<< ... the past still casts a shadow ...
The UK member of the Ad Hoc International Lyme Group engaged in behind the scenes activism which has resulted in at least 10 years of mis-information being supplied to UK clinicians. Full test results were not reported by the previous Lyme specialist laboratory, so clinicians have no experience of test interpretation. The view that relapses are virtually non-existent and that chronic Lyme does not exist was repeatedly stated; often in peer reviewed journals. Patients and patient groups have been portrayed as seriously misguided.
This legacy explains a lot of the attitude amongst doctors in the NHS and will take some time to balance out. It is notable that those with the main responsibility for taking decisions about diagnosing and treating Lyme disease – infectious disease consultants and neurologists – have been much more influenced than those on the receiving end of those decisions (GPs), or those consultants peripherally involved and out of range of the Ad Hoc Group. >>
The UK member of the Ad Hoc International Lyme Group engaged in behind the scenes activism which has resulted in at least 10 years of mis-information being supplied to UK clinicians. Full test results were not reported by the previous Lyme specialist laboratory, so clinicians have no experience of test interpretation. The view that relapses are virtually non-existent and that chronic Lyme does not exist was repeatedly stated; often in peer reviewed journals. Patients and patient groups have been portrayed as seriously misguided.
This legacy explains a lot of the attitude amongst doctors in the NHS and will take some time to balance out. It is notable that those with the main responsibility for taking decisions about diagnosing and treating Lyme disease – infectious disease consultants and neurologists – have been much more influenced than those on the receiving end of those decisions (GPs), or those consultants peripherally involved and out of range of the Ad Hoc Group. >>
