Can We Sue CDC?

Can we all band together and sue the CDC?

I think their standards are negligent and actually harm people. We can find many people to come together and acknowledge CDC's negligence. I really believe they need to be sued at this point.

Any thoughts?

The Dude Abides said...
Unprecedented Claim Against the CDC Over Lyme Tests
/on-lyme.org/en/sufferers/lyme-stories/item/261-unprecedented-claim-against-the-cdc-over-lyme-tests

Also...

Lyme Patients File Lawsuit Against IDSA and Insurers Over Treatment Denials
/www.lymedisease.org/lyme-patients-sue-idsa-insurers

Thanks Dude! I think those lawsuits are a good start. It would be nice if we could get like 1,000 people to file a $100 million lawsuit. $100,000 a person should cover the treatment costs we have endured, minus lawyer fees.

I am thinking they are negligent in the lack of research focused on Lyme, the under reporting, the Lyme tests that aren't reliable, and the conflicts of interest of the IDSA members- and I think there is a linkage with IDSA and CDC but I haven't looked into it because it would just make me more angry.

I honestly think someone should be held responsible for this epidemic. There is very little funding for Lyme and we are all labeled as PTLDS when their "studies" of long term antibiotics were only a month in length with antibiotics that don't even treat Lyme.

Ugh it just infuriates me and there needs to be change immediately. I bet we could get 1,000 people to sue.

Girlie said...
If only $100,000 would cover everything I've lost. I count lost wages in my calculation...but certainly $100,000 would help....

Oh yea Girlie, I didn't even think about that!! Maybe it's Lyme rage but the whole thing angers me so much. It doesn't seem morally right. I haven't even been able to get on disability so I have been really left in the cold...I have a hearing in September to decide if I get disability payments- such bs.

Lvg123 said...

Girlie said...
If only $100,000 would cover everything I've lost. I count lost wages in my calculation...but certainly $100,000 would help....

Oh yea Girlie, I didn't even think about that!! Maybe it's Lyme rage but the whole thing angers me so much. It doesn't seem morally right. I haven't even been able to get on disability so I have been really left in the cold...I have a hearing in September to decide if I get disability payments- such bs.

I asked my hubby today if he wants to have an appt next time we fly to DC and start treating and he declined because someone needs to be making $$$ and he knows he may not be functional when he starts.
He's waiting for me to get back to work....waiting...waiting.....waiting..........waiting................

Girlie said...
I asked my hubby today if he wants to have an appt next time we fly to DC and start treating and he declined because someone needs to be making $$$ and he knows he may not be functional when he starts. He's waiting for me to get back to work....waiting...waiting.....waiting..........waiting................

Your husband is dealing with Lyme, too?!? Either I didn't know that or my mushy brain forgot.

I can see how, for some couples, that financial/employment situation could be not only stressful, but have a lot of emotion and conflicted feelings wrapped around all of that. I wish you both the best.

Found this interesting info at this site:/on-lyme.org/en/sufferers/lyme-stories/item/261-unprecedented-claim-against-the-cdc-over-lyme-test


Below is taken from the article above. It seems if your an american you can file a form SF-95, A federal tort claim against the CDC. Looks like you would need a lawyer and could be complicated. Has to be done by July 20, 2019.

I haven't had a chance to read the whole article, but it is of interest and important to check out. Looks like same site Dude abides posted about.

"A precedent?

Since Dr. Lee is not a Lyme patient nor a victim of delayed diagnosis himself, he cannot claim damage as a patient. So he can only sue the government for damage to his business (in terms of dollars).

Both American Lyme patients and Medical Doctors are also able to use a SF-95 claims form, within two years since the date when CDC's suppression of using an available 16S rRNA sequence analysis as a reliable direct test method for diagnosis of early Lyme borreliosis was made public, namely on July 20, 2017. It could achieve two things: individual compensation and collective financial pressure to show that the CDC suppression of direct testing has led to delayed diagnosis of Lyme disease or missed diagnosis of Lyme disease, and the resulting devastating effects on public health, loss of income, expenses, general quality of life and a gross violation of basic human rights.

