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ABOUT US | MCRC |CONTACT | CONTACT FOR LYME DISEASE INFORMATION  kaiserpapers.com/lyme  | kaiserpapers.com   Lyme Disease in Oregon

Oregon ranks as one of the worst states in the nation to get help for Lyme disease. Over one-fourth of the state’s population is enrolled in HMO’s and standards of care seem to be determined by these entities, Kaiser in particular, and their financial influence on the state’s medical university, Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU). The Oregon Board of Medical Examiners, which includes two members who are not even doctors or in any way involved in medicine, appears to be compliant to their wishes.

Oregon has the distinction of being the first state to investigate a competent and caring doctor for treating Lyme disease patients. One of the Lyme patients of this doctor was a Kaiser member who tried to get his prescription filled at a Kaiser pharmacy. Kaiser filed a complaint with the medical board and the doctor was forced to choose between giving up his Lyme patients or his medical license.  As a result, because of potential medical board harassment, MD’s in Oregon are reluctant to help Lyme patients.

Contrast this behavior by Kaiser and the medical board with that of Jayant Patel, a Kaiser surgeon who killed and damaged many patients. Patel had 79 medical com­plaints filed against him in Oregon and nothing was done. It was only after he was convicted in Australia in 2010 for manslaughter that the medical board issued a token reprimand.

Lyme disease information in Oregon is dictated by David Gilbert of Providence HMO.  Dr. Gilbert is also an advisor to Kaiser and a professor at OHSU.  He is a past president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America whose Lyme disease guidelines were under invest­i­ga­tion by the Connecticut Attorney General. He is also a known Lyme denier.

To avoid diagnosis, Kaiser takes the added precaution of shipping their Oregon and Washington Lyme blood samples to a Quest lab in Virginia. This virtually insures sample degradation and makes the sample worthless.  According to East Coast Lyme doctors, this particular lab seems to have a reputation for not being able to find Lyme disease in their samples. According to a Kaiser lab nurse, Kaiser ships blood samples cross-country for any disease they don’t want to diagnose.

It does not appear that this dismal status of Lyme disease (and other tick-borne infections) will be changing anytime soon. Oregon residents are advised to seek professional help outside of Oregon.

Maps

Hard-bodied (Ixoxid) Wood Ticks In Oregon (1978)

Mapping the national distribution of blacklegged ticks in 1998

Where tick-borne diseases are found (from IDEXX a veterinarian testing laboratory)

Animal Cases of Tick borne illness in Oregon by county

U.S. Canine Positive Lyme Map There have been over 500 reported cases in Oregon in 2007-2008 with a majority being reported in the Southern Oregon area; however, many cases have also been reported in the Portland Metro area.

Mitochondrial DNA sequence variation in Ixodes pacificus Note; Examines genetic variation in tick populations of western states. Map of areas studied -

State provided information

Lyme Disease (Note; Some of this information is incorrect and outdated)

Lyme Disease (OHSU) Lyme Disease – Ticks & Tick Control (OHSU)

Report on Oregon Wood Tick Surveys by Robert Gresbrink, R.S. Section Director, Vector Control Section, O.S.B.H. Distribution of tick-borne disease entities with distribution map. and

Studies

Spiroplasma ixodetis sp. nov., a New Species from Ixodes pacificus Ticks Collected in Oregon

ISOLATION OF BORRELIA BURGDORFERI FROM NEOTOMA FUSCIPES, PEROMYSCUS MANICULATUS, PEROMYSCUS BOYLII, AND IXODES PACIFICUS IN OREGON

Canine Zoonotic Diseases in Oregon by Oregon Department of Human Services (Note the vast discrepancy between Oregon DHS information and the Oregon Veterinary Medical Association)

The Western Black-Legged Tick, Ixodes Pacificus: A Vector of Borrelia Burgdorferi (Since this study was done (1982-1984) tick infection rates have risen from the 1.96% reported for Oregon and 1.13% reported for California)

Incidence of Lyme disease in Oregon by Oregon Dept. of Human Services (Considerably understates the true incidence of Lyme disease cases in Oregon)

Identifying Adult Hard Ticks Commonly Found On Humans In Oregon

Lyme Disease in Oregon Journal of Clinical Microbiology, June 2008 Note: The methodology used in this study is highly questionable. Data with regard to tick collection and analysis is undocumented. Requests for supporting information have been ignored. One of the authors, David Gilbert of Providence Portland HMO, is a known denier of Lyme disease diagnoses. Dr. Gilbert was also a past president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America whose Lyme guidelines were the subject of an antitrust invest­i­ga­tion by the Connecticut Attorney General.

A newly identified intraerythrocytic Babesia-like organism, WA1, and its relatives were recently shown to be infectious for humans in the western United States (1989)

News Articles

Bitten by the Controversy Bug by Andy Dworkin of The Oregonian https://kaiserpapers.com/lyme/andy.html

Eugene Weekly articles in response to an original article on Lyme disease by Sarah Hendrickson, M.D., in her Viewpoint, “Lyme Disease Rare (in Oregon)” (1/28/2010).

 

Under Our Skin Lyme disease often goes undiagnosed in Oregon By Deedee Schneider MA, LMT

Informed Consent Patients have a right to pick among conflicting studies By Theresa Denham

Misdiagnosed for Years Sickest Lyme patients can have nega­tive test results By Sarah Blanton

A Disease In Debate A Bend woman has chronic Lyme disease

Support Groups

Oregon Lyme Yahoo Group

  Southern Oregon Support Group (SOLD) email SOLD  Leader SOLD Sharon Lee  email: sleesold@aol.com  541-879-0222

 Co-Leader SOLD Judi Johnston  email: johnstonjud@gmail.com  541-944-5068

Benton County Lyme Support.   Linn-Benton Counties Lyme Support   Glen & Alene Olson   email:  info@mvldsg.info   Phone: 541-791-6872

Portland Support Group email Portland Lyme Disease Support   Dave Johnson   Phone: 503-610-8172   email: portlandlyme@gmail.com

Hood River Support Group email Hood River Support Group   Pam Ritzenhalter 541-386-5658

Eugene Support, email Eugene Support Group  Holly Saunders 541-342-3041  email: mercyskiss@efn.org

FOR REFERENCE: Geographic Distribution of Ticks in the United States - CDC Maps 2012

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