NOTE: This Action Alert Has Expired

ACTION ALERT UPDATE:
March 23, 2000

(NOTE: New targets added since last alert)

Many of you have asked for an update on what you could be doing to help the efforts here in NY regarding the investigations of physicians treating Lyme Disease. LYMEPAC, the coalition of 12 NY State regional Lyme groups, and Albany lobbyist Monica Miller have been working together over the past several months to coordinate our objection to the investigations of these physicians, primarily Dr. Burrascano and Dr. Horowitz two of the best known LLMD's. Monica Miller reported at the last NYS LYMEPAC meeting that our letters are having a powerful effect on the legislators. We are also beginning to get more media coverage, for example, see http://www.nymag.com/page.cfm?page_id=2225

We MUST keep up our efforts in this fight to defend our LLMD's (Lyme Literate Medical Doctors) and our right to treatment. New York State must be the focus for Lyme disease patients throughout the country, because if our most well-known physicians go down, LLMD's throughout the county will be picked off one by one. Your letters will not only help today's Lyme patients, but future Lyme patients and sufferers of other illnesses as well. Those patients could be yourself or people in your family.

Below you will find the up-to-date action suggestions in our fight. These requests are for everyone, no matter where you live. Thank you for your efforts thus far.

RECAP:
In December, Dr. Ansel Marks, Executive Secretary of the Office of Professional Medical conduct, in response to our protests against the OPMC investigations of physicians treating Lyme patients, wrote that 2-3 weeks of antibiotics is adequate to cure Lyme. This letter makes it clear that the OPMC considers the prescribing of more than 2-3 weeks of antibiotics to be medical misconduct. They are investigating AND CHARGING doctors who violate this extremely biased and unscientific standard of care. Our action alert is aimed at urging the New York State legislature to hold legislative hearings into the bias of the OPMC so that our LLMD's do not have to be face hearings in a kangaroo court.

LETTERS TO LEGISLATORS:
Below is a list of legislators to be writing to. Some have just been added to the list, some were on previous lists. It is time to write to some new people. What is most important from the grass roots is to bring passion to the issues. It is your letters that WILL overcome the resistance of lawmakers. Your letters are extremely important. If you can, get your friends and family to write as well.

Your letters can include any or all of the following:
1. Request for public hearings into the diagnosis and treatment of tick-borne diseases.
2. Your story
3. Your objection to the DOH limiting treatment to 2-3 weeks
4. Your struggles with insurance companies over treatment coverage
5. The details of having one doctor dismiss a diagnosis or treatment followed by positive lab confirmation with another doctor.

If your letter includes #4 and/or #5, (insurance issues and/or diagnosis/treatment denial by a physician) please send a copy of your letter to FAIM (Foundation for the Advancement of Innovative Medicine) at the following address:

FAIM
PO Box 410
Kinderhook, NY
attn: Monica Miller
FAX: 518.758.7967
Monica@healthlobby.com

ADDRESSES OF LEGISLATORS:
Lobbyist Monica Miller writes, "Please write original letters. Tell your story and why this matters to you. Your personal words are valued more than a hundred form letters... Snail mail is preferred but use email if you must. At this time, please focus on the following lawmakers". Focus only on those in the list below to whom you have not yet written. Dates are only included to help those who have written previously recognize the new additions.

ADDED MARCH 14:
Hon. John J. Bonacic
New York Senate
Delaware, Greene, Sullivan, parts of Orange, Ulster
815 LOB
Albany, NY 12247
BONACIC@SENATE.STATE.NY.US

Hon. Owen H. Johnson
New York Senate
Part of Suffolk District
811 LOB
Albany, NY 12247
OJOHNSON@SENATE.STATE.NY.US

Hon. Carl L. Marcellino
New York Senate
Parts of Nassau, Suffolk District
812 LOB
Albany, NY 12247
MARCELLI@SENATE.STATE.NY.US

Hon. Suzi Oppenheimer
New York Senate
Part of Westchester
515 LOB
Albany, NY 12247
OPPENHEI@SENATE.STATE.NY.US

