Don’t forget our support group meeting this Saturday: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/02/01/february-2018-support-group-meeting/
See you there!
February Support Group Meeting Reminder
February 15, 2018
Another Lyme Patient Denied Health Benefits – Files Lawsuit
February 14, 2018
Diagnosed with Lyme Disease, Plaintiff is Denied by Unum Disability Insurance
February 14, 2018, 8:00AM. By Gordon Gibb
The plaintiff suffering from Lyme disease pursued benefits from her LTD insurance provider. Unum even approved short-term, and long-term benefits, before doing an about-face and denying her benefits.
San Diego, CA – A medical professional who could no longer fulfill the functions of her occupation due to a diagnosis of Lyme disease, had her long term disability benefits claim denied by her LTD provider. Plaintiff Laura Wakil holds that Unum unfairly denied her LTD benefits that were rightfully hers according to the terms of her policy, and she is taking the insurer to court after filing an Unum lawsuit in an attempt to achieve benefits resulting from her disability.
Wakil had been practicing as a Board Certified Psychiatrist when she began experiencing debilitating pain, together with other symptoms that combined to make it increasingly difficult to carry out her professional duties. According to her Unum insurance lawsuit, Wakil was ultimately diagnosed with Lyme disease in March, 2016.
Plaintiff’s lawsuit claims plaintiff had a right to benefits under her Unum policy
Under the terms of her Unum LTD policy, a diagnosis of Lyme disease translated to a total disability under the terms of her Unum long term disability policy, or so Wakil’s Unum disability insurance lawsuit claims.
According to Court documents, Wakil submitted her disability claim with Unum together with a statement of support and corroboration of her diagnosis, and her struggles with Lyme disease, provided by her physician. The plaintiff, according to her Unum disability insurance lawsuit, was approved for short term disability benefits for Lyme disease in July of that year and a month later, was also approved for long term disability benefits.
But then, the bottom fell out. Her benefits were later denied by Unum. An appeal of her denial was also lost.
In the meantime, Wakil continued suffering from pain and other symptoms associated with Lyme disease, and was continuing to struggle without the capacity to earn income by way of her profession.
Wakil filed her Unum disability insurance lawsuit against Unum Life Insurance Company of America and others in December of last year, having exhausted all other administrative means at her disposal to do so outside of litigation.
Wakil asserts that Unum’s denial of her legitimate claims for benefits, was unfair and improper.
The case is Wakil v. Unum Life Insurance Company of America et al, Case No. 3:2017-cv-02564, filed December 26, 2017, in the US District Court for the Southern District of California, County of San Diego.
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https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/01/24/french-lyme-patients-filing-criminal-complaints/
CBD supporters question Operation Candy Crush raids
By Larry Flowers
Published: February 13, 2018
http://wkrn.com/2018/02/13/cbd-supporters-question-operation-candy-crush/
RUTHERFORD COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) – The Tennessee Hemp Industries Association is speaking out against Rutherford County for closing 23 businesses for selling CBD products.
The nonprofit says the DA and law enforcement could be misinformed.
Tennessee Hemp Industries Association President Joe Fitzpatrick believes they do not quite understand the difference between CBD derived from Hemp plants and THC from marijuana.
“I think the most important distinction to make is what product is derived from industrial hemp and what products are derived from marijuana because if they are derived from industrial hemp Governor Haslam signed the bill and it had unanimous support in both chambers of the state legislature to make any product derived from industrial hemp legal for ingestable or topical use. And marijuana products are simply not legal,” Kirkpatrick said.
Fitzpatrick said he’s been in communication with an attorney for one of the manufacturers of CBD products, who says they can prove their product is made from the Hemp plant.
“The attorney for the manufacturer is claiming that the product, that they can prove a chain of custody that will show the products that were seized in these apparently legal businesses were padlocked were carrying a product that is derived from industrial hemp making it fully and completely legal and safe,” he said.
Rutherford county lawmen from Smyrna, La Verne and Murfreesboro raided 23 business in the county Monday.
Undercover officers purchased CBD based oils and gummies laced with cannabidoil.
“The TBI has certified it as containing a Schedule VI controlled substance,” Rutherford County District Attorney General Jennings Jones said.
News 2 was able to obtain several copies of the judge’s petition which allowed the businesses to be padlocked.
Included is an official forensic chemistry report, that determined four of the products tested from Cloud 9 Hemi contained Cannabidiol, and listed it as a Schedule VI drug, but doesn’t give the amount contained.
Another TBI forensic report tested Gummy frogs which apparently contained Cannabidiol but the analysis couldn’t determine what schedule drug it contained.
An officer still wrote in a petition that the business Enchanted Planet offered edible CBD gummies that is a Schedule VI controlled substance.
“Our Forensic Scientists’ jobs are to objectively identify compounds that are present in evidence submitted to our lab and report out the schedule as indicated in the Tennessee Code Annotated,” said TBI spokesperson Josh Devine. “We make no determination as to the legality of these compounds. Instead, the District Attorney General determines whether the law has been broken, based upon the circumstances of each case.”
“Industrial Hemp is any cannabis product that has less than .3 of one percent which is a microscopic level of THC,” Kirkpatrick said.
“CBD keeps me seizure free, and the other side, shame on you Rutherford County,” CBD product user John Horton read from a homemade sign he was carrying.
Horton let his frustration be known, by walking around the historic Rutherford County Courthouse showing his disappointment in authorities for closing the businesses.
