An Act To Inform Persons of the Options for the Treatment of Lyme Disease

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:

Sec. 1. 22 MRSA §1645, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 2009, c. 494, §4, is amended to read:

3. Publicly accessible website. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention shall maintain a publicly accessible website to provide public awareness and education on Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. The website must provide information on the prevention, diagnosis and different alternatives for treatment of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses for use by health care providers and the public, including, but not limited to, links to resources made available and recommended by the United States Department of Health and Human Services and an international nonprofit multidisciplinary medical society .

Sec. 2. Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention; alternatives for the treatment of Lyme disease. The Department of Health and Human Services, Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention shall include on the publicly accessible website established pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 22, section 1645, subsection 3 information, including links to websites, about treatment guidelines recommended by the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society. The center shall work with health care professionals to inform patients about different alternatives for the treatment of Lyme disease.

summary

This bill directs the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention to include on its publicly accessible website information about different alternatives for the treatment of Lyme disease. The bill also requires the center to include information about treatment guidelines recommended by the Infectious Diseases Society of America, which represents physicians, scientists and other health care professionals who specialize in infectious diseases, and the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, an international nonprofit multidisciplinary medical society. The bill directs the center to work with health care professionals to inform patients about different alternatives for the treatment of Lyme disease.