Please see the letter below addressed to the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group requesting that the comment file to this petition be added as evidence that Lyme has been deceitfully mishandled. The first meeting will be held on Monday December 11th at 12:30PM Meeting Agenda: December 11, 2017 and December 12, 2017 Meetings | HHS.gov https://www.hhs.gov/ash/advisory-committees/tickbornedisease/meetings/2017-12-11/index.html Live streaming of the meeting is available at: https://www.hhs.gov/live/index.html Anyone wishing to contact the Lyme Disease Working Group can send an email to: tickbornedisease@hhs.gov Latest letter to the Working Group: For your review I have listed below nine randomly selected comments from Lyme patients all across America. You will clearly see that this disease is life-altering and not just a simple nuisance disease like strep throat or tonsillitis. Those responsible for the misclassification of this infection as a “low-risk and non-urgent” health threat are identified in the racketeering lawsuit, all of the identified defendants are supported by the Centers for Disease Control. (Aiding and abetting?) Our nation’s leading public health agency has sat on evidence of persistent infection (Chronic Lyme) for 26 years. (Vicki Logan Case) SOURCE: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xaul84dqmqgbre0/Brenda%20Fitzgerald%20MD%20Director%20CDC.docx?dl=0 Lyme with its life-altering/life-threatening consequences belongs in the same health threat category as AIDS, Zika, cancer etc. but an unsuspecting population knows nothing about this and yet it has been ongoing for over three decades with faulty/misleading antibody tests at the root cause of unimaginable pain and suffering. You or a loved one is just a single tick bite away from experiencing this travesty while your chance of obtaining a timely diagnosis is almost impossible. Nine Comments from the petition calling for a congressional investigation into the mishandling of Lyme disease: (The comment file is now over 950 pages) Please download the comment file to be entered into the record of the Working Group as evidence that this infection has been deceitfully mishandled. Comment file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/kxipzamozvqtyf6/petition_comments_Dec%207%202017.pdf?dl=0 Nine randomly selected comments: 1. My 16 year old daughter has late stage, neurological Lyme Disease. I have watch over the past several years as she has had to give up so much. She has stopped playing sports (basketball, soccer, and softball), dancing, eating many different foods, going to school, and even just spending time with friends. We have been to many different doctors with many different specialties looking for answers and have finally received a clinical diagnosis of Lyme Disease from two doctors who are working together to try to help her. The challenge now is to get her strong enough to endure the treatment that she is facing. We are told it may take years of treatment to get her to a reasonable quality of life. It is devastating to see my daughter struggle with all of this at a time when her friends are enjoy things like prom, graduations, and even just youth group activities while she sits at home suffering. This is a terrible disease! Catherine Weakley, Virginia Beach, VA 2. My best friend's life has been devastated by Lyme Disease for the last several years. If only her doctors had taken her concerns and symptoms seriously in the beginning and administered the proper tests, she may not have gone through so many years of pain. I accompanied her to these appointments and watched first hand as her symptoms were ignored and mis diagnosed over and over again. She has gone through years of suffering that could have been prevented had she been diagnosed at the start and given antibiotics. For the sake of her and the many others who are suffering needlessly I urge you to investigate this matter fully and support education, awareness, acceptance and action throughout the medical community. Samantha Erin Barragar, Malibu, CA 3. I have been suffering from Neurological Lyme Disease since I was 15 years old. A year and a half ago, I had a serious flare up that has left me disabled with seizures, tremors, cognitive issues, immobility, and chronic pain. The severity of this disease should not be overlooked, and warrants significant research. The outdated and immoral IDSA guidelines must be investigated for the sake of all current and future persons infected with Lyme. Our voices deserve to be heard! caren dandeo, Middletown, NJ 4. I'm positive for lyme and co infections and was getting better with treatment, then insurance stopped paying. I'm wheelchair bound now and cannot stand, move, or take care of myself. United HealthCare cited the CDC guidelines of 28 days of antibiotics of treatment. THAT'S NOT ENOUGH. Doug Frenz, Hudson, OH 5. I'm only 20 years old and I've suffered from Lyme Disease for the past 6 years of my life. For the first few years of my disease I went undiagnosed; doctors would tell me I was crazy, and I continued to get sicker and sicker. My 15 year old sister is also really sick with Lyme and has been for years. It breaks my heart. There has to be something serious done about this epidemic, and fast. Niki Mitchell, Binghamton, NY, NY 6. My 4 Lyme tests came back "negative" according to my PCP's. I was "negative" for 8 years while I did indeed have Lyme. When I visited 2 LLMD's they both verified that I had Lyme. Had it been caught 8 years prior it could have been cured. Instead, it spread to all parts of my body and brain. I in turn became a burden on the healthcare system and lost all of my assets. Accurate testing MUST be developed! Serenaty S, New York, NY 7. I am disabled, in a wheelchair, and currently on IV medicine to try and kill off Lyme, Babesia, and Bartonella. I am in huge debt because insurance refuses to pay for anything - not doctor visits, not medicine, nothing. Too many are sick and dying. Enough. wendy vogt, Redwood City, CA 8. My husband has been diagnosed with neurological lyme and the coinfections of bartonella and babesia. We spent years going form doctor to doctor trying to find out what he has. His illness reached the point where he is no longer able to work. Our insurance company will not approve the IV antibiotics he needs to get better due to the current CDC guidelines. The illness does not just affect the patient but the entire family. Lyme needs to be addressed. Kathy Wilder Bichler, Fair Lawn, NJ 9. Spent over $100,000 dollars to get our son well in Oklahoma. 21 doctors would not recognize Lyme disease because of ignorance. We went out of state to find a LLMD. It is an awful disease and in so many ways. His Lyme test only had one band positive so according to the CDC is not proof of Lyme. Well wrong...he was pulled 5 ticks off himself and 3 days later severally I'll for the next 2 1/2 years of being homebound. We where lucky we had a savings but I took our retirement money. Diana Clock, Bixby, OK Respectfully submitted, Carl Tuttle Lyme Endemic Hudson, New Hampshire PRIORITY # 1 CDC; MOVE LYME DISEASE TO HIGHEST ALERT AS IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THIRTY YEARS AGO Lyme Disease: Call for a “Manhattan Project” to Combat the Epidemic Raphael B. Stricker, Lorraine Johnson Published: January 02, 2014DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.100379 http://www.plospathogens.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.ppat.1003796 Cc: The legal team of the racketeering lawsuit