August 30th, 2011

The focus of discussion at the Human Services hearing on HB 272 centered around:

Prevalence of the misdiagnosis of Lyme disease

• Issues with widespread and unauthorized discontinuation of the disease’s treatment
• Necessity of HB 272 bill to protect Americans’ rights to ‘medical freedom’
• Weighing of cost benefits of long term treatment vs. allowing illness to take its toll and the subsequent costs incurred from doing so
• Idea that long-term treatment has been found to be most beneficial in counteracting the disease
• New, more effective medications to treat the disease are necessary
• Treatable preventable so long as the necessary precautions are taken
• Fact that PA ranks # 1 in newly diagnosed cases of Lyme disease
• Need for preventative measures to avoid chronic complications of Lyme disease, as not doing so ultimately results in the expenditure of more PA/Federal tax dollars

California and Texas are two states that have recently implemented new standards and procedural mandates for the prevention and treatment of Lyme disease, and UPenn was mentioned during the hearing and lauded for their treatment/research of Lyme disease-related initiatives.