Guest guest Posted September 20, 2003 Report Share Posted September 20, 2003 " CountryGirl " Fri, 19 Sep 2003 07:05:04 -0700 Of interest to UK Time Is Of The Essence! September 17, 2003 The following is a Tick-Borne Disease Volunteer Network (TBD-VN) E-Petition alert. TBD-VN is a volunteer Lyme Disease activist group. The purpose of this E-Petition is to combine our voices to inform, educate and hopefully influence the agencies and people involved in removing Alisa Masterson's four young children from her care. This E-Petition is also designed to alert the media in hopes they will investigate and help inform the public of the roadblocks and penalties many Tick-borne disease infected people suffer while actively pursuing a diagnosis. The Masterson E-Petition will not be sent to any other person, agency, organization or publication than those listed on the petition. Further, this petition will not be used again for any other purpose. This petition is published online here: http://www.wildernetwork.org/Masterson_Petition.html If you wish to support this petition, send an e-mail to the address provided. Write the words, " add my name to the Masterson petition " , along with one of the following two choices: 1. Your name, address, State/Province, and Country. - OR - 2. Your name, e-mail address, State/Province, and Country. E-mail your response to following address: Masterson_Petition For more information, or questions contact: Masterson_Petition_Info Thank you for your time, The Tick-Borne Disease Volunteer Network -- Tick- Borne Disease Volunteer Network E-Petition: September 17, 2003 To: Social Services Department Children and Families Service 429 - 433 Pinner Road, North Harrow HA1 4HN United Kingdom To Whom this may concern, It has come to our attention that Alisa Masterson's four children were removed from her care by the London Borough of Harrow's Department of Social Services on August 14th, 2003. Ms. Masterson is allegedly being charged with Munchausen's by proxy because she believes her children could have acquired Lyme Disease and/or other Tick-borne diseases and was pursuing a diagnosis. We the undersigned believe the Borough of Harrow's Department of Social Services should consider the following in their case against Ms. Masterson: 1. Detection tests for Lyme Disease and other Tick-borne diseases are unreliable.Researchers around the world are presently working on developing more sensitive tests to resolve this problem. 2. Diagnosis of untreated Lyme Disease and associated tick-borne illnesses can only be rendered by a physician who is experienced in clinically diagnosing late-stage and complex cases. 3. There are over 350 strains of the Lyme Disease spirochete and dozens of other possible Tick-borne diseases. A patient can carry a multitude of Tick- borne infection combinations. Thus, individual patients can present a multitude of different symptoms. 4. The symptoms a Tick-borne disease infected patient experiences can be intermittent, chronic, wax, wane or go into remission. 5. The earlier the infection is caught and treated the easier it is to eradicate. If the patient is not correctly diagnosed and treated in a timely manner the infection(s) can: A. Permanently damage virtually every organ in the victim's body including, the central nervous system, the brain, heart, lungs kidneys, eyes, etc. B. The infection(s) become harder to eradicate and the disease can turn into a persistent or chronic form. 6. It is not uncommon for tick-borne disease infected persons to be misdiagnosed for the following reasons; A. Inexperienced doctors relying upon unreliable detection tests and outdated diagnostic recommendations intended solely for surveillance purposes. B. Inexperienced doctors unable to recognize the many presentations and manifestations of symptoms of Lyme Disease, or the many different combinations of symptoms the Tick- borne disease co-infected patient can present. C. Inexperienced doctors who believe a Lyme Disease diagnosis requires the patient to present a bulls-eye rash. Only about 50% of infected people develop this rash. D. Due to overlapping symptoms, Tick-Borne disease symptoms are commonly mistaken for other illnesses such as Fibromyalgia, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME), MS, ALS, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and many others. In addition, psychological/psychiatric symptoms and behavioral problems are rarely investigated as having an infectious spirochetal organism as the causative agent. E. Closed minded uninformed doctors believing their patient could not possibly have a Tick-Borne disease because this problem does not exist in their geographic area. Ticks know no geographic boundaries. Based on the above scientifically derived facts, the Borough of Harrow's Department of Social Services cannot logically rule Ms. Masterson's children do not have a Tick-Borne disease or a combination of Tick-Borne diseases. The Social Service Department in question has allegedly, either due to inexperience or lack of knowledge regarding the infectious organisms that could be involved, ruled the children do not have Lyme Disease, based on the results of unreliable detection tests. