Author Archive

When Parents are Unjustly Accused of Harming Their Sick Child

https://www.lymedisease.org/parents-unjustly-accused/

TOUCHED BY LYME: When parents are unjustly accused of harming their sick child

If your child has chronic Lyme disease, PANS/PANDAS, mast cell activation syndrome, POTS, or any number of other “medically complex conditions” – you have probably experienced being disbelieved by many people.

You may be a decent, well-intentioned parent doing everything you can to figure out your child’s puzzling medical problems.

You may scour the internet to learn more about the child’s condition, track the ups and downs of his or her symptoms, and carry binders full of medical records to appointments with various specialists—many of them far from your home.

But, in a cruelly ironic twist, those very activities can get you in trouble.

Physicians who have little experience with your child’s medically complex condition may feel you are “overmedicalizing” your child.

School officials may think you’re intentionally keeping your child out of class for reasons they consider invalid.

Neighbors and even family members may believe you’re exaggerating your child’s health problems—and, in their opinion, going about things the wrong way.

And, unfortunately, any one of these people might report you to Child Protection Services. And then your problems will escalate dramatically.

Now, it goes without saying that sometimes children ARE abused by parents, and there is, of course, a legitimate role for CPS investigations.

But medically complex conditions are fraught with issues that can unfairly entangle parents—and the more they fight to free themselves, the more tied up in legal knots they may become.

For an idea of how bad things can get, consider what happened to then-teenager Justina Pelletier and her family. In 2013, her parents lost custody of their daughter after Boston Children’s Hospital disagreed with how she was being treated at a different medical center. (Read more about Justina’s situation here.)

What to do?

Beth Alison Maloney, Attorney/Author

According to Beth Alison Maloney, there are things you can do now to minimize the possibility of running afoul of CPS in the future. And, if you’re already caught up in the system, there are things you can do to get out of it.

Her thorough and well-researched advice on this subject is laid out in a new book called Protecting Your Child from the Child Protection System.

Maloney is an attorney and the mother of a child who suffered from the strep-caused autoimmune condition known as PANDAS—back before practically anybody even knew what that was.

Theirs was a complicated journey. But her son finally got better and now is a well-functioning adult. She wrote their family’s story in her 2009 book, Saving Sammy: Curing the Boy Who Caught OCD.

In 2013, she wrote another instructive book, called Childhood Interrupted: The Complete Guide to PANDAS and PANS. It primarily focuses on the medical information you need to help your child recover from these conditions.

Over the past two decades, Maloney has worked as a lawyer, guardian ad litem, and nationwide consultant in the field of child protection laws. She has seen firsthand how innocent families are sometimes presumed guilty of all manner of abuse. She has seen the rise of “child abuse pediatricians”–specialists that she believes sometimes jump to unwarranted conclusions, to the detriment of the families involved.

She wrote this book so parents of sick children can understand what they are potentially up against and how they can help themselves. As she states in the introduction, “Too much is at stake for you to plunge in without being informed.”

(Please go to top link for an excerpt from the book)

Maloney’s book is divided into six parts:

  1. An overview of the Child Protection System and how it functions.
  2. How to navigate the maze and what to do if you find yourself accused
  3. The special challenges facing parents of medically complex children
  4. Building a team—lawyer, family, friends
  5. A deeper dive into the court system
  6. Rebuilding your lives after being falsely accused of abusing your child.

No parent wants to think about the possibility of losing custody of their child–especially when that child is seriously ill. But parents of medically complex children should familiarize themselves with the issues involved and take steps to head off trouble.

Knowledge is power. And if you’re falsely accused of abusing your child, you need all the power you can get.

For more information, see Beth Alison Maloney’s website.

TOUCHED BY LYME is written by Dorothy Kupcha Leland, LymeDisease.org’s Vice-president and Director of Communications. She is co-author of When Your Child Has Lyme Disease: A Parent’s Survival Guide. Contact her at dleland@lymedisease.org.

