Please see the following complaint filed with Elsevier, parent company for The American Journal of Medicine. Dr. Gary Wormser, Dr. Eugene Shapiro and Philip Baker are given carte blanche to publish their inaccurate outdated conceptualization of a disease capable of ruining lives. I would like to mention one additional book which I neglected to reference in my letter below to Thomas Reller of Elsevier. “Lyme Madness: Rescuing My Son Down The Rabbit Hole of Chronic Lyme Disease” By Lori Dennis https://www.amazon.com/Lyme-Madness-Rescuing-Chronic-Disease/dp/0995168911 I applaud Lori Dennis for her efforts in attempting to educate the public about this life-altering/life threatening infection misclassified as a simple nuisance disease. Personal experiences described in her book “Lyme Madness” are not new however as stories like this have been hidden from the public for over three decades. Letter to: Thomas Reller, Vice President, Elsevier Global Corporate Relations ________________________________________ From: "Carl Tuttle" To: "T Reller" Cc: "Cope assistant" , "corporate responsibility" , newyork@relx.com, "r mobed" , "press office" , "c capot" , "Y Schemm" , "a bert" , "erik engstrom" Sent: Friday, March 10, 2017 10:33:55 AM Subject: Ethics complaint against Joseph Alpert, MD, Editor-in-Chief, of The American Journal of Medicine About Elsevier: “Elsevier is a world-leading provider of information solutions that enhance the performance of science, health, and technology professionals, empowering them to make better decisions, deliver better care, and sometimes make groundbreaking discoveries that advance the boundaries of knowledge and human progress.” Source: https://www.elsevier.com/about March 10, 2017 Elsevier Inc. Suite 800, 230 Park Avenue New York, NY 10169 Attn: Thomas Reller, Vice President, Global Corporate Relations Dear Mr. Reller, I would like to register an ethics complaint against Joseph Alpert, MD, Editor-in-Chief, of The American Journal of Medicine for publishing a bias manuscript authored by, Eugene D. Shapiro, M.D, Yale School of Public Health, Gary P. Wormser, M.D, New York Medical College and Phillip J. Baker Executive Director of the American Lyme Disease Foundation. False and Misleading Information about Lyme Disease Eugene D. Shapiro, M.D., Phillip J. Baker, Ph.D., Executive Director, Gary P. Wormser, M.D http://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(17)30138-9/pdf Before I explain the details of this complaint please review the following published books on the subject of Lyme disease: 1. Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic by Pamela Weintraub “Instead of just swollen knees and a rash, patients can experience exhaustion, disabling pain, and a "Lyme fog" that leaves them dazed and confused.” 2. In the Crucible of Chronic Lyme Disease: Collected Writings & Associated Materials by Kenneth B. Liegner “Documentational in nature and not written as a narrative, the materials, nonetheless, convey the intensity of the struggle to characterize the nature of Lyme disease and the desperate fight for proper diagnosis and treatment upon the outcome of which patients' very lives depended.” 3. Confronting Lyme Disease: What Patient Stories Teach Us by Rita L. Stanley, Karen P. Yerges “In this book, fourteen patients reveal how their lives were changed by the debilitating effects of Lyme disease and its co-infections, and by unanticipated medical obstacles.” 4. "It's All In Your Head," Patient Stories From the Front Lines: Intimate Aspects of Chronic and Neuropsychiatric Lyme Disease by PJ Langhoff "Imagine inaccurate diagnostic tests...Physicians ignoring patient symptoms...Insurance denying coverage...patients are told their illness is "fake"...Academic societies denying an epidemic...People are suffering needlessly...Sound like science fiction? It's real and it's happening right now..." 5. Believe Me: My Battle with the Invisible Disability of Lyme Disease By Yolanda Hadid “She suffered from severe debilitating fatigue, migraines, joint pain, anxiety, insomnia, Bell’s palsy, tremors, muscle weakness, severe brain fog, word retrieval difficulty, memory loss and intermittent loss of eyesight.” 6. Bite Me: How Lyme Disease Stole My Childhood, Made Me Crazy, and Almost Killed Me by Ally Hilfiger, Tommy Hilfiger (Foreword by) “Ally was at a breaking point when she woke up in a psych ward at the age of eighteen. She couldn't put a sentence together, let alone take a shower, eat a meal, or pick up a phone.” I listed these books for a reason. For the past three decades, the patient experience with Lyme disease describes an illness producing horrific disability and financial ruin but those who control the narrative through editorial censorship have painted an entirely different picture. Why? There has been no response from my letters (and attachments) sent to Dr. Joseph Alpert (see below) regarding my allegation of collusion to deny a life-altering/life-threatening disease while promoting an outdated simplistic viewpoint of a disease capable of ruining lives. What relationship do these authors have with members of the editorial board and/or peer reviewers of The American Journal of Medicine? This outdated bias viewpoint of Lyme disease continues to control the narrative through editorial censorship of the truth. Manuscripts like this that does not reflect a balanced scientific consensus misguides the worldwide medical community. I ask the question Mr. Reller; is this scientific misconduct or a criminal offence? Please read the correspondence below to gain an understanding of why I am filing a complaint with Elsevier Inc. against Joseph Alpert, MD, Editor-in-Chief, of The American Journal of Medicine. Sincerely, Carl Tuttle Hudson, NH Cc: Committee on Publication Ethics Erik Engstrom, Chief Executive Officer RELX Group 1st letter to Joseph Alpert, MD, Editor-in-Chief, of The American Journal of Medicine: https://www.change.org/p/the-us-senate-calling-for-a-congressional-investigation-of-the-cdc-idsa-and-aldf/u/19604951 2nd letter to Joseph Alpert, MD, Editor-in-Chief, of The American Journal of Medicine: https://www.change.org/p/the-us-senate-calling-for-a-congressional-investigation-of-the-cdc-idsa-and-aldf/u/19628804