Lyme Disease Bill

The Lyme Disease issue was put on inactive status. The Live Free or Die Alliance is monitoring any new developments in regard to this issue; any new information will be posted here. If you have new information regarding later highschool starts please post it in our town hall or forward it to info@livefreeordiealliance.com

Update: On June 9, 2011, HB 295 became law without Gov. John Lynch's signature. The bill allows New Hampshire doctors to prescribe long-term antibiotics to patients suffering from Lyme disease. (more details toward bottom of file)

From the 2010 legislative session, HB 1326 authorizes physicians to prescribe long-term antibiotics for therapeutic purposes to patients diagnosed with Lyme disease. The bill also protects doctors' rights regarding treatment.

Lyme disease is a tick-borne disease with symptoms that include fever, headache, fatigue, and skin rash.

Why does New Hampshire need legislation related to Lyme disease? There is a dispute in the medical world over the guidelines for treatment in severe cases.

According to the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA), there is no evidence suggesting chronic Lyme disease exists or that long-term antibiotic treatment is effective. Several studies funded by the National Institutes of Health have found longer courses of antibiotic treatment are not beneficial and have been linked to serious complications, including death.

The International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) believes that Lyme can be chronic and that longer courses and/or a combination of antibiotics can and often do restore health. Its doctors determine the duration of treatment based on individualized clinical evaluation.

The group believes the IDSA's guidelines are keeping insurance companies from paying for expensive long-term antibiotic treatment. According to ILADS, doctors in Connecticut, North Carolina and New York, among other states, have lost their licenses or face prosecution from medical boards for treating patients—successfully—with long-term antibiotics.

A review panel appointed by Connecticut's Attorney General recently sided with the IDSA guidelines.

HB 1326 passed the House (300-56) on February 17, 2010. The Senate passed an amended bill on May 12. The Senate version establishes a study committee that was authorized to investigate alternative medical practices and protocols for Lyme disease and directed to report back on its findings no later than June 30, 2011.

During that time, there were to be no disciplinary proceedings or sanctions against physicians for offering a clinical diagnosis and/or treatment of long-term of the disease that goes against standard medical guidelines.

As of June 9, 2011, Granite State doctors were officially given the power to treat Lyme disease with long-term administration of antibiotics, thanks to a piece of legislation that became law without the signature of Gov. John Lynch.

According to a report in Foster's Daily Democrat, House Bill 295 says doctors who prescribe this course of treatment for their patients "cannot be punished by the Board of Medicine because of such prescriptions."

"The bill's prime sponsor, Gary Daniels, R-Milford, said the bill is an important step in helping both patients and doctors as it acknowledges chronic Lyme disease is a real ailment," the paper reported.

Daniels told the newspaper that doctors would often avoid treatment with long-term antibiotics for fear of being brought up on charges by the Medical Board simply because it wasn't recognized as the appropriate treatment for Lyme disease. As a result, patients had difficulty finding doctors in New Hampshire to treat the disease.

Should the state pass legislation authorizing doctors to perform a certain treatment and protect their legal right to do so?