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**Comment**

Very important information within this article, and book.  I highly advise any parent, grandparent, or concerned person who knows of a family struggling with Lyme to get this book to be educated. This is a wonderful resource and would make an excellent gift as well.

For more:

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), PANS, Uncategorized

CDC Data: COVID Mass Vaccination Has Had No Measurable Impact on COVID Mortality in U.S.

https://physiciansforinformedconsent.org/covid-19-vaccines/
PRESS RELEASE

Physicians for Informed Consent: CDC Data Show COVID-19 Mass Vaccination Has Had No Measurable Impact on COVID-19 Mortality in the U.S.

Newly released document highlights 20 scientific facts that challenge the assumptions underlying COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. (PRWeb) – February 22, 2022

Physicians for Informed Consent (PIC), an educational nonprofit organization focused on science and statistics, has released a new educational document entitled, “COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates: 20 Scientific Facts That Challenge the Assumptions.” The document helps readers become more familiarized with the scientific facts regarding COVID-19, its treatment options, and the COVID-19 vaccines.

Developed in a reader-friendly format, the document highlights available scientific data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials, and it addresses the assumptions underlying COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Twenty scientific facts are provided on key public health topics, including:

  • The lack of a long-term benefit of the COVID-19 vaccines on the spread of COVID-19
  • The lack of a proven benefit of the COVID-19 vaccines on COVID-19 deaths
  • The risks of COVID-19 vaccine injections versus the safety of SARS-CoV-2 infection in children
  • Waning vaccine immunity and booster shot efficacy
  • COVID-19 early-treatment and prevention options

“Vaccine mandates are unethical because they attempt to coerce people to act against their own judgment, and because they are unscientific,” said Dr. Shira Miller, founder and president of PIC. “Our focus is on delivering scientific data about infectious diseases and vaccines which are often overlooked in the mainstream. We developed this new document to help physicians, policymakers and the public better understand and communicate about the scientific facts that challenge the assumptions underlying COVID-19 vaccine mandates.”

The document reveals CDC data — from April 2020 through January 2022 — which show that mass vaccination with the COVID-19 vaccine has had no measurable impact on COVID-19 mortality in the U.S. In addition, short-term clinical trial data indicate that 1 in 6 to 1 in 9 people 12–55 years of age who receive mRNA COVID-19 vaccines suffer severe (grade 3) systemic reactions, and long-term safety studies have not been conducted. And finally, more than 53% of Americans have already had COVID-19 and may have greater protection against reinfection than vaccinated people.

To download your copy of “COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates: 20 Scientific Facts That Challenge the Assumptions,” visit physiciansforinformedconsent.org/covid-19-vaccines. Readers are encouraged to share the document with their physicians, family and community.

About Physicians for Informed Consent

Physicians for Informed Consent is a 501(c)(3) educational nonprofit organization focused on science and statistics. PIC delivers data on infectious diseases and vaccines, and unites doctors, scientists, healthcare professionals, attorneys, and families who support voluntary vaccination. In addition, the PIC Coalition for Informed Consent consists of over 300 U.S. and international organizations that represent millions of people. To learn more or to become a member, please visit physiciansforinformedconsent.org.

COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates: 20 Scientific Facts That Challenge the Assumptions

Fact 1: “all transmissions between patients and staff occurred between masked and vaccinated individuals, as experienced in an outbreak from Finland.” The authors state that the study “challenges the assumption that high universal vaccination rates will lead to herd immunity and prevent COVID-19 outbreaks.”1

Fact 2: CDC study found that 74% of cases were fully vaccinated.2

Fact 3: Harvard study found “no significant signaling of COVID-19 cases decreasing with higher percentages of population fully vaccinated.”3

Fact 4:  There is no evidence from clinical trials that any of the vaccines prevent death because they did not have enough statistical power to measure the vaccine’s ability to prevent deaths.4-6 The FDA states, “A larger number of individuals at high risk of COVID-19 and higher attack rates would be needed to confirm efficacy of the vaccine against mortality.”4-6

