http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20130611/FEAT/306110012/Shortage-Lyme-disease-meds?nclick_check=1
Shortage of Lyme disease meds
Lawmaker calls for FDA to step in
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SARTELL, MINN. — Jakin and Nicole Koll never would have guessed something so small could cause such a big problem.
The Sartell, Minn., couple believe deer tick bites are responsible for their Lyme disease, which has cost them almost $100,000 for treatment.
“There’s more than just the initial infection; there can be co-infections with it,” said Nicole Koll, 31, an administrative assistant at St. Cloud Technical & Community College.
With the U.S. now in peak tick season, an antibiotic commonly used to treat Lyme disease is in short supply, and some politicians are calling for the federal government to do something about it.
Almost 30,000 cases of Lyme disease were reported nationwide in 2011, which makes it the sixth-most commonly reported infectious disease in the United States, according to federal officials.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., recently called on the Food and Drug Administration to take action to reduce the shortage of doxycycline, an antibiotic that is a common first-line treatment for Lyme disease. The illness is most commonly contracted in May and June, during peak tick season.
“As summer approaches, hospitals and doctors need to be ready to treat the rise in Lyme disease cases,” Klobuchar said in a statement. “The FDA needs to do everything in their power to make sure patients and doctors have access to the medication they need.”
Doxycycline went on the federal government’s national drug shortage list in January because of manufacturing delays and rising demand, which has driven up the cost.
Besides Lyme disease, deer ticks can also transmit babesiosis and anaplasmosis. Lyme disease and anaplasmosis are treated with the same antibiotics, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but babesiosis is a parasitic disease that is treated differently.
