Now would be a good time to write your own letter in support of a congressional investigation as a follow-up to the letter below addressed to New Jersey Representative Chris Smith who understands the severity of Lyme disease. Rep Smith has good intentions but as my letter points out, legislation hasn’t helped to end the unimaginable pain and suffering that Lyme disease causes for the victims of this injustice. All email addresses below went through without returns so these appear to be active accounts. You may want to print a copy of your letter and mail it to Representative Chris Smith’s Washington, DC as well. Letter to Representative Chris Smith with Cc: to Collin Peterson, Representative from Minnesota ---------- Original Message ---------- From: Carl Tuttle To: chris.smith@mail.house.gov, mary.noonan@mail.house.gov Cc: info@smith4nj.com, daniel.tillson@mail.house.gov, marisa.kovacs@mail.house.gov, Adam.durand@mail.house.gov, tamir.elnabarawy@mail.house.gov, matt.hadro@mail.house.gov, collin.peterson@mail.house.gov, mark.dayton@state.mn.us Date: May 20, 2018 at 3:14 PM Subject: Chris Smith and Collin Peterson Push New, Historic Lyme Disease Legislation Chris Smith and Collin Peterson Push New, Historic Lyme Disease Legislation Legislation Strengthens Treatment, Prevention of Tick-Borne Diseases https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=401130 “So many patients suffer from the debilitating effects of this disease that persist for years, especially if not detected early, while being told that their illness does not exist,” Rep. Smith said. May 20, 2018 The Honorable Chris Smith United States House of Representatives 2373 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Representative Smith, Thank you for recognizing the seriousness of Lyme disease! Patient experience as you know is describing an illness that is destroying lives, ending careers, causing death and disability while leaving victims in financial ruin. Lyme disease is capable of producing sudden death with no warning signs; [1,2,3] heart damage requiring transplant, [4] paralysis with seizures, [5] lymphoma [6] and persistent infection after antibiotic treatment [7,8,9,10,11] along with congenital transmission [12] and ability to create wheelchair bound patients [13] yet there are no Public Service Announcements informing the public that you could become horribly disabled or die from Lyme disease. “Spirochetes disseminate to the lymph nodes, bone marrow, spleen and brain within a week of infection [A]. Lymph node germinal centers, where B cells are supposed to mature and be assigned an immune system function, are rendered incompetent [B]” A. Lymphoadenopathy during Lyme Borreliosis Is Caused by Spirochete Migration-Induced Specific B Cell Activation http://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1002066 B. Suppression of Long-Lived Humoral Immunity Following Borrelia burgdorferi Infection http://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1004976 *Immune suppression allows latent viruses to rear their ugly heads (Epstein Barr, herpes etc.) ________________________ Through an elaborate racketeering scheme the disease has been downplayed because it became “too expensive to treat” as outlined in the SHRADER & ASSOCIATES, LLP court document. The court document can be found at the following link: https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/LymeDisease.pdf We are dealing with a life-altering/life-threatening infection with faulty/misleading antibody tests, inadequate treatment, no medical training and absolutely no disease control; a public health disaster. And to make things worse, our blood supply is most likely full of Lyme disease. A plague denied; essentially classifying this disease as a low-risk and non-urgent health threat. A second lawsuit was filed recently against the CDC; additional evidence that the Centers for Disease Control here in the United States has mishandled Lyme disease for the past three decades. Dr. Sin Lee of Milford Molecular Diagnostics identified a case of chronic Lyme disease through his DNA sequencing technology and published his findings. After Lee published this case all communication with the CDC ended abruptly. It appears that the CDC does not want direct detection methods for the diagnosis of Lyme as this would upend the status quo that chronic Lyme does not exist. UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS Case No. 18-686C $57.1 Million Lyme Disease Lawsuit Filed Against CDC https://www.change.org/p/the-us-senate-calling-for-a-congressional-investigation-of-the-cdc-idsa-and-aldf/u/22752033 COMPLAINT: https://www.dropbox.com/s/zem4v9sceg1v63d/Lee%20CDC%20Complaint%205-15-2018.pdf?dl=0 I would like to call attention to the attached pilot study recently identifying chronic Lyme disease in twelve patients from Canada. Persistent Borrelia Infection in Patients with Ongoing Symptoms of Lyme Disease http://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/6/2/33 All of these patients were culture positive for infection (genital secretions, skin and blood) even after multiple years on antibiotics so there was no relief from current antimicrobials. Some of these patients had taken as many as eleven different types of antibiotics. Persistent Lyme disease has been intentionally/deceitfully suppressed for decades as described in the attached letter to past CDC Director Brenda Fitzgerald, MD: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xaul84dqmqgbre0/Brenda%20Fitzgerald%20MD%20Director%20CDC.docx?dl=0 The dishonest science here in the U.S. has denied chronic Lyme which stifled needed research to find a curative approach. Now the rest of the world is suffering. Lyme disease belongs in the same health threat category as AIDS. _________________________ Carl Tuttle is the organizer of the Change.org petition calling for a congressional investigation into the mishandling of Lyme disease. There are nearly 60,000 signatures from all across America and over twenty other countries. The primary focus of this petition has been to expose the deception and scientific misconduct while highlighting the fact that Lyme is life-threatening/life-altering ruining lives worldwide while foreign health officials follow what has been deceitfully established here in the United States. 