Fact 5: CDC study observed that 100% of severe, critical, and fatal cases of COVID-19 occurred in vaccinated individuals.1

Fact 6:  CDC data show mass vaccination with the COVID-19 vaccine has had no measurable impact on COVID-19 mortality in the U.S.7

Fact 7:  In the Pfizer clinical trial, there were zero cases of severe COVID-19 in children who did notreceive the vaccine. 8,9  In contrast, for children 5 years or older, the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial found that the vaccine causes severe (grade 3) systemic reactions that include fever greater than 102.1° F; vomiting that requires IV hydration; diarrhea of six or more loose stools in 24 hours; and severe fatigue, severe headache, severe muscle pain, or severe joint pain that prevents daily activity.9-12

Fact 8:  In the clinical trial, a range of 1 in 59 to 1 in 143 vaccinated children 5 to 11 years of age suffered severe systemic reactions within seven days of the second dose. There were 3 to 8 cases of severe systemic reactions observed in the vaccinated group for every 10 cases of non-severe COVID-19 in the unvaccinated group.9

Fact 9:  In the clinical trial, 1 in 9 vaccinated adolescents 12 to 15 years of age suffered severe systemic reactions within seven days of receiving the second dose. There were 7 times more severe systemic reactions observed in the vaccinated group than non-severe COVID-19 cases in the unvaccinated group.10-12

Fact 10:  The clinical trial also found that 1 in about 1,100 vaccinated children 12 to 15 years of age had a grade 4 systemic reaction (fever greater than 104° F) after the first dose that required an ER visit and withdrawal from the study.10,13

Fact 11: The Pfizer clinical trial did not have enough statistical power to show the vaccine is safe in children under 18 years of age, as the study did not include enough subjects to establish safety (i.e., the clinical trial only included about 2,600 vaccinated children aged 5 to 15).9,14 In comparison, it is known that COVID-19 fatalities are rare in children. As of Nov. 3, 2021, the chance of a child 17 years or younger contracting SARS-CoV-2 and dying from COVID-19 was 1 in 126,000 or 0.0008%.15

Fact 12: Because all subjects in clinical trials were observed for only two to six months, the long- term safety of COVID-19 vaccines for any age group is not known. Per the FDA, there are currently insufficient data to make conclusions about the safety of Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines in subpopulations such as pregnant and lactating individuals, and immunocompromised individuals.4,8,16 Per Pfizer, the vaccine “has not been evaluated for the potential to cause carcinogenicity, genotoxicity, or impairment of male fertility.”17

Fact 13: Safety surveillance reports have identified serious risks of myocarditis and pericarditis in subjects under age 40, within seven days of vaccination. In boys aged 16 or 17, the FDA has reported an excess risk of myocarditis or pericarditis of 1 in 5,000 after the second dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.18 And in boys aged 12 to 17, also after a second dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, a Hong Kong study found an excess risk of myocarditis or pericarditis of 1 in 2,700.19

Fact 14:  The clinical trials detected that vaccine immunity wanes significantly over a short period of time. For example, the Pfizer vaccine efficacy decreased by 8% to 18% within only six months, and the J&J vaccine efficacy decreased by 25% to 29% within only six months.20,21 Additionally, the efficacy measured in the clinical trials was against the original Wuhan strain, not the new variants.

