Medical Community takes years to diagnose teen.

You see these stories all the time. A person becomes ill and their quality of life deteriorates until their life is a shambles.

Quite often the symptoms are there but the diagnosis is not made.

"There were so many children coming in with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis,"
Jones said during a telephone interview. He later determined that while symptoms
were similar, often they stemmed from Lyme disease. "I developed a knack for
treating and understanding the disease."

The article does a pretty good job of outlining the problem and the current situation. Bucks County, our home county, is in the top three counties as far as Lyme cases.


York Dispatch - York teen suffers for years before Lyme disease diagnosed:

"No one believed her. They figured she was making it up for one reason
or another. She wanted attention. She wanted to skip school. She was lazy.
But those things weren't true. Nicole Lecrone wanted help. She wanted the pain to subside, the muscle aches, the sharp stabbing pains in her stomach."

Meanwhile, our illustrious representative in Harrisburg are sitting on legislation that could help those who are suffering from Lyme and other Tick Borne diseases. The article outlines some of the bills. Note that similar bills have been brought forward year after year to die in committee. You can help by reading up on the bills and contacting your state rep and senator. Ask them to support legislation to help those suffering from Lyme Disease.

There were bills that would protect doctors who are aggressivly treating Lyme. Currently these doctors live in fear of prosecution or losing their medical licenses.

Legislation: Three proposals addressing Lyme disease treatments and
education remain in state House and Senate committees. House Bill 798 and Senate
Bill 722 would establish a task force to study Lyme disease and related
maladies. The task force would comprise representatives of the state departments
of health, conservation and natural resources, and the Pennsylvania Game
Commission. The task force would monitor antibiotic therapies and misconduct
proceedings.

HB798 was referred March 19 to the Committee on Health and
Human Services; SB722 was referred April 2 to Banking and Insurance. A third
bill, Senate Bill 573, would provide Lyme disease education, prevention and
treatment.

Check out this proposed legislation and its status online at
www.legis.state.pa.us.