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Long time readers are familiar with the saga of my fiancee Tanya and her life being diagnosed with Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease, aka Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), which turned out to not be RA but rather a Biotinidase Deficiency. Since my server stats indicate that I have a lot of new readers I will summarize the ordeal for you.

In December of 2003 Tanya was diagnosed as having Rheumatoid Arthritis due to her joint pain and fatigue. As the years went by her symptoms got worse and she spent close to $500,000 in treatments that included low dose chemo. In 2013 one of her nieces had a baby. These days, thanks in part to the March of Dimes, gene testing is done on newborns to see if there are genetic defects that the new parents should be aware of. As it turned out, the baby was a carrier of the gene for Biotinidase Deficiency, but they did not know what side of the family the gene came from so Tanya had a vitamin and nutrition test done on herself. It took a couple tests and a couple months to get the results, but on July 19, 2013 she was informed that she was profoundly deficient in Vitamin B7. Her doctor did not know how to treat it and said they would get back to her with a treatment plan; as of July 25, 2014 they still have not called back.

Luckily, one of Tanya’s skills is research and she immediately sought out ways to get enough B7 in her system since the gene mutation prevented her body from separating B7 from the protein it is attached to in foods, so her body just passed it out. Long story short, she discovered Biotin and started experimenting with it since there is essentially no information available on how to treat Biotinidase Deficiency. The results were immediate; literally overnight she started noticing improvements in her health. She immediately discontinued the use of the various prescriptions she had been taking for years and has not taken any of them in the past year. 13 months ago we were wondering how much time she had left on earth; this past Saturday we celebrated the one year anniversary of her rebirth.

To help others from dealing with the same pain and expense she experienced, Tanya decided that we should put some effort into getting the medical profession to start testing for the cause of chronic illnesses instead of just treating the symptoms. To that end we have started a petition on WhiteHouse.gov; End Deficiencies make Vitamin, Minerals & Nutritional Deficiency Tests Part of Preventive Care & Add Supplement Coverage. Since the title may be a little confusing, allow me to explain what we are requesting and why you should sign it.

I should probably begin by stating that I am not in favor of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) simply because I think insurance is a sucker’s bet and I do not approve of being forced to purchase something I will not use. While Tanya is less opposed to it than I, she does not like the mandatory part of it either. That being said, this petition does nothing to address the pros or cons of the Affordable Care Act (ACA); all it is saying is that if we have to buy health insurance doctors should be forced to give us vitamin and nutritional deficiency tests before jumping to conclusions as to what ails us. In fact, it should be mandatory under preventative care provisions of all health insurance plans. Additionally, if a vitamin deficiency is found and supplements are required to correct the condition, these supplements should be covered just like any other prescription would be. Now, we understand that “big medicine” is not exactly going to be in favor of this as it will definitely cut into their profit margins; we feel that the health and well-being of the patients is more important.

Why should you sign this petition? Simple, many people are being misdiagnosed because doctors do not start with the basics. Why tell someone to take $200 in vitamins when you can have them spend $2,000 a pop on some drug? This petition is not going to change your coverage, increase your rates or change big medicine and the insurance industry. If we get 100,000 signatures in 30 days the White House must respond to the petition; however, they have been known to respond to petitions that had just a fraction of that number. Once we hit 150 signatures the petition becomes searchable in their database; so every signature helps.



Are there any reasons you should not sign the petition? In a word, no; you are not going to be spammed by the White House or added to any additional lists with the FBI or NSA. If you are not on their watch list by now, signing this petition will not land you on one; in fact, they may just remove you from their watch list when they see what a good person you are.

Please do not delay, go to http://wh.gov/lMl2C and sign our petition to make Vitamin, Minerals & Nutritional Deficiency Tests Part of Preventive Care. You will receive an email from WhiteHouse.gov. Subject: Action Needed: Verify your signature which you will to respond to for your signature count. Anyone 13 and older can sign it so please give this the widest distribution possible. Thank you in advance.