FREY: RELL SIGNS LYME DISEASE TREATMENT BILL

HARTFORD- State Rep. John H. Frey of Ridgefield applauded Governor M. Jodi Rell for signing a bill allowing doctors to prescribe long-term antibiotics in the treatment of persistent Lyme disease – outside of standard guidelines – without fear of sanctions from state health regulators if the patient’s clinical diagnosis of the tick-borne disease and treatment have been documented by a licensed physician.

Rep. Frey said, “This legislation permits a doctor to choose the best course of treatment for a Lyme Disease patient. Patients being diagnosed with Lyme Disease do not always respond to the normal treatments, this law gives doctors the freedom to try alternative therapies.”
 
House Bill 6200, was prompted by an ongoing debate in the medical community. Some health organizations have questioned the existence of chronic Lyme disease and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has cautioned against the long-term use of antibiotics. Some physicians were hesitant to treat patients outside the IDSA guidelines because of potential reprimands from medical boards and insurance companies. Lyme disease is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, a bacterium primarily transmitted by the deer tick, which also feeds on small mammals, birds, cats, dogs and humans. When the characteristic bull’s-eye skin rash appears, doctors typically treat a patient with oral antibiotics for 10 to 28 days.

“Ridgefield has been at the forefront of the Connecticut Lyme Disease Prevention effort with the 2002 establishment of The Ridgefield Lyme Disease Task Force in response to growing concern about tick-borne diseases in our community. That year, Ridgefield reported 95 Lyme disease cases according to the Connecticut Department of Health,” added Frey.Since the Ridgefield Lyme Disease Task Force’s inception, the task force has sought to educate the community through seminars, newspaper articles, public speaking engagements and literature distribution at town events. The task force is always open to new opportunities for educating our citizens about Lyme disease prevention, reducing the number of ticks in town and private spaces and supporting individuals who are presently afflicted with a tick-borne illness.