Blumenthal's Lyme hearings this Thurs., July 30 -- live streamed and twittered

This Thursday, hearings in Washington DC will be held as required by Connecticut Attorney General Blumenthal on whether IDSA (the Infectious Disease Society of America) has improperly established diagnosis and treatment guidelines for Lyme which are too narrow.

The hearings are from 8 am to 5 pm ET, and you can watch live via your own computer or can receive twitter messages from the proceedings.  The group which supports more inclusive diagnosis and more aggressive treatment for Lyme, ILADS (International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society) has details on their website at ILADS [dot] org on how you can watch or receive twitters.

If you want to watch live, there is a pre-test to be done on your computer to be sure you have the right software -- I don't have Microsoft Silverlight, required for effective streaming video (and I have a pretty new computer), so I will need to download it in order to watch.  Check it out ahead of time if you want to watch live.

Signing up for twitter (to receive short messages on your cell phone) is easy, and the instructions are also on the ILADS website on how to sign up.

Pasted below is the agenda for the meeting, copied from the ILADS website:

Overview Lyme Disease Review Panel Hearing

We want to keep you informed about everything ILADS is doing to spotlight the historic Infectious Disease Society of American (IDSA) hearings this week, Thursday, July 30th. The hearings are in response to a lawsuit against the IDSA, brought by Connecticut's Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. In his groundbreaking lawsuit, AG Blumenthal charged that the IDSA guidelines for Lyme disease may prevent many seriously ill patients from getting necessary treatment. A 2008 settlement resulted in the IDSA agreeing to create a new panel to review its guidelines.

The following professionals representing ILADS are testifying at the hearings to be held at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, DC:

   1. Daniel Cameron, MD, International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS)
   2. Lorraine Johnson, JD, MBA, California Lyme Disease Association (CALDA)
   3. Allison Delong, ILADS, Providence, RI
   4. Ken Liegner, MD, ILADS, Armonk, NY
   5. Steven Phillips, MD, ILADS, Wilton, CT
   6. Raphael Stricker, MD, ILADS, San Francisco, CA
   7. Steven Phillips, MD, ILADS, Wilton, CT

Click here for a complete list of the presenters.

Professionals and Lyme disease patients from around the world will watch the DC-based hearing via webcast and will participate in an international Twitter chat to share reactions. Click here to attend the chat from 8am to 5pm ET on July 30th.

Schedule for the event on July 30th:

7:40 On-line registration

8:00 AM Welcome

8:15 AM Presentations Begin

11:45 AM Lunch Break

12:30 PM Presentations Resume

4:50 PM Final Remarks

5:00 PM Conclusion
==end==

[wonko]

The full list shows that Gary Wormser, MD, IDSA & New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY is the last scheduled speaker...So save plenty of rotten tomatoes for the end!

I can't bear to watch/twitter, and plan instead to read about it and/or watch highlights online.  I am cautiously optimistic, if nothing else it's good that Lyme is getting attention.