It is however not easy to sue the CDC, the European version ECDC or the Health Department of your national government, such as the RIVM in the Netherlands. You could be facing a long battle as - due to sovereign immunity protection - you may not be able to sue government employees. In the USA the exception is under Federal Tort Claims Act via the SF-95 form. You may need a lawyer to do this properly.

One cannot file a case in court until the Complaint is cleared with the federal agency (CDC) and the OIG. This means waiting for six months, if they do not rule. This is called "exhausting administrative remedies”. This legal option has been used so little by either patients or doctors that there are hardly any lawyers who are specialized in filing these claims."

Post Edited (goshawk) : 6/23/2018 5:39:11 PM (GMT-6)

The Dude Abides said...

Girlie said...
I asked my hubby today if he wants to have an appt next time we fly to DC and start treating and he declined because someone needs to be making $$$ and he knows he may not be functional when he starts. He's waiting for me to get back to work....waiting...waiting.....waiting..........waiting................

Your husband is dealing with Lyme, too?!? Either I didn't know that or my mushy brain forgot.

I can see how, for some couples, that financial/employment situation could be not only stressful, but have a lot of emotion and conflicted feelings wrapped around all of that. I wish you both the best.

Thanks Dude.

I haven't posted about it much.....maybe a couple times awhile back.

The background: after I tested positive, my husband said one day "Remember that bullseye rash on my lower leg that I had many years ago? I took a photo of it."
... No I don't remember anything about his rash...and the photo apparently is on a hard drive from one of our old computers - which he encrypted and doesn't know the password...I don't think he can even find the hard drive.

So he did an Igenex test when we were at my LLND appt in 2014 and it was IND - Bands 31 and 41. Did the epitope test and it was positive.

He is highly functioning - but is someone who will put up with stuff and just keep going....thyroid packed it in around 2013 but he has to play around with his med dosing to feel good. He splits his thyroid pills up into three doses -

I remember a few issues he had in the past and I now think it was Lyme flares.
One being a chronic fatigue episode that lasted for a few months. But, again...he always pushes through (he won the cup in a tennis tournament that summer...somehow...)

I feel some guilt (whether warranted or not) that I'm taking so long to treat....and I haven't pushed him to treat. I might be able to pursuade him to treat if I really tried...but I really don't like what that picture looks like. I'm not sure we would survive it as a couple.

he said he's seen how difficult it has been for me and how bad I've been some days - especially in the first year of treatment.... even tho I try to not burden him on a daily basis with constant chatter about how I'm feeling, etc...and nonstop Lyme talk.
He's not ready to wake the sleeping lion....

Lvg123 said...

Girlie said...

Lvg123 said...

Girlie said...
If only $100,000 would cover everything I've lost. I count lost wages in my calculation...but certainly $100,000 would help....

Oh yea Girlie, I didn't even think about that!! Maybe it's Lyme rage but the whole thing angers me so much. It doesn't seem morally right. I haven't even been able to get on disability so I have been really left in the cold...I have a hearing in September to decide if I get disability payments- such bs.

I asked my hubby today if he wants to have an appt next time we fly to DC and start treating and he declined because someone needs to be making $$$ and he knows he may not be functional when he starts.
He's waiting for me to get back to work....waiting...waiting.....waiting..........waiting................

Oh no Girlie your husband has it too? Was he bit by a tick? That's scary when both people have it. I was the bread winner because my husband is a Paramedic...luckily this year he will be making enough.

How long have you been out of work for? I lost my job in 2016. I am doing online classes in the fall but hoping to do a couple of on campus classes in 2019 (hoping).

I just fear that I am going to be stuck like this until I die...(sorry for morbid).

I worked at Morgan Stanley a long time ago and a bunch of employees brought on a class action law suit against them and won. It would be hard to do against a federal institution but I think it can be done. Honestly if enough people were willing to do it, I'd def find an amazing lawyer and go against them. I bet so much crap would come to the surface about the CDC.

I've been off work since 2013

goshawk said...
Sorry about your husband , Girlie.

