Medscape

Uptick in Lyme Disease Underscores Need for Return of Human Vaccine
Arthur L. Caplan, PhD     January 06, 2026
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/uptick-lyme-disease-underscores-need-return-human-vaccine-2025a10010sl
 
“Because there was limited demand, GlaxoSmithKline (then, SmithKline Beecham), the company that had the vaccine, withdrew it. They just didn't have enough sales.” 
 
 
Arthur L. Caplan, PhD
Founding head of the Division of Medical Ethics
NYU Grossman School of Medicine
Department of Population Health
New York City
 
Dear Dr. Caplan,
 
 
There has been a recent increase in news articles regarding Lyme disease vaccines. A number of attempts to get the editors to correct the disinformation have failed to produce full disclosure.
 
It is believed that the rush to create a Lyme vaccine led to the mishandling of the disease. Current antibody tests were manipulated in 1994 at the Dearborn Conference so as to facilitate vaccine development. The two most important indicators of infection were stripped out of serology tests so that the vaccinated would test seronegative. As a result, the vast majority of truly infected patients cannot obtain a timely diagnosis leading to a missed opportunity for successful short-term treatment.
 
The vaccine known as LYMErix was supposed to expose the immune system to the outer surface protein A (OspA) of the spirochete responsible for causing Lyme disease but for some patients, it caused the same crippling effects of the disease itself as reported in the class action lawsuit:
 
https://www.dropbox.com/s/sodqs3pdeeesktf/Sheller%20Lymerix.pdf?dl=0
 
Excerpt from the lawsuit:
 
“The people who have contacted us were, prior to vaccination with LYMErix, healthy, active and energetic. Indeed, the very reason they sought the LYMErix vaccine was their desire to preserve their healthy, active lifestyle. However, what they experienced was a dramatic degradation of their health and quality of life. As will be described below, these previously healthy individuals are now afflicted with painful, at times debilitating arthritic symptoms, including joint pain and swelling, as well as extremely severe Lyme-disease-like symptoms which have persisted to this day.”
 
Below is the link to the Final Judgement and Approval of the class action against SmithKline Beecham as a settlement was awarded to these individuals.
 
JUDGEMENT, FINAL ORDER AND DECREE GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF THE CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT:
https://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/images/NewDirectory/Government/Vaccines/2003_Vaccine_Judgement_Final_Sttle_Apprvl..pdf
 
The Principal Investigators of the two previous Lyme vaccines: Allen C. Steere for SmithKline Beecham's LymeRix and Gary Wormser for Connaught's vaccine (which never made it to market) have conceptualized a disease that would enable vaccine development. The one-size-fits-all Lyme treatment guideline (lead author: Gary Wormser) matches the conceptualized disease. This is a flagrant conflict of interest. Post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome is simply a fabricated medical condition disguising treatment failure.

The fraudulent handling of Lyme disease has now been exposed through a recent racketeering lawsuit against the academics that have controlled the Lyme disease narrative for the past thirty years including Wormser and Steere.
 
You can read the court document here:

https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/LymeDisease.pdf
 
 
A chronic relapsing seronegative disease does not fit the vaccine model so chronic Lyme which is completely devastating to the patient is not recognized and there is no treatment. The disabled Lyme patient is left to fend for himself because treating this class of patient became too expensive as outlined in the racketeering lawsuit. There is a growing community of horribly disabled patients whose disability has gone unrecognized for three decades.
 
Here’s yet another victim:
 
Nicole Malachowski: Unfit for Duty from Debilitating Tick-Borne Disease
http://cdmrp.army.mil/cwg/stories/2018/nicole_malachowski_profile
 
“Her medical retirement, however, was premature. At only 43 years old, she was deemed unfit for duty due to neurological damage from tick-borne illness.”
 
_____________________________
 
 
The latest vaccine from French drug manufacturer Valneva is another OspA vaccine similar to LYMErix so the possibility exists that the class of patient who experienced the debilitating effects of LYMErix could end up with the same results. There was no attempt to uncover why LYMErix disabled the patient as described in the class action. Until we fully understand how Lyme disease disables its victim aren’t we playing Russian roulette with people’s health?
 
Conclusion:
 
The first Lyme disease vaccine known as LYMErix was withdrawn from the market by the manufacturer not for poor sales as reported in the media but for the severe and debilitating adverse reactions it produced. As the founding head of the Division of Medical Ethics, is it considered “ethical” to hide the fact that LYMErix was not a safe vaccine as identified by the Law Office of Sheller, Ludwig & Badey?
 
 
Respectfully Submitted,
 
 
Carl Tuttle
Independent Researcher
Hudson, NH
 
 
Letter to the Editor of the BMJ published June 2020 (Please read)
https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m1041/rr-1
 
Cc: Joan F. Cangiarella, MD. Executive Vice President and Vice Dean for Education