Iowa Lyme Disease Legislation – IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!
Legislation has been filed in the Iowa House of Representatives to make it easier for licensed Iowa medical professionals to treat Lyme disease patients following International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) guidelines. This legislation has been developed in cooperation with the Iowa Board of Medicine (BOM), and the legal counsel for the BOM has indicated they will ask the BOM to drop their opposition to the bill with this language. Here is the language that was agreed to, in its entirety:
Section 1. NEW SECTION 147.56 Lyme disease treatment – exemption from discipline.
1. A person licensed by a board under this subtitle shall not be subject to discipline under this chapter or the board’s enabling statute based solely on the licensee’s recommendation or provision of a treatment method for Lyme disease or other tick-borne disease that is not universally accepted by the licensee’s profession.
This bill is very simple – it prohibits the BOM from disciplining an Iowa licensed medical professional SOLELY because they use diagnosis and treatment guidelines that are not universally accepted, such as the 2014 ILADS guidelines. It still allows the BOM to discipline licensees who are treating Lyme if they are also doing other things that they shouldn’t be doing that are detrimental to patient welfare (drug abuse, sexual misconduct, incompetency, etc.). Passage of this legislation would be a major victory for treatment of Lyme patients in Iowa, but IMMEDIATE ACTION IS NEEDED!
HF112 is currently in a House Subcommittee. The Subcommittee is planning to meet early next week to amend HF112 with the language above. If approved by the Subcommittee the bill will go the House Human Resources Committee. We must get this bill approved by the House HR Committee before the end of next week to beat the funnel deadline.
Here’s how you can help:
Call or email the following members of the House Subcommittee:
- Representative Greg Forristall, District 22 Pottawattamie County
- Representative Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, District 45 Story CountyOr, if you live in or near their district, try to attend a town hall meeting this weekend and ask them to support this bill.Ask them to:
- Please support the amended language to HF112
- Ask them to vote to pass the amended bill out of the Subcommittee and send it to theHouse Human Resources Committee
- Tell them that the amended language for this bill has been agreed to by the legal counselfor the Iowa Board of Medicine.
- If you or someone you know has Lyme disease, tell them your story (keep it short and to the point)
- If you have had difficulty finding appropriate medical treatment in Iowa, tell them your story (keep it short and to the point)Second, call or email the Chair of the House Human Resources Committee, Representative Joel Fry, District 27 Clarke County. Tell Representative Fry the following:
- Ask him to make sure that HF112 gets a vote this week in the House HR Committee
- Ask him to support the bill
- Tell them that the amended language for this bill has been agreed to by the legal counselfor the Iowa Board of Medicine.
- If you or someone you know has Lyme disease, tell him your story (keep it short and tothe point)
- If you have had difficulty finding appropriate medical treatment in Iowa, tell him yourstory (keep it short and to the point)Third, call or email the other members of the House Human Resources Committee, Tell them the following:
- Ask them to support the bill
- Tell them that the amended language for this bill has been agreed to by the legal counselfor the Iowa Board of Medicine.
- If you or someone you know has Lyme disease, tell them your story (keep it short and tothe point)
- If you have had difficulty finding appropriate medical treatment in Iowa, tell them yourstory (keep it short and to the point)
Here’s the contact info for the members House Switchboard: (515)281-3221
TIPS FOR COMMUNICATING WITH LEGISLATORS
- Be respectful – ALWAYS!
- Keep your comments short and to the point – Representatives are very busy right now, berespectful of their time.
- Stick with the talking points.
- Be very specific about what you want your lawmaker to do.” I’d like you to vote Yes onbill number XYZ because…”, or “Please vote No on file ABC because…”.
- Be polite but persistent. If a politician doesn’t give you a direct answer, don’t be afraid torespectfully repeat the question and ask them for a straight answer. “Sir/Ma’am, I’dappreciate it if you’d give me a direct answer. Will you vote Yes or No on this bill?”
- Tell a friend and ask them to make a call or send an email. There’s strength in numbers.
- If you can, make a record of your exchange. This is a great way to hold lawmakersaccountable for their promises.
- Repeat step one!