Hon. Dean G. Skelos
New York Senate
Part of Nassau District
503 LOB
Albany, NY 12247
SKELOS@SENATE.STATE.NY.US

ADDED FEBRUARY 29:
Hon. Vincent L. Leibell
New York Senate
Putnam, parts of Dutchess (eastern), Westchester (northern) District:
802 LOB
Albany, NY 12247
LEIBELL@SENATE.STATE.NY.US

Hon. Stephen M. Saland
New York Senate
Columbia, part of Dutchess
946 LOB
Albany, NY 12247
SALAND@SENATE.STATE.NY.US

Hon. Nicholas A. Spano
New York Senate
Part of Westchester District
509 LOB
Albany, NY 12247
SPANO@SENATE.STATE.NY.US

Hon. Thomas P. Morahan
New York Senate
Rockland and part of Orange District
808 LOB
MORAHAN@SENATE.STATE.NY.US

Hon. William J. Larkin, Jr.
New York Senate
Parts of Orange, Ulster District:
915 LOB
Albany, NY 12247
LARKIN@SENATE.STATE.NY.US

ON LIST PRIOR TO FEBRUARY 29:
Hon. Michael A.L. Balboni
New York Senate
(Part of Nassau District)
Room 803 LOB
Albany, NY 12247
BALBONI@SENATE.STATE.NY.US

Hon. Joel Miller D.D.S.
New York Assembly
Room 531 LOB
Albany, NY 12248
MILLERJ@ASSEMBLY.STATE.NY.US

Hon. Kemp Hannon
Chairman Senate Health Committee
Room 609 LOB
Albany, NY 12247
HANNON@SENATE.STATE.NY.US

Hon. Richard Gottfried
Chairman Assembly Health Committee
Room 822 LOB
Albany, NY 12248
GOTTFRR@ASSEMBLY.STATE.NY.US

Hon. Sam Colman
New York Assembly
(He authored the 1994 NYS alt med law)
Room 939 LOB
Albany, NY 12248
COLMANS@ASSEMBLY.STATE.NY.US

LETTERS TO EDITORS:
"Letters to the editor are impossible to overuse. We clip them and circulate them through the office like gossip sheets of what's going on. The press represents an overall buzz in the community."
-Congressional Aide

We must create that buzz!

Please continue to write letters to the editors of various newspapers and magazines. Some addresses are found below. Your letter may get published, but regardless it will put the pressure on for the paper to do a full story. A newspaper that receives hundreds of requests for a story might just get interested. Your letters should be unique for each paper. ONLY DR. BURRASCANO HAS GIVEN PERMISSION FOR HIS NAME TO GO TO THE PRESS.

You can also distribute the Press Release found at: PR Newswire

ADDRESSES OF NY MEDIA:
These addresses are just some suggestions. Please write to other papers as well. It would be useful to organize a letter to the editor writing campaign to local newspapers wherever you live.

Editor, New York Newsday
235 Pinelawn Road
Melville, NY 11747-4250

Editor, New York Daily News
450 West 33rd Street
New York, NY 10001

Editor, The New York Post
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036

The Village Voice
36 Cooper Square
New York, NY 10003
Att: Ron Plotkin

MEETINGS WITH LEGISLATORS:
We still need people to be meeting with their legislators. The numbers of LYME-PAC are small, and we need much more help. Pretty please, if you live in NY State, email us about meeting with your assemblyperson or senator. If you do not, you can still arrange to meet with your representatives to discuss the Lyme issues and tell your story. After meeting with your local reps, you can keep them informed of new developments or the stories of other people.

REQUEST:
Those who received reply letters from NY senators and assemblymembers, please send to Monica at: Monica@healthlobby.com or at the above address for FAIM.

Thank you everyone for your work so far. Please keep it up, we are only in the beginning stages and need to continue making our requests known.

Ellen and Cheryl
Ellenlu@webtv.net
Cheryl@aero-vision.com

UPDATES FOUND AT: