The following complaint was filed with the CEO of the largest integrated health system in New York State. Consider sending your own letter requesting a retraction of Dr Sood’s inaccurate statements to the email addresses below. Please continue to forward this petition and updates to educate others. Thank you! -Carl Tuttle ________________________________________ From: "Carl Tuttle" To: mdowling@nshs.edu Cc: azendrian@nshs.edu, brianlally@nshs.edu, tlynam@nshs.edu, bmulliga@nshs.edu, adavenport@nshs.edu, DIHL@nshs.edu, wmack@nshs.edu, dmoravick@nshs.edu, drshow@wamu.org, "dick blumenthal" , "Kemp Hannon" , "Serino" , bonacic@senate.state.ny.us Sent: Wednesday, October 7, 2015 11:46:48 AM Subject: Complaint: Dr Sunil K. Sood, Chairman of Pediatrics at Southside Hospital About North Shore-LIJ: “North Shore-LIJ Health System provides services and support to guide people through the changing world of healthcare.” Oct 7, 2015 North Shore-LIJ 200 Community Drive Great Neck, NY 11021 Attn: Michael J. Dowling, President and CEO Dear Mr. Dowling, I would like to register a complaint with your institution regarding the inaccurate/misleading statements on the subject of Lyme disease by Dr. Sunil K. Sood, Chairman of Pediatrics at Southside Hospital who was recently interviewed on the Dianne Rehm show. [1] Sood’s statements from the interview: 1. "What we know for certain is that the persistent symptoms are not due to the persistence of the Lyme bacterium in the body." 2. According to Sood, a bull's-eye rash is present in "90 percent of cases." 3. “Ticks must be attached "48 to 72 hours" to transmit the disease” For some unknown reason Dr Sood has not kept up with the science as recently published studies have shown that infection persists well after multiple rounds of antibiotics.[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Dr Sood however has kept up with the thirty year dogma/groupthink which claims persistent infection cannot exist. The State of Maine is recording the bull’s-eye rash in less than 50% of patients with Lyme disease [8] and rapid transmission of Lyme has been reported. [9] [10] Excerpt from the recent Truthout article referencing Sood’s statements: "Lyme Disease Guidelines Panelists Engage in Coordinated Propaganda Campaign" [11] “Misinformation of this type has the potential to harm patients who trust experts to provide accurate information. Imagine if patients take this information as gospel and do not seek treatment because a tick has been attached for less than 48 hours. Imagine if they or their doctors discount the possibility of Lyme disease because they did not see a bull's-eye rash.” Lyme disease can become a life altering infection when not treated immediately as recent reports from celebrities have surfaced [12] however Lyme has been misclassified as a “nuisance disease,” hard to catch and easily treated with a one-size-fits-all treatment guideline. Quote from Senator Richard Blumenthal: "Today for me culminates more than a decade of work and probably a decade more, because I've seen firsthand the devastating, absolutely unacceptable damage done by Lyme disease to individual human beings, Connecticut children and residents whose lives have been changed forever as a result of Lyme disease” [13] Patients who had a prolonged exposure to the infection before diagnosis are almost always incapacitated. It is this class of patient who is difficult to treat and deliberately ignored as the focus has always been on the acute stage of disease. [14] There is absolutely no training whatsoever for the later stages of Lyme disease so patients are often ping-ponged through the medical community misdiagnosed with a disease matching the specialist who examined them further delaying proper treatment. We have been dealing with an antibiotic resistant/tolerant superbug [15] deceptively concealed By the CDC, Infectious Diseases Society of America and their propaganda arm, The American Lyme Disease Foundation as identified in the Change.org petition calling for a congressional investigation [16] into the deliberate mishandling of Lyme disease. We have serious concerns about Dr Sood with his inaccurate information as he serves on the panel that is tasked with updating the IDSA treatment guidelines for Lyme disease. As a member of the Lyme community we would like to see a public correction/retraction of Dr Sood’s misleading Lyme disease statements from the Dianne Rehm show. Your immediate attention to this serious matter is requested. Sincerely, Carl Tuttle Hudson, NH Cc: Senator Richard Blumenthal, Winnie Mack, Regional Executive Director, North Shore-LIJ Health System, Donna Moravick, Executive Director, SouthsideHospital, Diane Rehm Show REFERENCES: ________________________________________ [1] It’s Lyme Disease Season: What To Know About Contracting, Diagnosing And Treating The Disease https://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-07-08/its-lyme-disease-season-what-to-know-about-contracting-diagnosing-and-treating-the-disease [2] Case report of persistent Lyme disease from Pulaski County, Virginia http://www.dovepress.com/getfile.php?fileID=18365 [3] Granulomatous hepatitis associated with chronic Borrelia burgdorferi infection: a case report http://www.labome.org/research/Granulomatous-hepatitis-associated-with-chronic-Borrelia-burgdorferi-infection-a-case-report.html [4] Review of evidence for immune evasion and persistent infection in Lyme disease http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3636972/ [5] Morphological and biochemical features of Borrelia burgdorferi pleomorphic forms http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4339653/ [6] Scotty Shelton and Persistent Infection in Saginaw MN https://www.change.org/p/the-us-senate-calling-for-a-congressional-investigation-of-the-cdc-idsa-and-aldf/u/11685820 [7] Persistent Lyme Infection 1991 (See attached CDC Fort Collins Positive CSF Culture Report) http://cognitiveliberty.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/David-Dennis.pdf [8] Report to Maine Legislature Lyme Disease http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/reports/lymereport.pdf -- 2009, 59% http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/infectious-disease/epi/vector-borne/lyme/documents/lyme-legislature-2010.pdf -- 2010, 43% http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/infectious-disease/epi/vector-borne/lyme/documents/2011-lyme-legislature.pdf -- 2011, 42% http://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/infectious-disease/epi/vector-borne/lyme/documents/2012-lyme-legislature.pdf -- 2012, 49% [9] Clinical evidence for rapid transmission of Lyme disease following a tickbite http://www.dmidjournal.com/article/S0732-8893(11)00415-9/abstract [10] Lyme borreliosis: a review of data on transmission time after tick attachment http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4278789/ [11] Lyme Disease Guidelines Panelists Engage in Coordinated Propaganda Campaign http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/33098-lyme-disease-guidelines-panelists-engage-in-coordinated-propaganda-campaign [12] Lyme is not your average “Nuisance Disease” https://www.change.org/p/the-us-senate-calling-for-a-congressional-investigation-of-the-cdc-idsa-and-aldf/u/11340872 [13] Blumenthal takes Lyme disease fight to the Senate http://ctmirror.org/2011/07/18/blumenthal-takes-lyme-disease-fight-senate/ [14] Long-Term Assessment of Health Related Quality of Life in Patients with Culture-Confirmed Early Lyme Disease https://www.change.org/p/the-us-senate-calling-for-a-congressional-investigation-of-the-cdc-idsa-and-aldf/u/13301800 [15] Identification of novel activity against Borrelia burgdorferi persisters using an FDA approved drug library http://www.nature.com/emi/journal/v3/n7/full/emi201453a.html [16] Petition: Calling for a Congressional investigation of the CDC, IDSA and ALDF https://www.change.org/p/the-us-senate-calling-for-a-congressional-investigation-of-the-cdc-idsa-and-aldf Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people, in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome. Group members try to minimize conflict and reach a consensus decision without critical evaluation of alternative viewpoints, by actively suppressing dissenting viewpoints, and by isolating themselves from outside influences. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groupthink