CONCERNING LONG TERM ANTIBIOTIC TREATMENT FOR LYME DISEASE
All of the following
states have laws that explicitly allow physicians to prescribe long term antibiotic treatment. Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Hampshire provide explicit
protection for physicians who prescribe the treatment, and Rhode Island requires insurance
companies to pay for the treatment. In Massachusetts, the protection for physicians is
implied in state law, since a physician cannot be disciplined for something that is legal.
Why they passed it:
The preamble
of Chapter 37.5 sums up why it was passed. In addition to
citing the high incidence rate in the state and insurance barriers which prevent people from
getting care, the preamble recognizes that there is “considerable scientific controversy”
which “surround
s the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease,” the fact that there lacks a
consensus in how to diagnose and treat chronic Lyme disease, and that “some physicians
feel threatened by insurers and licensing boards for their choices among possible therapies
Would be nice if ALL states passed this law.....
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