He suffers from seizures, but for the past two years he said he’s been seizure free since he started using CBD products.
“It’s been a life saver, I’m able to drive again, wasn’t able to drive because of the seizures so CBD has saved my life so I’m able to work and live like a normal person,” Horton said.
Since CBD products are also sold in Davidson County, News 2 reached out to District Attorney General Glenn Funk’s office, “Our office is aware of the Rutherford County CBD product sales,” said Chief of Staff Dorinda Carter. “We are monitoring the situation but we cannot comment on any possible investigation in our jurisdiction.”
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For more: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/09/28/cbd-for-pain/
https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/19/november-madison-lyme-support-group-meeting/
https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/11/14/hemp-oil-presentation/
Show Description: Killer Green follows the lives of two pivotal couples in different stages of life as the two lead female character battle a widely ignored chronic illness. Based on biographical accounts, this musical attempts to uncover the dark truth behind how Lyme Disease affects its victims, educate viewers on the reality of these stories, and expose the widespread ignorance of the medical community.
This show was graciously funded by The Wisconsin Lyme Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness for this cause. https://wisconsinlymenetwork.org/
Warning: Killer Green depicts suicide, depression, and topics that viewers might find disturbing but Lyme patients struggle with daily.
Written, choreographed, and directed by Audra Cashman, a student graduating in Musical Theater at Peck School of the Arts at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee for her Senior Honors Project.
Ms. Cashman’s parents both have Tick borne illness and her mother heads a local support group for patients. Killer Green draws upon personal experience and the experiences of many local Wisconsin patients.
See you there and wear your green!
Borrelia burgdorferi in small mammal reservoirs in Kentucky, a traditionally non-endemic state for Lyme disease
Buchholz MJ, Davis C, Rowland NS, Dick CW.
Parasitology Research, online first 2018 Feb 7.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-018-5794-xhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-018-5794-x
Abstract
The incidence of tick-borne zoonoses such as Lyme disease has steadily increased in the southeastern United States. Southeastern states accounted for 1500 of over 28,000 confirmed cases of Lyme disease reported in the United States during 2015. Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiologic agent of Lyme disease, is maintained in small mammal reservoirs and vectored to new hosts by ixodid ticks.
This study examined ecological relationships of the B. burgdorferi/vector/reservoir system in order to understand the dynamics of Lyme disease risk in Kentucky. Small mammals were captured using live traps from November 2014 to October 2015. Ticks were removed and blood and tissue collected from small mammals were screened for B. burgdorferi DNA by PCR with primers specific to the OspA gene.
Prevalence of B. burgdorferi (21.8%) in Kentucky small mammals was comparable to the lowest recorded prevalence in regions where Lyme disease is endemic. Moreover, infestation of small mammals by Ixodes scapularis, the primary vector of B. burgdorferi, was rare, while Dermacentor variabilis comprised the majority of ticks collected.
These findings provide ecological insight into the relative paucity of Lyme disease in Kentucky.
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**Comment**
The conclusion of this study is all wrong. Bb was found Kentucky mammals. That in itself is important. Also, the fact the preponderance of ticks were dermacentor variabilis (wood tick or American dog tick) which supposedly has not been proven to be a competent vector of Bb as supposedly it doesn’t efficiently pass Bb from inside the tick to humans or other hosts), it does transmit Tularemia and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.
BTW: these transmission studies given as references for this fact were done from 1997-2006. It’s now 2018. http://labs.russell.wisc.edu/wisconsin-ticks/wisconsin-ticks/dermacentor-variabilis/ Notice it states, “It doesn’t efficiently pass Bb.” What if it passes it inefficiently? It still passes!
Regardless of whether the wood tick can transmit Bb or not, they do transmit pathogens. The fact that nearly 22% of small Kentucky mammals have Bb due to the black legged deer tick and most of the ticks they picked up were wood ticks, those deer ticks were particularly infected.
Hear ye, hear ye, the South has Lyme.
https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/09/24/arkansas-kids-denied-lyme-treatment/ According to Dr. Naveen Patil, Director of the Infectious Disease Program, ADH,
“We don’t have Lyme Disease in Arkansas, we have the ticks that transmit Lyme Disease but we don’t have any recorded cases of Lyme Disease.”
https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/03/02/hold-the-press-arkansas-has-lyme/ A news report emphasizing the CDC’s belief Arkansas is a “low incident” state in regards to Lyme Disease, is countered by the Arkansas Lyme Foundation that claims at least 150 cases, and they just started counting. http://www.thv11.com/news/local/arkansas-lyme-foundation-claims-over-150-lyme-disease-cases-in-state/414489522 (Video here)
“People are dying and I’m not exaggerating, people are calling us every week in desperate situations,” said Sikes.
https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/24/no-lyme-in-oklahoma-yeah-right/ Last summer, a friend who lives in Oklahoma found a classic bullseye rash on her seven-year-old daughter.
“That’s a spider bite,” a local pediatrician told her. “We don’t have Lyme in Oklahoma.”
The doctor was wrong. Had my friend taken his advice, her daughter would not have been diagnosed in a timely fashion and she would likely have developed symptoms over the next few months or years. She probably would have become severely debilitated, and the infections might have crossed the blood-brain barrier and become chronic.
Get the picture yet? Lyme/MSIDS is everywhere.
Quit saying it’s rare!