If treatment is not possible right now, just be sure to keep building his immune system up. Hoping that will keep the infection at bay.

Take care.

Thank you Jo.

I think there are many families with multiple members sick....unfortunately.

He seems to be doing quite well considering....

Girlie said...

The Dude Abides said...

Girlie said...
I asked my hubby today if he wants to have an appt next time we fly to DC and start treating and he declined because someone needs to be making $$$ and he knows he may not be functional when he starts. He's waiting for me to get back to work....waiting...waiting.....waiting..........waiting................

Your husband is dealing with Lyme, too?!? Either I didn't know that or my mushy brain forgot.

I can see how, for some couples, that financial/employment situation could be not only stressful, but have a lot of emotion and conflicted feelings wrapped around all of that. I wish you both the best.

Thanks Dude.

I haven't posted about it much.....maybe a couple times awhile back.

The background: after I tested positive, my husband said one day "Remember that bullseye rash on my lower leg that I had many years ago? I took a photo of it."
... No I don't remember anything about his rash...and the photo apparently is on a hard drive from one of our old computers - which he encrypted and doesn't know the password...I don't think he can even find the hard drive.

So he did an Igenex test when we were at my LLND appt in 2014 and it was IND - Bands 31 and 41. Did the epitope test and it was positive.

He is highly functioning - but is someone who will put up with stuff and just keep going....thyroid packed it in around 2013 but he has to play around with his med dosing to feel good. He splits his thyroid pills up into three doses -

I remember a few issues he had in the past and I now think it was Lyme flares.
One being a chronic fatigue episode that lasted for a few months. But, again...he always pushes through (he won the cup in a tennis tournament that summer...somehow...)

I feel some guilt (whether warranted or not) that I'm taking so long to treat....and I haven't pushed him to treat. I might be able to pursuade him to treat if I really tried...but I really don't like what that picture looks like. I'm not sure we would survive it as a couple.

he said he's seen how difficult it has been for me and how bad I've been some days - especially in the first year of treatment.... even tho I try to not burden him on a daily basis with constant chatter about how I'm feeling, etc...and nonstop Lyme talk.
He's not ready to wake the sleeping lion....

Oh wow Girlie! Thank you for sharing. That's great he is highly functioning. I think Lyme is so individual and based on everyone's immune system. Kind of like cancer. We all carry cancer cells and the immune system just keeps them at bay...but for some people the immune system isn't able to do that.

Yea I understand that guilt. I think about it daily but the best we can do is take it a day at a time and keep focusing on treatment. I mean someone is going to come up with a cure. There are like 13 antibiotics in the pipeline in phase trials so one of them is going to have the answer...I have no doubt that we will all get better.

It can be difficult to get a class certified, but worth talking to a class action attorney. I'd find one in a big city. Maybe not DC - too close to home. Politics do play a role sadly. NY or Chicago would probably be the best bet. Getting the class certified is the first battle, then you have to find other plaintiffs, and my suspicious is there are many that aren't aware they may have a claim. So the attorney would have to go through insurance companies to find people that have taken "lyme" meds and tried to receive coverage. The insurance companies would likely be pulled into the suit. Good!

This does have an Erin Brokovich feel about it, but hey...she got it done.

This is the form that would need to be filled out:

https://www.va.gov/OGC/docs/SF-95.pdf

I mean this would be in regards to the WB not diagnosing you properly. I did have a normal WB and it didn't diagnose me. I then used Igenex and was diagnosed correctly. I mean if a lot of people come together and each file the amount they lost due to the misdiagnosis there would def be something.

I don't think you need a lawyer? The form doesn't say you need a lawyer. I thought this would be a part of the case with the guy who is already suing right? I have filed with people for a class action suit before and they one albeit the money received was like $1,000.

Healing98 said...


The situation is not getting better, it is getting far worse each year. Not only is the CDC advocating less use of antibiotics, but they are also cutting back funds to new research for better antibiotics. And lets not talk about how doctors who understand Lyme are losing their licenses.

Interesting - for us in Canada,it's finally getting better. (not a lot yet...but hopeful it will continue)