Fact 15:  In clinical trials, a third dose of Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or a second dose of Johnson & Johnson vaccine has not been evaluated for efficacy against disease, but rather antibody counts were observed in a small number of vaccinated subjects for only one month.18,21,22

Fact 16:  Treatments for COVID-19 have improved significantly since the pandemic began in early 2020, resulting in improved survival rates in hospitalized cases.23,24 Indeed, for people not living in a nursing home, the overall survival rate of COVID-19 is 99.8% in the U.S., and 99.999% for children specifically.25,26

Fact 17:  Hundreds of studies have observed the effectiveness of various treatments, the most studied being ivermectin, vitamin D, hydroxychloroquine (HCQ), and monoclonal antibodies.27-30 These treatments may also be beneficial for prophylaxis (i.e., pre-exposure or post-exposure prevention of symptomatic COVID-19 infections).31-35

Fact 18:  There is evidence that previous SARS-CoV-2 infection is more effective at preventing SARS- CoV-2 infection than COVID-19 vaccines. The J& Jvaccine clinical trial included over 2,000 subjects who had contracted SARS-CoV-2 before the study. The trial, which tested unvaccinated and vaccinated people uniformly, recorded the incidence of COVID-19 in that unvaccinated group at least 28 days after the vaccination of the other subjects in the study. The COVID-19 incidence of the unvaccinated group with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection was 0.1% (2/2,021), whereas the COVID-19 incidence of vaccinated subjects was 0.59% (113/19,306). These data suggest that there are 6 times more cases of COVID-19 in vaccinated subjects than in unvaccinated subjects previously infected with SARS-CoV-2.36

Fact 19: Data from the Johnson & Johnson clinical trial also indicate that an unvaccinated person previously infected with SARS-CoV-2 has a 99.9% chance of being protected from a repeat infection. Of note, as of July 1, 2021, there have been 177.4 million SARS-CoV-2 infections in the U.S., which is 53.8% of the U.S. population.26,36

Fact 20:  Infection and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 occur at high rates in fully vaccinated populations, and a significant proportion of severe, critical and fatal COVID-19 cases occur in fully vaccinated individuals. CDC data show mass vaccination with the COVID-19 vaccine has had no measurable impact on COVID-19 mortality in the U.S. In addition, short-term clinical trial data indicate that 1 in 6 to 1 in 9 people 12–55 years of age who receive mRNA COVID-19 vaccines suffer severe (grade 3) systemic reactions, and long-term safety studies have not been conducted.13,37 Thus, the scientific data demonstrate that vaccine mandates have not been proven to create a safer environment.

Source

Category:

Activism, vaccines, Viruses

The Return of HIV?

**UPDATE April, 2022**

A Chinese gene-editing scientist was recently released from prison after being sentenced in 2019 for “illegally practicing medicine” as he altered the gene CCR5, which involved in HIV’s entrance into cells, in three embryos using CRISPR-Cas9 in an attempt to give the babies protection against HIV infection.

https://thehighwire.com/videos/the-return-of-hiv/  Video Here (Approx. 17 Min)

The Return of HIV?

The Highwire

Feb. 22, 2022

A new, highly virulent variant of HIV has suddenly popped up as the media is reporting everyone should be tested. Could there be a connection to Covid?  #HIVvariant #AIDSVaccine #HIV

  • In June, 2020, Nobel Prize Winner Dr Luc Montagnier stated COVID-19 has been manipulated and that components of HIV have been inserted into the viral sequence, perhaps in pursuit of an AIDS vaccine.  He stated:
    • SARS-CoV-2 appears to be a benign bat coronavirus modified to integrate spike proteins that allows the virus to enter human cells by attaching to ACE-2 receptors
    • The virus also appears to have been modified to integrate an envelope protein from HIV called GP141, which tends to impair the immune system. A third modification appears to involve nanotechnology, which allows the virus to remain airborne longer
  • Cellular and molecular microbiologist, Dr. Judy Mikoviz also believes COVID-19 is a product of human manipulation.  She states:
    • COVID-19 — the disease — is not caused by SARS-CoV-2 alone, but rather that it’s the result of a combination of SARS-CoV-2 and XMRVs (human gammaretroviruses)
    • SARS-CoV-2 also appears to have been manipulated to include components of HIV that destroys immune function along with XMRVs
    • Interestingly, both Dr. Birx and Dr. Redfield (head of CDC) are being investigated for research fraud regarding an AIDS vaccine.
  • In October, 2020 researchers warned that some COVID “vaccines” could increase risk of HIV infection. 
  • A 2009 study’s conclusion stated:  Ad5-specific T cells demonstrate a phenotype and proliferative potential that would support HIV infection; these results are pertinent to the findings of the Step Study and future use of Ad5 as a vaccine vector.

