BC Dogs Get Better Lyme Treatment Than People

B.C. dogs get better Lyme treatment than people

Because disease rarely detected in humans, infected often denied cure

By David Cubberly, Special to Times ColonistJuly 6, 2010

It's astounding that a single Victoria veterinarian sees more Lyme disease in dogs yearly than are "confirmed" by the Centre for Disease Control for humans across B.C. ("Tests spot tick-borne disease in retriever," June 26).

How can it be that we see only four to six cases a year of Lyme in humans if one vet sees a case a month of tick-borne disease in dogs (and most often Lyme)?

I hope the standard of care given Annie the retriever will one day be available to people in B.C. Right now it's not. Annie's vet suspected tick-borne illness, recognized the need to test for Lyme disease and knew enough to also test for other tick-borne illnesses.

Humans come to doctors with known symptoms of tick-borne illness, yet often face incomprehension or worse.

The few suspected of having Lyme face a flawed test that misses most Lyme disease, which allows those responsible to continue claiming that the disease is rare.

What's rare about Lyme is its detection in humans, which denies many infected people prompt access to cure.

Annie's vet began treating her immediately with antibiotics, based on clinical diagnosis -- something our doctors are said to be able to do, but rarely can.

Antibiotics are typically withheld from humans unless a blood test "proves" there's Lyme disease, which it rarely does in B.C. Really unlucky people -- those who get chronic Lyme disease because their initial infection isn't treated -- are typically denied antibiotics entirely.

Annie's vet also understands that an array of disease can be communicated by ticks and arranged a battery of tests. If B.C. doctors are reluctant to test for Lyme disease, they're even less likely to order tests for infections like Babesiosis or Bartonella. (It turned out in the end that Annie had Erlichiosis, not Lyme.)

Annie's vet ordered the tests through a California lab, with reliable results, and Annie's owner privately paid. Yet when people pay out of pocket to have themselves tested in California, B.C. health care refuses to accept the results as diagnostic of Lyme disease and denies them access to antibiotic therapy. Antibiotics are the only medicine effective in treating Lyme disease.

Compared to humans, dogs enjoy an enviable standard of care for Lyme and other tick-borne infections. In fact, it would be more accurate to say people face a standard of neglect in B.C. today, and that those responsible have their heads firmly planted in the sand.

David Cubberley is a director of the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation and former MLA for Saanich South.

© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist

Where things stand today

A note of sincere thanks to all who have so generously given to help Nicole Bottles and her family pay for emergency medical care for Lyme disease. Nicole’s mom, Chris Powell, says that to date about $4300 has been received and, in her own words, “we’re completely and utterly overwhelmed by the generosity of strangers.’ Lana Popham and I want to add our thanks to all of you who responded to our request for help during the holiday season.

The fact is, anyone with chronic Lyme disease in B.C. today has no healthcare insurance, period. Government policies support Infectious Disease doctors in their refusal to allow longer courses of antibiotic treatment, valid tests from accredited laboratories showing borrelia infection are rejected. That leaves sick people having to privately pay for the only therapy shown to offer relief for chronic Lyme disease. If intravenous antibiotics are needed – often the case when Lyme goes undiagnosed for a long time, which nearly always happens in Canada – people have to pay for diagnosis and treatment out-of-country and out-of-pocket. If something goes wrong with the device used for IV antibiotic therapy – as happened when Nicole’s ‘port’ sprang a leak before Christmas – B.C. healthcare refuses to enable the treatment to continue. That meant emergency travel to the USA for a new port to be installed, which could have been done quickly and safely in any emergency room in B.C. No one in Nicole’s situation (and there are many in B.C.) can even qualify for homecare to monitor the treatment to ensure it goes smoothly and safely. Lyme disease sufferers are totally de-insured and left to fend entirely for themselves. Imagine being disabled by disease to the point of not being able to walk, and being refused needed care in a public healthcare system!

With the help of family and friends, and with treatment supervised by a lyme-literate doctor in another country, Nicole is slowly making her way back from being bed-bound. Nicole and all the other kids and adults being failed by B.C.’s healthcare system need support from the broader community of caring people.

Ultimately we have to change government policy that denies Lyme sufferers access to medically necessary care, a clear breach of the Canada Health Act.

Writing a letter to express your opposition to government policies that victimize people with Lyme disease is another step you can take. Letters will reach Health Minister Kevin Falcon at:

E-mail: kevin.falcon.mla@leg.bc.ca
Office: Room 337 Parliament Buildings Victoria, BC V8V 1X4		Constituency: 108 – 17700 No. 10 Highway Surrey, BC V3S 1C7
Phone:	250 953-3547	Phone:	604 576-3792
Fax:	250 356-9587	Fax:	604 576-3797