MAINE CALL TO ACTION - CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS ON LD 422
Please COPY and REPOST!!! A "SHARE" will only capture the link!!!
It is time to contact your Representatives and Senators!
The Lyme bill, LD 422, An Act To Improve Access to Treatments for Lyme Disease, is going to come to the floor of the House maybe as early as tomorrow, Thursday May 7th!. It has come out of Committee as a divided report and the MAJORITY Report is what you want to ask your legislator to support.
Please use the sample language below to send an email or make a call, to your House Representative and Senator as soon as possible. If you wish to read more information about the history of this legislation, there is more data below the sample language.
You can find your legislators here by entering your address:
http://www.maine.gov/portal/government/edemocracy/lookup_voter_info.php
*********************************************************************
Dear Representative {Last Name},
or
Dear Senator {Last Name},
I am requesting that you support the Majority Report for LD 422, An Act To Improve Access to Treatments for Lyme Disease, which will allow physicians to use their clinical judgement to treat Lyme patients with long-term antibiotics.
Please, DO NOT support the Minority Report as this language ties the hands of the licensing boards to discipline doctors when necessary.
If you have questions please feel free to contact me. Thank you for your support of the Majority Report of LD 422.
**********************************************************************************************************************************
Here is the longer version we sent to MaineLD list serve:
It is time to contact your Representatives and Senators!
The Lyme bill, LD 422, An Act To Improve Access to Treatments for Lyme Disease, is going to come to the floor of the House maybe as early as tomorrow, Thursday May 7th!. It has come out of Committee as a divided report and the MAJORITY Report is what you want to ask your legislator to support.
Please use the sample language below to send an email or make a call, to your House Representative and Senator as soon as possible. If you wish to read more information about the history of this legislation, there is more data below the sample language.
You can find your legislators here by entering your address:
http://www.maine.gov/portal/government/edemocracy/lookup_voter_info.php
*********************************************************************
Dear Representative {Last Name},
or
Dear Senator {Last Name},
I am requesting that you support the Majority Report for LD 422, An Act To Improve Access to Treatments for Lyme Disease, which will allow physicians to use their clinical judgement to treat Lyme patients with long-term antibiotics.
Please, DO NOT support the Minority Report as this language ties the hands of the licensing boards to discipline doctors when necessary.
If you have questions please feel free to contact me. Thank you for your support of the Majority Report of LD 422.
*********************************************************************
The History
In the April 23, 2022 Work Session LD 422, An Act To Improve Access to Treatments for Lyme Disease, came out of Committee as a divided report with a Majority Report and a Minority Report. This means that when it comes to the House floor, both may be presented and voted on. We want the Majority Report!
This is the Majority Report: Rep. Fecteau presented an amendment that mirrors the language of the 2009 Massachusetts law which will allow physicians to use their clinical judgement to treat Lyme patients with long-term antibiotics.
It was approved by Committee members Sen. Patrick, Rep. Austin, Rep. Campbell, Rep Fecteau, Rep Gilbert, Rep Lockman and Rep Stetkis. If any of these folks are your legislators, send them a thank you note. We are pleased that this came out as the Majority Report.
This is the Minority Report / Resolve: At the same session Sen. Volk and Rep Herbig submitted a "Resolve". Essentially, this Resolve is a document that directs the licensing boards to send a letter to licensees telling them they can use "non-traditional treatments" and they won't be disciplined based on that, if they are using informed consent and document treatment results in patients' charts.
A Resolve does not carry the weight of law even if it is, ultimately, passed.
The Minority Report / Resolve was approved by Committee members Sen. Volk, Rep. Herbig, Rep. Ward and Rep. Bates. If any of these folks are your legislators, you may want to contact them and encourage them to rethink their position and vote for the Majority Report.
Sen. Cushing and Rep Mastraccio were not present for the Work Session and vote, but we have since heard that they voted for the Minority Report / Resolve so that makes the final vote 7-6 in our favor. Again, if any of these folks are your legislators, you may want to contact them and encourage them to rethink their position and vote for the Majority Report.
Both reports are listed here:
We have been in contact with Maine doctors and they are appreciative of all of your efforts!
Thank you so much,
The Lyme Legislative Work Group