Regarding antibody testing, hopefully COVID testing has revealed the glaring, numerable flaws, but if this is new to you, please see:

“PCR detects a very small segment of the nucleic acid which is part of a virus itself. The specific fragment detected is determined by the somewhat arbitrary choice of DNA primers used which become the ends of the amplified fragment. ” Kary Mullis

For a brief, old interview with Mullis:  https://beforeitsnews.com/agenda-21/2020/12/kary-mullis-inventor-of-pcr-technique-about-science-fauci-and-their-agenda-engger-subtitles-  He’s obviously not a fan of Dr. Fauci.

If things were done right, “infection” would be a far cry from a positive PCR test.

“You have to have a whopping amount of any organism to cause symptoms. Huge amounts of it,” Dr. David Rasnick, bio-chemist, protease developer, and former founder of an EM lab called Viral Forensics told me. “You don’t start with testing; you start with listening to the lungs. I’m skeptical that a PRC test is ever true. It’s a great scientific research tool. It’s a horrible tool for clinical medicine. 30% of your infected cells have been killed before you show symptoms. By the time you show symptoms…the dead cells are generating the symptoms.”

I asked Dr. Rasnick what advice he has for people who want to be tested for COVID-19.

“Don’t do it, I say, when people ask me,” he replies. “No healthy person should be tested. It means nothing but it can destroy your life, make you absolutely miserable.”

Let’s review COVID testing:

Rephrased, the COVID test is a complete and utter flop which should demonstrate to all the CDC’s gross incompetence.

Lyme/MSIDS patients have struggled with the same testing issues for over 40 years with no signs of change.  Educate those around you on this pertinent fact.

For more: 

Category:

Activism, vaccines, Viruses

March 2022 Lyme Support Meeting

Our next support group meeting will be via Zoom.

When:  March 26, 2022

Time: 2:30-4:30pm

Where: Zoom

What: Support and education

Please contact Lymecoordinator56@gmail.com for the link to participate.

**To check for future meetings, please go to the “Meetings” tab in the upper right hand corner of the website.  Also, check there for cancellations as well**

Category:

Meetings

Can Lyme Disease Cause Cognitive Dysfunction or Dementia?

https://danielcameronmd.com/lyme-disease-cause-cognitive-dysfunction-dementia/  Video Here

Can Lyme disease cause cognitive dysfunction or dementia?

lyme-disease-dementia

Welcome to another Inside Lyme Podcast with your host Dr. Daniel Cameron. In this episode, Dr. Cameron will be discussing a paper that addresses the question, “Can Lyme disease cause objective cognitive dysfunction or dementia?”

By

The question of whether Lyme disease could cause dementia was addressed by Wormser and colleagues in an article entitled “Lack of Convincing Evidence That Borrelia burgdorferi Infection Causes Either Alzheimer Disease or Lewy Body Dementia,” published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.¹

The authors reviewed a paper by Gadila et al.² which concluded that a Lyme disease infection might cause Lewy body dementia. The case described a 69-year-old woman who died 15 years after her initial infection with Lyme disease with a clinical diagnosis of Lewy body dementia.

The woman had initially presented with an erythema migrans rash, headache, joint pain, and fever. Her symptoms resolved with 10 days of doxycycline.

Over time, she developed a sleep behavior disorder, cognitive problems (processing speed, mental tracking, and word-finding), photophobia, paresthesias, fasciculations, and myoclonic jerks. She initially improved with IV followed by oral antibiotics. But her condition later worsened.

