Chronology
2009 | g | Lyme Disease Association of Australia (LDAA) formed by sick Australians | |
2012 | LDAA Australia Patient Experience Survey and Report | ||
2013 /01 | Department of Health – Scoping Study – LDAA submission | ||
2013 | LDAA successfully requested to be patient representative on Clinical Advisory Committee into Lyme disease (CACLD) convened by then Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Prof Chris Baggoley | ||
2013 /05 | LDAA joins Worldwide Lyme Awareness protests | ||
2013 /05 | LDAA commences tracking patients and tick bites – statistical plots | ||
2014 /04 | Royal College of Pathologists Australasia issue Position Statement on Lyme disease LDAA Response | ||
2014 /07 | The CACLD met 5 times and then ceased with Prof Baggoley citing (to LDAA) lack of cooperation/discussion amongst medical members. | ||
2015 /05 | LDAA ran a successful call to action campaign with over 20,000 postcards mailed to politicians nationally during our May awareness period. | ||
2015 /05 | LDAA Response to Dept of Health Statement | ||
2015 /09 | LDAA submits to Chronic Disease Inquiry | ||
2015 /09 | Stephen Jones MP successfully lobbied for a Lyme disease roundtable meeting as part of a Chronic Disease Inquiry. The meeting occurred on Sept 18th artefacts include Hansard and Recommendations | ||
2015 /09 | Ken Wyatt MP Lyme disease roundtable Hansard: “I want you to cast your minds back to when we had HIV-AIDS. That was known for some time, but we did not test for it until it became an epidemic in the sense of the way Australia had to react to it. Our laboratories were not ready at the time, and the policy thinkers within health jurisdictions, including the Commonwealth department of health, had not turned their minds to much more investigative work until the information was provided from a number of sources. Then we went into a strong overdrive in treating people with HIV-AIDS, and we looked for cures. Barry Marshall, with ulcers, had a theory that he put forward and was, in a sense, howled down by colleagues in his profession. He went on to become a Nobel prize winner for the work that he did. I just find it negligent—extremely negligent—that we have so many Australians suffering from what appears to be either Lyme or some form of Lyme disease, and yet we are having debates around who is right and who is wrong and whether the testing is right or wrong. Why aren’t we being proactive? I am going to ask the Department of Health. What is your role and objective in the management of the health of Australians, Dr Lum?” | ||
2015 /11 | Senator Madigan travelled Australia to hear from patients, doctors and pathologists (Melbourne, Ballarat, Sydney and Sunshine Coast) | ||
2015 /11 | Senator Madigan received full cross-bench support for a Senate Inquiry into Lyme-like Illness | ||
2016 /03 | Senator John Madigan addresses parliament | ||
2016 /03 | Friends of Lyme meeting at Parliament House, Canberra – hosted by Senator Madigan Dr Schloeffel of ACIIDS speaks | ||
2016 /04 | LDAA Submission to the Senate Inquiry (non-redacted version) Dr Richard Horowitz Submission to the Senate Inquiry | ||
2016 /05 | Senate Inquiry lapsed with dissolution of 44th Parliament | ||
2016 /05 | CWA of NSW commits 3 years of medical research funding to the LDAA to advance Lyme disease research | ||
2016 /09 | LDAA Submission to the National Health and Medical Research Council seeking a Targeted Call for Research into Lyme disease | ||
2016 /09 | Senate Inquiry re-adopted in 45th Parliament | ||
2016 /10 | SBS Insight airs Tick Sick segment on Lyme disease | ||
2016 /10 | LDAA Supplementary submission (non-redacted version) | ||
2016 /11 | Senators Siewert, Moore and Lambie address parliament on Senate Inquiry Final Report recommendations, supporting a Patients First approach | ||
2017 /04 | Department of Health announces funding of $3 million for a Targeted Call for research on Lyme disease | ||
2017 /09 | LDAA provides funding to Murdoch University to commence pilot study of patients | ||
2017 /11 | Senators Siewert and Reynolds speak on government response to Senate Inquiry Final Report – Patients First. | ||
2017 /11 | Department of Health publishes National Serology reference Laboratory’s report on Performance of Testing assays for Lyme disease in Australia | ||
2017 /11 | LDAA Response to Government Response | ||
2017 /12 | LDAA Submitted Questions to Department of Health on National Serology Refence Laboratory reporting in Testing assays | ||
2018 /04 | LDAA launches Scientific Advisory Committee with International biomedical science and clinical medicine experts joining local experts | ||
2018 /04 | Department of Health announces name change from Lyme-like illness to Debilitating Symptom Complexes Attributed to Ticks (DSCATT) | ||