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 There are now over a thousand pages of comments from horribly disabled Lyme patients all across America. Comment file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/nspowpuetnyahze/Petition%20Comments%20May%2020%202018.pdf?dl=0 A congressional investigation is long overdue Representative Smith just as Senator Ted Kennedy exposed the CDC’s Tuskegee Syphilis Crime. The study of untreated syphilis in the negro male. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9422551 LEGISLATION FOR LYME DISEASE HAS DONE NOTHING TO ALEVEATE THE UNIMAGINABLE PAIN AND SUFFERING CAUSED BY LYME DISEASE. Please initiate a congressional investigation of the CDC, IDSA and American Lyme Disease Foundation with subpoena power to expose the motivation behind the downplaying of a disease destroying countless lives nationwide so that this travesty will never be repeated. Why was evidence of persistent infection suppressed for three decades? Important: You or a loved one is just a single tick bite away from experiencing this travesty. Respectfully Submitted, Carl Tuttle (Representing New Jersey Lyme Patients who have signed the petition) Lyme Endemic Hudson, NH References: (Please read them!) 1. Cardiac Tropism of Borrelia burgdorferi: An Autopsy Study of Sudden Cardiac Death Associated with Lyme Carditis. (March 2016) http://ajp.amjpathol.org/article/S0002-9440(16)00099-7/abstract Excerpt: “Fatal Lyme carditis caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi rarely is identified. Here, we describe the pathologic, immunohistochemical, and molecular findings of five case patients.” 2. CDC Case Study #1: Three Sudden Cardiac Deaths Associated with Lyme Carditis: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6249a1.htm?s_cid=mm6249a1_w 3. CDC Case Study #2: A case report of a 17-year old male with fatal Lyme carditis http://www.cardiovascularpathology.com/article/S1054-8807(15)00025-3/abstract?rss=yes 4. Professor Neil Spector: Duke physician uses near-death experience to encourage patient self-advocacy http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2015/05/28/duke-physician-uses-near-death-experience-encourage-patient-self-advocacy#.VYlYnxtViko Dr Neil Spector from Duke University required a heart transplant after his Lyme disease went undiagnosed for four years. 5. Nashua Mom in the 'Lyme Light' on Katie Couric Show http://patch.com/new-hampshire/nashua/nashua-mom-talks-chronic-lyme-on-katie-couric-show Fifth-grade teacher Kelly Downing was paralyzed from the neck down and interviewed by Katie Couric. 6. Infection by Borrelia burgdorferi and cutaneous B-cell lymphoma (Cancer) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9331890 Specific DNA sequences of Borrelia burgdorferi were identified in cutaneous lesions from 9 patients (follicle center lymphoma: 3/20; immunocytoma: 3/4; marginal zone B-cell lymphoma: 2/20; diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: 1/6). 7. Application of Nanotrap technology for high sensitivity measurement of urinary outer surface protein A carboxyl-terminus domain in early stage Lyme borreliosis. http://translational-medicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12967-015-0701-z 41 of 100 patients under surveillance for persistent LB in an endemic area were positive for urinary OspA protein after antibiotic treatment. 8. Culture evidence of Lyme disease in antibiotic treated patients living in the Southeast. http://danielcameronmd.com/culture-evidence-of-lyme-disease-in-antibiotic-treated-patients-living-in-the-southeast/ Rudenko and colleagues reported culture confirmation of chronic Lyme disease in 24 patients in North Carolina, Florida, and Georgia. All had undergone previous antibiotic treatment. 9. DNA sequencing diagnosis of off-season spirochetemia with low bacterial density in Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia miyamotoi infections. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24968274 Faulty/misleading antibody tests landed a sixteen year old male in a psychiatric ward when his lab results did not meet the CDC’s strict criteria for positive results. His Western blot had only four of the required five IgG bands. Subsequent DNA sequencing identified a spirochetemia in this patient’s blood so his psychiatric issues were a result of neurologic Lyme disease misdiagnosed by antiquated/misleading serology. This patient was previously treated with antibiotics. 10. 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 The patient had active, systemic Borrelia burgdorferi infection and consequent Lyme hepatitis, despite antibiotic therapy. 11. 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 “Scotty's brain (cerebral cortex) was positive for Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia myamotoi, his testicle is positive for Bb. We are now testing other tissues. Seven years of antibiotics and 3.5 years of natural treatments (along with antibiotics) and he was highly highly positive.” 12. Congenital Transmission of Lyme/TBD https://www.dropbox.com/s/z10em0szgpm8bll/Congenital%20Transmission%20of%20Lyme%202015.doc?dl=0 13. Wheelchair-Bound Girl Calls Blessing By Pope Francis ‘Most Precious Moment Of My Life’ http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/09/24/pope-francis-blesses-girl-in-wheelchair/ NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — A 12-year-old girl who has been confined to a wheelchair since being diagnosed with Lyme disease said meeting Pope Francis as he arrived in New York Thursday was “the most precious moment of my life.”