On her last day as an HHS Working Group (WG) member, after serving 2 terms, Lyme Disease Association President Pat Smith addressed at the Dec. 2 online WG meeting, her concerns about the procedures of the 2019-2020 Working Group and her concern that the interests of patients were not served by the group. Read below […]
BACKGROUND: The 17th Working Group Meeting turned out to be a referendum on the Patient Chapter of the upcoming 2020 Working Group report. The previous 9 months of the WG had seen that chapter content consistently eroded by comments from just a few WG members which forced shortening of chapter, removal of material, rewriting of […]
The 16th meeting of the Federal Tick-Borne Disease Working Group (WG) took place 10.27.20. Public commenters urged the WG to acknowledge and act on the changes needed for patient relief. In review of report chapters, contentious arguments continued, with Pat Smith again advocating passionately on behalf of chronic Lyme patients. (Below items are not in […]
The recent 2-day virtual meeting of the Federal Tick-Borne Disease Working Group (WG) on Day 1 was more subdued than prior meetings , but Day 2 again brought forth an effort to minimize the patient access to care chapter and chronic Lyme. Day 1 September 15, 2020 Patients and patient advocates delivered verbal comments, including […]
The upcoming meeting of the HHS Working Group on Sept. 15 may be your last chance to influence language on persistent/chronic Lyme. At the last meeting, several members of the Working Group (WG) worked hard to have language related to patients with persistent Lyme symptoms removed from the WG report which will go to Congress at end of year.
The thirteenth meeting of the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group (Working Group) was held online on April 27, 2020, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., ET. This meeting was open to the public, with request to comment accepted by April 19, 2020. The Working Group reviewed the work of the Public Comment Subcommittee followed by the Federal […]
The White House released the Fiscal Year 2021 budget proposal which includes a $14 million increase compared to the 2020 enacted level that focuses on tick-borne diseases. Excerpts from Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2021: “Prioritizes Critical Health Research and Supports Innovation” … “NIH would continue to address the opioid epidemic and […]
The 11th meeting of the Tick-borne Disease Working Group (TBDWG) was held at the Hyatt Place Washington DC/US Capitol, 33 New York Avenue NE, Washington, DC. During the two-day meeting, the Working Group 1) heard presentations on findings and actions for TBDWG to consider from eight subcommittees; 2) heard updates from the Public Comment and […]
The HSS-Tick-Borne Disease Working Group subcommittee reports are now accessible on the HHS-TBDWG webpage. The TBDWG established eight subcommittees in June 2019. Each subcommittee identified priorities and developed a report to the TBDWG that described current efforts, gaps in research, and potentials actions relevant to their topic. Read Subcommittee Reports
The tenth meeting of the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group (TBDWG) was held via webcast on Sept 12, 2019 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET. Subcommittee members were announced, and the Working Group received reports from the eight subcommittees that were formed during the June 4, 2019 meeting. Two subcommittee name changes were […]