2018 /04 | Prof Murphy, CMO convenes DSCATT Forum with state and territory Health Officials, Heads of Medical Colleges, two patient groups and Lyme treating doctor, Dr Richard Schloeffel; outcomes were formally reported | ||
2018 /07 | Prof B Murphy, CMO convenes DSCATT Forum with patient groups in Sydney and promised second more in depth and facilitated forum | ||
2018 /08 | LDAA presents at national Country Women of Australia (CWAoA) conference in Canberra | ||
2018 /08 | National Party lobbied for action for Australian Lyme-like disease by Motioning: That this Nationals Federal Council request the Australian Government to: Recognise that a Lyme-like disease exists in Australia and is placed on the ‘notifiable disease’ register. Insist that doctors who are treating Lyme-like disease in Australia are protected from investigation and reprisals, in particular but not limited to, Medical Boards in Australia. Insist that general practice and infectious disease specialist doctors are provided best practice education on Lyme-like diagnosis and treatment. Ensure patients are offered affordable testing, treatment, and full access to acute and chronic disease support. Commit to research, on par with other infectious diseases, such as Zika, SARS, Ebola etc. That this matter be treated with urgency and is initiated prior to the upcoming Federal Election. | ||
2018 /11 | In partnership with Spectrumceuticals, Dr Schloeffel, Dr Gupta and Dr Read of ACIIDS delivered tick-borne diseases training to 50 medical doctors (RACGP credits approved) | ||
2018 /11 | DSCATT teleconference with Dept of Health (OHP), Dr Horowitz and Dr Schwarzbach (international advisors) and LDAA | ||
2018 /11 | Medically Abandoned Abstract accepted by National Rural Health Alliance | ||
2018 /11 | Department of Health Approached the Market (ATM ID: Health/18-19/04745 seeking a suitable supplier to develop an evidence-based clinical pathway, including a multidisciplinary care approach that can be flexibly applied in both private and public healthcare settings. | ||
2019 /01 | National Health and Medical Research Council Targeted Research Call announces they’ve allocated $3m DSCATT funding to 2 projects expected to report in 2023 | ||
2019 /01 | LDAA responds to NHMRC funding allocation | ||
2019 /01 | Human Tick-Borne Diseases in Australia report published | ||
2019 /02 | LDAA blogpost by Dr Shah of IGeneX lab (US) quotes 46% of 100 Australian samples test positive for Borrelia burgdoferi or Relapsing Fever Borrelia. Republished by lymedisease.org (premier US Lyme charity) | ||
2019 /02 | LDAA submits Pre-Budget Submission for 2019-20 budget consideration | ||
2019 /02 | Department of Health approached the Market seeking a suitable supplier to “increase the knowledge of medical professionals and the public on tick-borne illnesses that are acquired in Australia and overseas, as well provide information on tick bite prevention and safe tick removal methods.” | ||
2019 /03 | LDAA blogpost, ‘Death by Psychiatry’ outlining the tragic death of retired CSIRO scientist, Dr John Curnow’s wife Barbara | ||
2019 /03 | Unnecessary death of Lyme patient, Réne Michaelis, their story ‘When ALS is actually Lyme’ | ||
2019 /03 | National Rural Health Alliance publish ‘Medically Abandoned’ on Partyline | ||
2019 /03 | LDAA representatives present ‘Medically Abandoned’ (20 mins) at NRHA conference | ||
2019 /06 | LDAA submission to Medical Board of Australia’s public consultation into ‘clearer regulation of medical practitioners who provide complementary and unconventional medicine and emerging treatments’ | ||
2019 /12 | LDAA Patron Dr Richard Horowitz released a statement on Facebook slamming the Department of Health’s draft Debilitating Symptom Complexes Attributed to Ticks (DSCATT) Clinical Pathway, giving the reasons he thought that: “This document if instituted, is likely to contribute to ongoing patient suffering in Australia.” | ||
2020 /04 | Department of Health refuses Freedom of Information request for a copy of the Literature Review for the “Australian Government Department of Health Clinical Pathway for Debilitating Symptom Complexes Attributed to Ticks (DSCATT)” | ||
2020 /10 | Department of Health publishes Debilitating Symptom Complexes Attributed to Ticks (DSCATT) Clinical Pathway |
2021 /06 | LDAA launches re-brand and new website | |||
2021 /08 | LDAA and over 60 international doctors, scientists and advocates publish a referenced scientific rebuttal of the DSCATT Clinical Pathway and media release. | |||
2021 /10 | LDAA launches Patients First #aussielymefight campaign – Phase I |
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