“The extensive workup at that time led to the diagnoses of both a REM behavioral disorder with verbalizations and movements and a neurodegenerative dementia characterized by expressive aphasia, visual agnosia, anomia, deficits in executive function and calculation, and mild memory problems.”

She passed away 15 years after the onset of her illness.²

An autopsy revealed the presence of Borrelia burgdorferi in the brain and spinal cord tissue of the patient.

The authors point out, “These results, however do not clarify whether the Borrelia infection had anything to do with her progressive neurodegenerative disorder.”

“Lewy body dementia is characterized by fluctuations in cognitive function, sometimes also with fluctuations in alertness and attention,” wrote Wormser et al.

The authors also added, “Patients with Lewy body dementia are easily distracted and can appear to be ‘zoning out’ at times. Impaired job performance is a common early sign, and patients with Lewy body dementia have problems with multitasking. Sleep disorders are common.”¹

No precise test can accurately diagnose Lewy Body Dementia (LBD). “Due to the incomplete specificity in the clinical diagnosis and the pathological definition of the disease, a postmortem biopsy or autopsy is the only method to secure a definite diagnosis,” explains Haider et al.³

Can Lyme disease cause dementia?

In their article, Wormser et. al conclude, “no convincing evidence exists that Lyme disease is a cause of either Alzheimer disease or Lewy body dementia.”

The authors expressed concern over the validity of laboratory testing, as it did not meet the CDC criteria and the temporary effectiveness of the antibiotic treatment prescribed. They also had reservations regarding the use of a nested PCR technique and the immunofluorescence antibody test.

“Cognitive complaints, such as concentration or memory disturbances, are common in patients with Lyme disease and in patients with residual subjective symptoms after treatment for Lyme disease,” Wormser et al. suggest.

“Dementia-like syndromes from Lyme disease occur as a consequence of the very rare late neurologic manifestation of Lyme disease referred to as chronic progressing meningoencephalomyelitis (also referred to as chronic encephalomyelitis).”

“Anecdotal evidence, however, does suggest that Lyme disease may rarely cause dementia.”¹

These dementia-like Lyme cases are primarily in Europe. “Thus, the few reported cases of dementia-like syndromes from Lyme disease are clinically very different from the Lewy body dementia case attributed to Lyme disease by Gadila and colleagues.”

The following questions are addressed in this Podcast episode:

1. What is Lewy body dementia?
2. How is Lewy body dementia diagnosed?
3. What findings in this patient suggested Lewy body dementia?
4. What cognitive problems have been described in Lyme disease?

Thanks for listening to another Inside Lyme Podcast. Please remember that the advice given is general and not intended as specific advice to any particular patient. If you require specific advice, please seek that advice from an experienced professional.

Inside Lyme Podcast Series

This Inside Lyme case series will be discussed on my Facebook page and made available on podcast and YouTube.  As always, it is your likes, comments, and shares that help spread the word about this series and our work. If you can, please leave a review on iTunes or wherever else you get your podcasts.

References:
  1. Wormser GP, Marques A, Pavia CS, Schwartz I, Feder HM, Pachner AR. Lack of Convincing Evidence that Borrelia burgdorferi Infection Causes Either Alzheimer’s Disease or Lewy Body Dementia. Clin Infect Dis. Nov 29 2021;doi:10.1093/cid/ciab993
  2. Gadila SKG, Rosoklija G, Dwork AJ, Fallon BA, Embers ME. Detecting Borrelia Spirochetes: A Case Study With Validation Among Autopsy Specimens. Front Neurol. 2021;12:628045. doi:10.3389/fneur.2021.628045
  3. Haider A, Spurling BC, Sanchez-Manso JC. Lewy Body Dementia. StatPearls. 2022.

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For the other side of the story:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2022/01/05/study-association-of-pathogens-biofilms-with-alzheimers-disease-but-wormser-repeats-no-evidence-mantra/

Category:

Alzheimer's, Lyme, research