on LDA website link
News from Canada link
There are so many tragic and sad stories that our Health Authorities are not aware of, this is just one of the many sufferers Elizabeth link
Elizabeth put out a cry for help to source medication that was no longer available for her. Through an International collaboration on Facebook the Lyme community came up with several ways to source the needed medication and was able to pass that information on to one of Elizabeth's helpers.
Together science, patient support and advocacy is moving the agenda forward and making our Health Authorities around the World look at the evidence. The science will not always be denied and the patients will not all lie back when they find treatments that help them.
