Wow, very impressive. Tons of citations.
I have noticed a really unpleasant pattern in the media -at least here in the States- every time a major news report on Lyme appears in a major media outlet. Allow me to explain:
The next day the report is published or broadcast, someone claiming to be a doctor with alleged expertise in Lyme posts a letter to the editor (which is promptly published) dismissing the existence of Lyme, claiming the patients suffer psychological problems, and then spouting the very demonstrably false IDSA claims, anchored in early 1990s science.
That letter to The Times by that "Lyme expert" is a clear example of this pattern. When Avril Lavigne came out all over the US media telling her harrowing experience battling Lyme (a story unfortunately very familiar to us), we had none other than Dr. Auwaeter going on Dr. Phil and other TV shows to repeat the IDSA mantra.
One of the most despicable cases of this "media war' was the reply to Yolanda Foster's testimonial on her battle with Lyme by The Daily Beast (a popular American online news outlet). Here you had an alleged doctor using a pseudonym (claiming that he feared backlash) openly insulting Yolanda and Lyme patients. You can read the despicable screed here, but it will raise your blood pressure, beware:
Real Housewife, Fake Disease
‘Chronic Lyme disease’ is a controversial diagnosis with no scientific backing, no matter how much celebrity attention it gets.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/01/21/real-housewife-fake-disease.html
I wonder who that nice New England doctor really is...
I think it's clear there's a consistent pattern of carefully orchestrated media responses to deny the existence of persistent Lyme every single time a celebrity comes out. I don't think we should be surprised by this. I would like you to remember some of the many emails -obtained through an official Freedom of Information request- where members of IDSA, NIH and the CDC discussed an "open media war" on those pesky "Lymies." Here's a few samples:
Email from Durland Fish (IDSA) to Barbara J. Johnson (CDC):
“This battle cannot be won on a scientific front. We need to mount a socio-political offensive, but we are outnumbered and outgunned. We need reinforcements from outside out field.”
source
Funny thing: in the reply to that email by Phillip Baker, he actually acknowledges the existence of persistent Lyme that can be treated with long term doses of antibiotics. They acknowledge chronic Lyme in private, but orchestrate a "media war" to deny its existence in public. Why?
Email from Edward McSweegan (NIH) to Paul Mead (CDC):
“And what we have here is a war. Actually, a disinformation war. An insurgency against evidence-based medicine. It’s time to start shooting back.”
source
Nice way to treat the taxpayers, particularly people plagued by a terrible illness that need their help, not their contempt or a "socio-political media war."
So now, when you see those offensive letters to the editor from obscure doctors claiming Lyme expertise, you know it's part of a clearly orchestrated disinformation strategy.