Why We Need a National Approach to Lyme Disease
By Elizabeth May, Feb. 25th, 2014
I was saddened that HuffPost blogger Michael Kruse has misrepresented Bill C-442, my private members bill to develop a national approach to the growing threat of Lyme Disease. Up until his uninformed blog, it had been received as what it is — a non-partisan, evidence-based effort to help thousands of Canadians.
Mr. Kruse has misrepresented the bill in many respects, leaving out most of its key elements, and then claiming the bill “seems to promote the existence of a syndrome called ‘chronic Lyme disease’.” Those are his words, not mine. The term is not mentioned in my bill.
For those readers who may not know about the impact of Lyme disease on Canadian society, its incidence has been spreading. The bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi that causes Lyme is carried by ticks. It was first identified in Lyme, Connecticut, hence the name. As a reportable disease in Canada, it must now be reported by medical professionals to provincial public health authorities, who, in turn report federally. There is a significant reporting of misdiagnosis. As the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia reports:
The Michael Kruse article is just what the country doesn’t need. As much as I would not wish this disease on someone else, this Michael person has yet to experience the many roadblocks that many of us have had to traverse.
What do you suppose he would do if he was properly tested and discovered that he to has Lyme?
His diet might be to eat crow.