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, the children in question were never tested for other possible Tick-Borne infections that can be acquired as sole infections or as co-infections of Lyme Disease. Based on our experience, Tick-borne Disease issues are best addressed by family members familiar with the patient(s) and in this respect, it would be in the children's best interest to be with their mother. The department of Social Services cannot scientifically prove Ms. Masterson's children do not have Lyme Disease or other Tick-Borne diseases based solely on the results of questionable detection tests and these factors seem to be the basis of confiscating Ms. Masterson's children. Ms Masterson has the basic human right to pursue any medical attention she deems suitable for her children. We recommend she takes her children to a doctor with demonstrated expertise in diagnosing and treating Tick-Borne Diseases who has working relationships with laboratories that meet reference standards in Tick-Borne detection tests. Links to data supporting this position are provided below. We very much appreciate your help and attention in this matter. Very sincerely, The Tick-Borne Disease Volunteer Network CC: Ms. Manraj Pallan Shah Solicitors, 168 Greenford Road, Sudbury Hill, Middx. HA1 3QZ United Kingdom U. S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), U. S. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Los Angeles Times, LA Daily News, The Detroit News, The Detroit Free Press, BBC, San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press, The Washington Post, NY Times, NY Post, The London News Review, Guardian Newspapers, Harrow Times, Newsquest Digital, Review & Observer Newspapers, Bucks Free Press Group, Times & Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, Children's Rights Alliance for England, International Action Center, Invisible Disabilities Advocate, Citizens Against Human Rights Abuse, USA Today, Time Magazine, Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, Christian Science Monitor, Baltimore Sun, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Dallas Morning News, Houston Chronicle, Miami Herald, Wall Street Journal, Washington Times, USA Today, KTVU, Dolly Curtis Interviews, FOX News, MSNBC, CNN, Larry King, Lou Dobbs, Jeff Rense, C-SPAN, ABC News, Nightline, CBS News, NBC News , BET, PBS, Berns Bureau, NPR, Pacifica Network News, Spanish Broadcast, National Review, World Media Foundation, National Enquirer, Star Magazine, ILADS, Lymesite References: 1. " Optic neuropathy in children with Lyme disease " Pediatrics. 2001 Aug;108(2):477-81. Rothermel H, Hedges TR 3rd, Steere AC. Division of Rheumatology/Immunology, Tufts University School of Medicine, New England Medical Center, Boston, MA 02111, USA. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgicmd= Retrieve & db=PubMed & dopt=Abstract & list_uids=21376742 2. " Gastrointestinal pathology in children with Lyme disease " , Fried MD, Duray PH, Pietrucha D; JSTD 1996; 3:101-104 http://www.jstd.org/abstracts/v3n2_96.html 3. " Overview of Neuropsychiatric Lyme " Brian A. Fallon, MD, MPH Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons http://cpmcnet.columbia.edu/dept/nyspi/flatp/lymeoverview.html 4. Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, Lyme Disease, Diagnosis http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/lyme/diagnosis.htm 5. Division of Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, Diagnosis of Lyme Disease http://www.niaid.nih.gov/dmid/lyme/diagnosis.htm 6. " Neurological manifestations of Lyme Disease In Children " Dorothy M. Pietrucha, M.D., P.A. Pediatric Neurology 3318 Route 33 Neptune, New Jersey 07753 Telephone: (908) 922-0337 FAX: (908) 922-1631 http://library.lymenet.org/domino/file.nsf/0/ c8237a2ae855bac6852567c700120021?OpenDocument 7. " All In Your Head? " by Robert C. Bransfield, M.D. http://www.lymealliance.org/research/bransfield/bransfield_1.php 8. " The Mother of All Accusations " by Amy Silverman Phoenix New Times: February 2-8, 1995 Volume 26, Number 5 http://www.msbp.com/jan.htm 9. " 2000 Daily Express Doctors' Child Abuse Theory That Is Tearing Families Apart " By Lucy Johnston and Jonathan Calvert http://www.msbp.com/tearing_families_apart.htm 10. " FALSE AND HIGHLY QUESTIONABLE ALLEGATIONS OF MUNCHAUSEN SYNDROME BY PROXY " presented by Dr Helen Hayward-Brown. This paper was written in 1999 and presented to the 7th Australasian Child Abuse and Neglect Conference in Perth. http://signup.pnc.com.au/~heleneli/paper.htm 11. " A Controlled Study of Cognitive Deficits in Children with Chronic Lyme Disease " Tager, Fallon, Rissenberg, Jones, Keilp, Liebowitz http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/ chronic_lyme_disease_in_children.htm 12. " The Children of Lyme Disease " Charles Ray Jones, MD Pediatrician, Private Practice, New Haven, CT http://www.wildernetwork.org/LDpediatricfund.html Further information is available at the following supporting links: www.lymealliance.com www.lymeinfo.org www.actionlyme.com www.ilads.org www.lymediseaseassociation.org www.lyme.org www.lymenet.org www.ahmf.org/protect.html www.msbp.com www.igenex.com www.mdlab.com www.wildernetwork.org/LDpediatricfund.html www.wildernetwork.org/index.html -- Once again, here's how to help; If you wish to support this petition, send an e-mail to the address provided. Write the words, " add my name to the Masterson petition " , along with one of the following two choices: 1. Your name, address, State/Province, and Country. - OR - 2. Your name, e-mail address, State/Province, and Country. E-mail your response to following address: Masterson_Petition For more information, or questions contact: Masterson_Petition_Info Thank you for your time, The Tick-Borne Disease Volunteer Network NEW WEB MESSAGE BOARDS - JOIN HERE. Alternative Medicine Message Boards.Info http://alternative-medicine-message-boards.info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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